Even though he’s been away for 11 years, the 61-year-old Seger brings a grizzled integrity to his craft that’s trend-proof, if lacking in surprise. A factory worker turned blue-collar rock star, Seger burned through the `70s but has recorded only three albums in the last 20 years while rearing a family. “Face the Promise” doesn’t try to update Seger’s approach. Instead it offers the usual mix of gruffly tender ballads and Detroit-style rock `n’ soul, with a tinge of country (duets with Kid Rock on Vince Gill’s honky-tonker “Real Mean Bottle” and Patty Loveless on “The Answer’s in the Question”). He’s still singing from his common man’s point of view (“Tyrants and kings do their usual things/And you try to stay out of their way”), and the effect is not unlike slipping into a worn pair of blue jeans. They may be faded, but they sure do feel comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. Though there are echoes of Seger’s favorite moves, no songs rival his classics. It’s journeyman’s work from the ultimate journeyman rocker.
