MattA75's Full Review: The Last DJ by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
OK, so I admit it. Until my purchase this week of The Last DJ by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, I owned nothing more than their greatest hits disc. Of course, that greatest hits disc is one of only 3 or 4 records you can put on at a party where no one, not a single soul, will complain. EVERYONE loves at least one Tom Petty song, be it the simplicity of Free Fallin, the driving You Wreck Me, or the anthemic rock of Runnin Down a Dream.
However, Petty and his longtime backing band The Heartbreakers have left behind a good amount of the fun pop/rock hooks that have become their trademark over the past 25 years on their new album, The Last DJ. This is Tom Petty taking on the RIAA, the major labels, and everything he feels is wrong with the music industry. On a side note, big time props to Warner Brothers for releasing it.
For the most part, this album explores how the music industry has changed, the money it makes, the fans it has alienated, and most importantly, how radio no longer has any real balls whatsoever.
The title track and first single kicks the album off, and this song reminds me a lot of the early Petty material. It doesn't exactly have much of a hook to it, it's just kind of a bouncy number, and I completely agree with the reviewer who said that there's a big time ClashLondon Calling influence on this track.
Money Becomes King is a lush and gorgeous song that is more of a showcase for Petty's voice more than anything else. The music is placed back in the mix, because it is definitely not an integral part of the song at all. It's here that Petty attacks "Golden Circle" seating, ticket prices, corporate sponsorship, and the "fans" who go somewhere just to say they "were there." (The stories I've heard about the Rolling Stones theatre shows, with some losers leaving after a few songs while die hard fans cry outside the venue REALLY p*ss me off, but I digress.)
While Dreamville is a completely gorgeous song, I find myself moving past it to get to Joe, a tune that has more snide punk attitude than Good Charlotte could ever hope to have. Here, Petty seems to be sympathizing towards the Britney Spears of the world ("or bring me a girl, they're always the best, you put em onstage and you have em undress...").
On the whole, the entire first half of the album seems to be darker, much more angry and resentful. Lost Children seems to be kind of the cutoff point for the darkness. It's at this point where the album takes on a much more hopeful tone, although it should be pointed out that in no way is Lost Children a happy song, just one that has a bit of hope to it.
I really like the fun bit of rock and roll that You and Me is. It's the kind of song lyrically that could mean any one of a million things, but you can't help but wonder if there's some sort of dig at the record company and the promises they make, especially with lines like "I can't promise you a lot, but you and me, and the road ahead."
The bit of tropical fun that Petty cooks up with The Man Who Loves Women is absolutely irresistible, and I can totally see this song becoming a concert staple in the next couple of years for Petty. It's like Petty does Buffet, and it might end up being one of my picks for "most fun song of the year."
The album ends on an upbeat note with a pair of slower midtempo numbers. Have Love Will Travel has some great guitar lines, but it's the last song, Can't Stop the Sun, where Petty takes his last shot at not only the record industry, but corporate America in general: "and you may think it's all over, but there'll be more just like me, who won't give in, who'll rise again..."
While The Last DJ won't remind fans of the previous hits Petty has enjoyed, it is what so many albums try to be and fail: a work of art that truly stands as "brilliant" given when it was made, the circumstances of it's creation, and how things actually are. Petty has made possibly the album of the year. If you are like me, and are sick of the record industry, then The Last DJ is the disc for you.
Released in 2002, The Last DJ features Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at their finest, with the songs Money Becomes King, Dreamville, and the superb ti...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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