The Distance (CD - 1982)

Personnel: Bob Seger (vocals); Don Felder, Drew Abbott, Waddy Wachtel, Davey Johnstone, Danny Kortchmar (guitar); Alto Reed (saxophone); Craig Frost, Roy Bittan, Bill Payne, Michael Boddicker (keyboards); Chris Campbell (bass); Russ Kunkel (drums); Bobbye Hall (percussion); Glen Frey, Bonnie Raitt, Shaun Murphy, Laura Creamer, Joan Sliwin (background vocals).

Recorded at Studio 55 and Crystal Sound Recording, Los Angeles, California and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Alabama.

The Distance was hailed as a return to form upon the time of its release and, in many ways, might be a little stronger, a little more consistent than its predecessor, Against the Wind. Still, this album has the slickest production Bob Seger had yet granted, and the biggest hit single on The Distance wasn't written by him, it was a cover of Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon." Now, this wasn't entirely unusual, since Seger had been an excellent interpreter of songs for years, but this, combined with the glossy sound, signaled that Seger may have been more concerned with his status as a popular, blue-collar rocker than his music. Not that there's much to fault with the music, since "Even Now" and "Roll Me Away" are easily two of his classics, and he turns out craftsmanlike rockers like "Makin' Thunderbirds" and "Boomtown Blues" with aplomb. For all its attributes, it feels like a mirror image of Against the Wind, an album where the rockers, on the whole, wind up being more convincing than the ballads. Now, that doesn't mean The Distance is a bad record, since it isn't -- it's filled with first-rate heartland rockers -- but Seger at his best could balance rockers with ballads, or if he concentrated on rockers, it would be more ferocious than this. This album is simply solid, a nice addition to his catalog, but not a knockout. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

As he'd been touring the States constantly since the late '60s, Bob Seger decided to take a well-deserved rest after the completion of dates in support of his chart-topping 1980 album, AGAINST THE WIND. On his next studio release, 1982's THE DISTANCE, Seger sounds reinvigorated, picking up his career exactly where he left off, with a mix of working class rock & roll and reflective ballads.

While THE DISTANCE is a more polished effort than his raw and rocking '70s hits, signaling Seger's future direction, it features some of his best work. Individual highlights include the rocker "Making Thunderbirds," as well as "Roll Me Away," "Shame on the Moon," and "Little Victories." minimize