Greatest Hits 2

1	Understanding / Bob Seger Teachers
2	The Fire Down Below / Bob Seger
3	Her Strut / Bob Seger
4	Beautiful Loser / Bob Seger
5	Sunspot Baby / Bob Seger
6	Katmandu / Bob Seger
7	Shame on the Moon / Bob Seger
8	Fire Lake / Bob Seger
9	Tryin' to Live My Life Without You / Bob Seger Live
10	Shakedown / Bob Seger Beverly Hills Cop II
11	Manhattan / Bob Seger
12	New Coat of Paint / Bob Seger
13	Chances Are / Bob Seger Hope Floats
14	Rock and Roll Never Forgets / Bob Seger
15	Satisfied / Bob Seger previously unreleased
16	Tomorrow / Bob Seger previously unreleased
17	Turn the Page / Bob Seger Bonus Track / Multimedia Track

Barnes & Noble

Although Bob Seger has been out of the spotlight for a number of years, this retrospective shows that the Motor City rocker hasn't lost any of his abundant heartland appeal. The 16-song set picks up where Seger's first hits collection left off, touching on both his plaintive balladeering (best represented by the radio staple "Beautiful Loser") and his sly party groove (evinced on the percolating "Shakedown"). It's not exactly a chronological set, since it takes in both older rockers like "Katmandu" and more middle-of-the-road material, such as his duet with Martina McBride on the fireside classic "Chances Are," but it does make a nice companion piece for the multi-platinum first volume. Seger offsets the classics with a pair of new recordings -- his first in nearly eight years -- that fit nicely into the warm, slightly gruff tone of his latter-day work. The burnished "Satisfied" reflects its title well, with Seger's throaty musings chafing only slightly against a thick, smooth melody that's flecked with pastel guitars. "Tomorrow," on the other hand, is slightly more aggressive, with an insistent chiming melody that's not a million miles away from George Harrison's "Brainwashed." Sure, the bulk of Greatest Hits 2 is within easy reach of anyone in shouting distance of a classic rock radio station, but the taste of newer material alone is reason enough for any Seger supporter to dip into these grooves. David Sprague

All Music Guide

In 2003, when "deluxe editions" and "definitive collections" were the name of the game in reissues, it was refreshing to see Bob Seger's defiantly retro Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 hit the shelves. The title and the approach hark back to the days when a hits compilation was followed a few years later by a supplement, covering roughly the same territory and adding a few new singles. Seger's first Greatest Hits had all the big hits, from "Night Moves" to "Old Time Rock & Roll," and while it was very effective at that level, many of his big hits were ballads, so by extension the hits collection downplayed his rock & roll, which is was kind of odd for a singer/songwriter known as a passionate rocker. And while there was no arguing with what was on Greatest Hits, it left off many songs that illustrated his depth as a songwriter -- and that's not even counting that it left his handful of non-LP singles and songs unaccounted for or the fact that it ignored his early Cameo/Parkway singles, the Bob Seger System, or his first seven albums. Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 solves a lot of these problems and is a stronger album than the first Greatest Hits because of it. While it's still frustrating that Seger ignores his early material (the Cameo/Parkway songs are owned by somebody else, but he certainly could dip into the first seven albums, at least for "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man"), it's also true that they're of a different aesthetic than the anthemic blue-collar rock that he first etched out on 1975's Beautiful Loser. That is the music that made him a star, and that's the music that fuels this collection, all the way through to the lesser-known latter-day sides "Manhattan" and "New Coat of Paint," as well as the brand-new cuts "Satisfied" and "Tomorrow," two hard-rocking songs that are some of his best music in years. These are good, but they are naturally overshadowed by the songs that form the heart of this collection: the terrific plea for compassion "Understanding," previously only available on the soundtrack to Teachers; grinding hard rockers "The Fire Down Below," "Her Strut," and "Sunspot Baby"; the delrious Chuck Berry homage "Katmandu," one of his funniest and toughest songs; the country-tinged ballads "Shame on the Moon" and "Fire Lake"; the aching elegy "Beautiful Loser"; the life-afirming "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," one of the best songs about aging within rock & roll. In this context, even the too-produced heavily synthesized "Shakedown" -- his contribution to 1987's Beverly Hills Cop II and his only number one hit, never available on a Seger album until now -- turns into a good time. Sure, there are a few songs that probably should have made the cut -- most notably "Feel Like a Number" and "Even Now" -- but as it stands, Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 is an excellent supplement to the first collection and a hell of a lot more fun to listen to as well. Stephen Thomas Erlewine