In 2006, Bob Seger emerged from a decade-long hiatus to win widespread acclaim for an album harking back to his roots.
This year, with “Face the Promise” set to turn 20, a fitting celebration is on tap: In September, Capitol Records will spotlight Seger’s comeback record with multiple vinyl and CD releases, a digital streaming debut and several never-heard bonus tracks.
Several pre-order options are available now for the newly remastered music, ahead of the Sept. 18 release date. Seger has also reissued a high-def music video for the album’s lead single, “Wait for Me.”
The “Face the Promise” reissue will include an expanded four-disc vinyl edition, along with an Amazon-only colored vinyl release and a CD version that includes a Walmart specialty release.
Additionally, the album and its bonus tracks will finally join Seger’s catalog across major streaming platforms.
“Face the Promise” arrived in 2006 after a long wait for Seger fans in his home state and beyond. Aside from occasional cameos at Detroit Pistons games and moments such as his 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, the Detroit native had been mostly absent from the public eye as he raised a young family.
But it wasn’t exactly musical downtime. Seger penned 40-plus songs while off the radar, including the Leonard Cohen-influenced blues-rocker that became the album’s title track.
Twelve cuts made the “Face the Promise” official release in 2006, including the Patty Loveless duet “The Answer’s in the Question” and the Kid Rock collaboration “Real Mean Bottle,” a Vince Gill cover song.
Now four more songs, recorded and mastered during the era, are surfacing as bonus tracks on September’s anniversary package: “Time,” “Little Jane,” “Red Eye to Memphis” and “Let Me Try.”
Speaking with the Detroit Free Press in 2006, Seger said he felt a newfound freedom making the album at that stage in his career.
“The beauty of it is you don’t have to pander to anybody,” he said. “You just make a record that you like.”
And he was happy to tap into the classic elements that had come to define Bob Seger music.
“I think it’s just my sensibility of what I like,” he said. “You’re going to hear the (backing vocalist) girls, because I love the girls. You’re going to hear a certain fatback drum sound because I like the drums to be thick. And I like great guitar players. I like a blues-based style on guitar. If I have any signatures, that’s probably it.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bob Seger’s ‘Face the Promise’ marked with 20th anniversary edition
Reporting by Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
