Against the Wind (album)

Against the Wind was an immediate commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart in its third week and remaining there for five weeks behind Pink Floyd's The Wall before reaching No. 1 and holding the top position for six weeks.{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/293790/bob-seger/chart |title=Bob Seger - Chart history |author= |website=www.billboard.com |publisher=Billboard |access-date=October 27, 2016 }} By late 1981 the album sold 3.7 million copies in the United States{{cite magazine |last=White |first=Timothy |date=November 26, 1981 |title=Bob Seger: no more 'platinum paranoia' |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York, New York |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers Inc. }} and was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2003.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band won the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the album Against the Wind and Capitol Records art director Roy Kohara won the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.{{cite news |date=January 14, 1981 |title=Nominations for Grammy Awards |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California }}{{cite news |date=February 27, 1981 |title=23rd Annual Grammy Award Winners |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California }}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{AllMusic |class=album |id=r17696 |tab=review |label=Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band: Against the Wind > Review |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |access-date=4 July 2011 }}

| rev2 = Billboard

| rev2Score = (unrated){{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-03-08.pdf|title=Review: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Against the Wind|work=Billboard|date=8 March 1980|access-date=31 May 2020|volume=85|number=10|page=55|via=American Radio History|issn=0006-2510}}

| rev4 = Record Mirror

| rev4score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Mild Winds |last=Gardner |first=Mike |date=15 March 1980 |magazine=Record Mirror |page=21}}

| rev3 = Robert Christgau

| rev3score = C+{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=3680&name=Bob+Seger+%26+the+Silver+Bullet+Band |title=Consumer Guide Reviews |last1=Christgau |first1=Robert |date=1980 |website=robertchristgau.com |publisher=Robert Christgau |access-date=October 21, 2016 }}

| rev5 = Smash Hits

| rev5Score = 5/10{{cite journal|last=Hepworth|first=David|author-link=David Hepworth|title=Bob Seger: Against the Wind|journal=Smash Hits|issue=March 20 – April 2|page=31}}

}}

Rock critic Dave Marsh, writing for Rolling Stone, strongly criticized the album as a betrayal of Seger's longtime fans: "I'd like to say that this is not only the worst record Bob Seger has ever made, but an absolutely cowardly one as well" saying that Seger had crafted "failureproof songs that are utterly listenable and quite meaningless." Marsh had followed Seger since before Night Moves, when Seger finally gained national fame, and said in his review that Seger's long, tireless struggle to stardom is trivialized by this record. "He had to fight hard to prove there was still a place in rock & roll for a guy like him, and, with Night Moves, he won. This is the LP that makes such a victory meaningless ... It makes me sad, and it makes me angry (another emotion that's disappeared here, though it's often fueled Seger's finest work)."{{cite magazine |last=Marsh |first=Dave |date=May 15, 1980 |title=Bob Seger's 'Wind' is mostly hot air |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York, New York |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers Inc. }}

Marsh did concede that on the album "Seger sings fantastically well" and called it a "carefully constructed album." A review in The Boston Phoenix echoed some of Marsh's criticisms, saying that Seger offered nothing that hadn't been heard before or equaled his best work, "only heavy-handed efforts to simulate it."{{cite news |last=Frost |first=Deborah |date=April 15, 1980 |title=Bob Seger: Against the Wind |newspaper=The Boston Phoenix |location=Boston, Massachuessetts }}

In a more positive review in the Los Angeles Times, critic Robert Hilburn said the album was "close to [Seger's] earlier works" but represented a "mastering of the form" and that the reflective ballads stood out.{{cite news |last=Hilburn |first=Robert |date=March 16, 1980 |title=Seger, Joel: Artistry vs. Hit Making |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California }} John Rockwell of The New York Times called it an "honest, attractive album" and a "nice return to his Night Moves form."{{cite news |last=Rockwell |first=John |date=March 28, 1980 |title=The Pop Life |newspaper=New York Times |location=New York, New York }}

{{tracklist

| all_writing = Bob Seger

|

| headline = Side One

|

| title1 = The Horizontal Bop

| length1 = 4:03

| title2 = You'll Accomp'ny Me

| length2 = 4:00

| title3 = Her Strut

| length3 = 3:51

| title4 = No Man's Land

| length4 = 3:43

| title5 = Long Twin Silver Line

| length5 = 4:18

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side Two

|

| title1 = Against the Wind

| length1 = 5:34

| title2 = Good for Me

| length2 = 4:03

| title3 = Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight

| length3 = 2:52

| title4 = Fire Lake

| length4 = 3:30

| title5 = Shinin' Brightly

| length5 = 4:30

}}

The Silver Bullet Band plays on side one tracks 1–3 and on side two tracks 1 & 3.

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section plays on side one tracks 4 & 5 and on side two tracks 2, 4, & 5.

• Bob Seger – guitar, vocals, background vocals, guitar solos on "The Horizontal Bop" (intro and outro) and "Her Strut", outro guitar solo on "No Man's Land"

;The Silver Bullet Band

• Drew Abbott – guitar, central guitar solo on "The Horizontal Bop"
• Chris Campbell – bass guitar
• Alto Reed – saxophone on "The Horizontal Bop", "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight" and "Shinin' Brightly"
• David Teegarden – drums, percussion

;Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

• Barry Beckett – piano on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line", "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"
• Pete Carr – guitar on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line" (including solos), "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"
• Roger Hawkins – drums, percussion on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line", "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"
• David Hood – bass guitar on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line", "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"
• Jimmy Johnson – guitar on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line", "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"
• Randy McCormick – organ on "No Man's Land", "Long Twin Silver Line", "Good for Me", "Fire Lake", "Shinin' Brightly"

;Additional musicians

• Ginger Blake – backing vocals on "You'll Accomp'ny Me" "Good For Me" and "Shinin' Brightly"
• Sam Clayton – percussion on "You'll Accomp'ny Me"
• Laura Creamer – backing vocals on "You'll Accomp'ny Me" "Good For Me" and "Shinin' Brightly"
• Linda Dillard – backing vocals on "You'll Accomp'ny Me" "Good For Me" and "Shinin' Brightly"
• Glenn Frey – harmony vocals on "Fire Lake" and "Against the Wind"
• Paul Harris – piano on "Against the Wind" and "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight", organ on "Against the Wind"
• Don Henley – harmony vocals on "Fire Lake"
• Dr. John – keyboards on "The Horizontal Bop"
• Bill Payne – organ, synthesizer, piano on "You'll Accomp'ny Me"
• Doug Riley – synthesizer on "No Man's Land"
• Timothy B. Schmit – harmony vocals on "Fire Lake"

• Punch Andrews – producer, mixer
• John Arrias – engineer, mixer
• Tom Bert – photography
• Roy Kohara – art direction
• Steve Melton – producer, engineer, mixer
• Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section – producer, mixer
• Bob Seger – producer, mixer
• Bill Szymczyk – producer, engineer, mixer
• Wally Traugott – mastering
• Punch Andrews - 1999 remastering
• Robert Vosgien – 2003 remastering
• Jim Warren – paintings

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Grammy Awards

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=Against the Wind|artist=Bob Seger|type=album|award=Platinum|number=5|relyear=1980|certyear=1982}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Against the Wind|artist=Bob Seger|type=album|award=Platinum|certyear=2003|relyear=1980|refname="RIAA"|number=5}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

• Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
• Muscle Shoals Sound Studios

{{Reflist}}

{{Bob Seger}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal}}

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Category:Bob Seger albums

Category:1980 albums

Category:Albums produced by Bill Szymczyk

Category:Albums produced by Punch Andrews

Category:Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

Category:Capitol Records albums

Category:Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal