Oh no Bob, you did not try to cover Tom Wait's jazzy "New Coat of Paint"!!! That's just not your style. Only Tommy Waits can do this song. Go get "Heart of Saturday Night", the songwriting on that alvum is way better than any Seger...

A nice companion volume to Bob Seger's original Greatest Hits album from 1994, "Greatest Hits 2" not only focuses on Seger's latter-day material, it also goes a long way towards making up for the fact that "Greatest Hits" featured more ballads and less rock n'roll than the average Bob Seger concert by including grinding rockers like "Katmandu", "Rock And Roll Never Forgets" and "The Fire Down Below".

There are ballads here too, though, and it's a good thing that there is, because the title track from Seger's "Beautiful Loser" album is one of his best slow songs.
And among the lesser-known songs are the two 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.

It is a shame that "Greatest Hits 2", like its predecessor, ignores Bob Seger's early Cameo/Parkway singles and his first several LPs as well. But it is still a fine addition to "Greatest Hits", even if Seger's two live albums remain the best introduction to his music.

In an Amazon.com review I wrote a couple of years ago about Bob Seger's first "Greatest Hits" CD, I of course applauded the music there but lamented the fact that certain songs were missing. Specifically, here is what I said about songs I would like to see on a "volume 2":

"...For starters, I would like to see the movie songs "Understanding" and the # 1 "Shakedown" included, as they aren't anywhere else besides their respective sound tracks. As for other album songs, I'd like to see most if not all of the following: "Katmandu" (live version), "Travellin' Man", "Beautiful Loser", "Rock And Roll Never Forgets", "The Fire Down Below", "Feel Like A Number", "The Horizontal Bop", "Her Strut", "Fire Lake", "Let It Rock", "Even Now", "Shame On The Moon", "American Storm", and maybe even "The Real Love" and "Lock And Load" off of his two '90's albums of all new material...."

Based on this, how should I grade the actual volume 2 release? In all, 8 of the 17 songs I recommended in the version I specified are on this collection. Another "half a song" credit can go to the classic "Katmandu"; while I prefer the live version, at least it was put on here. So I guess you could say that in my opinion of two years ago they got it exactly half right (8 1/2 of 17 songs "requested" made it to this compilation).

In reality, much of the best of what I hoped for is here. First of all, I was foolish to leave the tracks "Sunspot Baby" and the live "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You" off of my list two years ago--they are both great tracks included on this collection. The two movie songs I mentioned, plus a third relatively recent one that I didn't even know about ("Chances Are"--a nice, if generic, duet pop ballad), are here. I was really happy to see rockers like "The Fire Down Below", "Her Strut", and of course "Rock And Roll Never Forgets" included. "Beautiful Loser" is a worthy classic from right before Bob became really big on the pop charts. "Shame On The Moon" and "Fire Lake" are great top 10 hits to include. The later material is misrepresented, as "New Coat Of Paint" and "Manhattan" should be replaced with "The Real Love" and "Lock And Load" off of the two 1990's albums the former tracks were taken from (as stated in my review of two years ago). The two new tracks at the end, "Satisifed" and "Tomorrow" are both surprisingly solid rock tracks--not ballads, proving that Bob may still have a bit of rock left in him.

If you have volume 1, get this for a more complete picture of the legendary Bob Seger. It's not perfect, but--as at least one other reviewer said--what compilation is for someone with this long a career? Enjoy it for what it is--and if you need more Bob buy his old original albums. Most if not all of his material is highly recommended for true classic rock fans. This collection is recommended to "round out" the first Greatest Hits CD. Throw in a video for the classic "Turn The Page" on the enhanced CD, and my overall grade of this album is actually closer to 4 1/2 stars.