Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Against the Wind

"Just take those old records off the shelf/I'll sit and listen to them by myself." Wise words from this week's artist, Bob Seger. Crazy Pat's uncle's look-alike gets us going this week with Against The Wind.

Release Date: February 25, 1980
Singles: Fire Lake, Against The Wind, You'll Accomp'ny Me, The Horizontal Bop, Her Strut
As I sit here listening to Against the Wind, I find myself at a bit of a loss for what to write about it. If you've never heard any Bob Seger before, this is as good a place to start as any. Against the Wind is Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's only #1 album (it knocked off Pink Floyd's The Wall). It features a nice mix of hard rockers and slower numbers, including some of Seger's biggest hits like the title track* and "You'll Accomp'ny Me."

*The title track features a "Hey Jude"-esque ending in which the title of the song is repeated for about two minutes too long. Depending on my mood/level of intoxication, this is either awesome or annoying.

The centerpiece of the album, for me, is "Fire Lake." I don't know what it is about this song, but I can't get enough of it. It's a ridiculous song. It's everything I love about Bob Seger.

Rating: 6 hammerschlagen swings - A great "A-bar" album. I strongly believe every record collection should contain a few albums that you can put on at 2 AM after getting home from the bars and just enjoy without worrying about people judging your music choices, and this album certainly fits the bill.

Despite my strong desire to subject everybody to "Fire Lake," I'm going to go with a lesser known song, "No Man's Land."