[ NEW ON CD ]
WARNER BROS
Tom Petty is successful, despite his principals that are not common in the music industry.
New Petty CD covers
familiar territory
By Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comTom Petty is a plain-talking musician -- he's sung it before and, with this new album, he's basically singing it again.
"The Last DJ"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Warner Bros.He won't ... back ... down.
As either the leader of a crack rock 'n' roll band or the occasional curmudgeonly soloist, Petty has pulled off a balancing act that's rare in the music industry. He's proved himself to be an inspired songwriter who has commanded respect since his initial success back in the late 1970s. Plus, he's an artist of stubborn integrity.
Petty has always been one to bite the hand that feeds -- but only when he feels he's under attack. He first did it back in 1981 when, as a best-selling artist, he demanded no price increase on his album "Hard Promises" in spite of his label MCA's wishes. His disgust with the current state of the music business is evident on this new album, with three of the first four songs right out the gate spewing venom.
"Money Becomes King" and "Joe" has Petty singing in his best snarling drawl. He attacks what he sees as the celebration of mediocrity in popular music with a P.O.'d tone that's almost wearisome in its monotony. The only saving grace -- which holds true for the entire album -- is the loud, clean and bracing sound Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell and co-producer George Drakoulias get out of their studio work. If there was one mainstream rock album this year that is "made loud to be played loud," this is it.
But Petty still proves to be a likable tunesmith. The opening title track (sounding like a natural follow-up to the Byrds' '60s hit "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star") is an affectionate paean to legendary men like Wolfman Jack, who began his career playing raw and raucous rock 'n' roll from a remote Mexican radio station. And "Dreamville" is just the way it sounds: a buoyant, orchestrated piece that honors the persistence to pursue the perfect pop music dream. But it only provides a brief respite between "Money Becomes King" and "Joe."
This multifaceted album works as an entire piece, at a lean 48 minutes long. Petty's cast of characters is familiar -- men and women in search of something or someone -- ones that he's used ever since his first hit, "American Girl," to represent the American dream unfulfilled.
There's an unintended reference to the current spate of sniper shootings in a chilling verse in "When a Kid Goes Bad": "You built for innocence/you built for joy/suddenly evil's all that you enjoy/but if you shoot at everyone you see, well you can't be my friend 'cause you might shoot at me."
Petty is obviously addressing those who feel alienated from our society, with the best example being the sinewy and engaging "Lost Children," a confident rocker about forgiveness that shifts between sounding like a prime Allman Brothers blues rocker to a fragile plea for salvation.
After the opening salvo of songs, each successive song refers back to the previous, like the feeling of young love that can live forever in "Like a Diamond" following "When a Kid Goes Bad," or "Blue Sunday," a character study on kids on the run which paints a picture of "Lost Children."
But when all is said and done, Petty believes in the healing power of music. The flip side of "Blue Sunday," "You and Me," is a positive take on "just you and me and the road ahead." His musical comments on the predatory madness of the industry takes on a gentler, humorous tone with "The Man Who Loves Women" and "Have Love Will Travel." And the final "Can't Stop the Sun" tries its mightiest to clear the air with its sheer sonic force.
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