Bob Seger Making Good Progress on New Studio Album

Bob Seger says he's making good progress on his in-the-works new album, explaining that eight tracks are completed so far, with at least four more set for further grooming and completion this winter.

He tells USA Today that he's aiming for a fall 2012 release date for the new album, but also makes it very clear that he's not rushing things. As he recalls, classics like 'We've Got Tonight' and 'Like A Rock' took months to properly flesh out, leaving “blood on the page,” a term he borrows from his friend Don Henley.

"You've really got to beat yourself up to create what Henley used to call 'rhymes with dignity.' He used to tell me, 'Sometimes we can sing it good, if we're competent singers. But it's better to be able to read it good.' So I like my lyrics to read well, and I think they do."

Examining his catalog of favorites, he can even find flaws in a time-honored classic like 'Night Moves.' "Looking back on it now, I think 'Night Moves' was too fast. So we play it slower live and it's much more effective. I was singing the words really fast in '76, when I was young. And that does change."

The eight tracks that have been completed for the new album include 'Hey Gypsy,' a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and 'Ride Out,' which is described as a “muscular message song about escaping the overload of modern life.

Seger is back on the road this fall for another run of tour dates that will bring him to a number of markets that were missing on the tour schedule from the initial run earlier this year.

His classic 'Live Bullet' and 'Nine Tonight' live albums were reissued last week, and Ultimate Classic Rock has your chance to win free copies of both CDs right here: