Live: Pack Up the Plantation Review

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(More customer reviews)I find it a bit curious so many of the reviews here dislike the live covers on this album; as a fan I really enjoy the boys' takes on the Byrds "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star," or "Needles and Pins," or even "Don't Bring Me Down." I don't look for a "greatest hits live" package from a performer I respect -- I want that artist to dig deep, find some chestnuts from the catalogue, or do some covers that mean something to them -- and that's what Pack Up the Plantation is.
Is it representative? I'd say, after two and half years of effort to create Petty's statement on the South of his raising -- Southern Accents, the live album from the tour of Southern Accents finds Petty in his most meaningful, heartfelt period. My personal view is he feared revealing his most innermost thoughts about the South and himself on Southern Accents, so he felt he needed to gloss up those concepts with Dave Stewart's production tricks and copious horns. Don't forget -- this was 1985. But strip all that away and you have pure Petty, from the heart. The songs skew toward that album, with strong performances of "Rebel" and "It Ain't Nothing to Me," but he throws in some fan favorites as well. It's rounded out with some fun covers, though I agree "Shout" probably didn't need to be included.
I do find this particular cd release to be lacking, however, in that two songs are cut short and the order rearranged from the original release. There's no reason to truncate or reorder the original, and I hope subsequent pressings fix this glitch.
In sum, this is vintage mid-period Petty, rocking out on songs from his heart, even getting Stevie Nicks to join in a few tunes. Is it a comprehensive overview of his career, live? Clearly not. But taken for what it is, Pack Up the Plantation is a very enjoyable live Petty experience and an example of why this artist has been so enduring for so many years.

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Under The Covers: Vol. 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)As in the first volume of this series, which focused on the 60s, Sweet and Hoffs pay tribute to the 70s with more of their perfectly selected, arranged, and performed covers. While faithful to the originals, these tracks vary in many ways, both in the colors their voices bring to the harmonies and in the styles of guitar work on display.
Both performers clearly love the era and the radio singles they sang along to when they were young. Their emotional fidelity is as remarkable as their technical proficiency, and the fact that both have retained their youthful attitudes and voices in middle age (Hoffs is 50!) amazes this aging baby-boomer.
Both CDs are a joy to listen to, and we can only hope that the two will give us further volumes devoted to the 80s, when Hoffs' group The Bangles had their heyday, and to the 90s, when Sweet made his commercial breakthrough.
I also recommend the bonus tracks that you can download for this album, which include ten more interesting and adventuresome cuts:
Dreaming (3:07)
Marquee Moon (11:40) (even longer than the original!)
I Wanna Be Sedated (2:23)
Baby Blue (4:00)
You Say You Don't Love Me (3:07)
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (4:22)
You Can Close Your Eyes (2:47)
Melissa (4:34)
Killer Queen (3:08)
A Song For You (5:07)

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Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs delighted rock and pop fans when they teamed up as Sid 'n Susie to record an album's worth of '60s classics called Under the Covers Vol. 1. Now, three years later, Under the Covers Vol. 2 finds our heroes moving forward through rock's back pages to take on another decade: the '70s. From power-pop like The Raspberries and Big Star to the soft-rock of Carly Simon and Bread, and from the classic-rock of John Lennon and Derek and the Dominos to the prog-rock of Yes, Sid 'n Susie offer a pretty thorough survey of the state of rock, just before the Sex Pistols. Features guest appearances by Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Steve Howe of Yes, and George Harrison's son, Dhani Harrison.

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Highway Companion Review

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Tom Petty fans rejoice because he's back with his third solo studio album `Highway Companion.' The album consists of 12 tracks that are perfect for a road trip and live up to the classic guitar rock sound that fans of Petty have loved for years.
`Highway Companion' finds Petty once again teaming with musicians Jeff Lynne (who produced the album and was a member of the Traveling Wilburys band with Petty) and Mike Campbell (longtime guitarist for Petty and the Heartbreakers).
The album features a stripped down studio rock sound closer to the sound that Petty did on 1989's `Full Moon Fever' than the singer's follow-up solo album `Wildflowers' in 1994. All of the songs were once again written by Petty, and the singer/songwriter also played rhythm guitar, drums, harmonica, electric piano, bass, and lead guitar and provided lead and backing vocals on the album's various tracks.
`Highway Companion' (which Petty describes as being about the passing of time) is filled with the type of rock songs that one would expect from Petty, and never strays too far from the formula of song writing that made him a rock icon. It kicks off with the "blues heavy" track "Saving Grace" - with lyrics that set the tone for the whole album.
The song is simply the perfect way to start a rock album, and you will be in love with `Highway Companion' before Petty finishes the track. This is a heavy blues song filled with guitar riffs similar to "Running Down a Dream" or something off a Bo Diddley album. Petty keeps other parts of the album bluesy with tracks like "Jack," "Turn This Car Around," and "This Old Town."
"Flirting with Time" and "Down South" are reminiscent of work done by Petty and the Heartbreakers on albums like `Echo' and `Into the Great Wide Open.' Tracks like "Big Weekend" and "Ankle Deep" seem influenced by Petty's work with the Traveling Wilburys.
Petty then slows things down with tracks like "Square One" and "Damaged by Love" which features the songwriter's unique ability to craft lyrics that seem simple and profound at the same time. If you were not hooked by the end of the first track, "Square One" will win you over.
If you are a fan of Tom Petty's solo work or his work with the Heartbreakers then you will want this album. It is a good blend of all the influences throughout Petty's career, and every song is a hit. Petty packs the album full of guitar driven rock, catchy lyrics, and choruses that have good enough hooks to keep you singing them after one listen.


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Highway Companion, Tom Petty's third solo album and first in a dozen years, is a timeless album about the passing of time. A constant companion on the road of rock n' roll, Petty, says Rolling Stone, is "rock aristocracy".

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Mojo (Blu-ray Audio w/ Bonus Download) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Heartbreakers have evolved distinctly throughout their 30+ years of recording together. Listening to their catalog from the beginning to the present, one travels from an era of short, punchy garage-rock tunes in the 1970s, to the laid-back pop hits of the Jeff Lynne era, to their current period of meditative rock planted firmly in the band's primordial roots.
It's a natural progression, what with Petty's lament of modern music with the Last DJ in 2002, his efforts to keep '60s and '70s-era classic rock alive through his Buried Treasure radio show, the success of last year's Live Anthology, and a rapidly decentralizing music industry that's no longer ruled by the gatekeepers of Top 40 radio. It almost seems that Mojo just... had to be.
If Mudcrutch was Petty's country album, Mojo is his foray into blues recording (sprinkled with a little psychedelia and reggae to taste). Like Mudcrutch, Mojo is freewheeling, high-energy, and upbeat, and prone to a little jam session here and there -- which would have been unthinkable in the days of the neatly-trimmed Full Moon Fever or Into the Great Wide Open. Without a single bad song in the mix, Mojo is a cohesive album you can listen to from beginning to end.
Personally, I am digging latter-day Tom Petty. The band is as good as they've ever been, and each member seems to have increasing freedom to showcase their immense instrumental talents and unrivaled ability to complement one another. Mike Campbell's guitar is on fire through the whole album, and Scott Thurston breaks out of his shell with fine blues harmonica on several tracks.
As a departure from the past musical stylings that made the band successful, Mojo will certainly raise some eyebrows and not be to everyone's liking. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. These guys aren't trained monkeys paid to crank out the same songs over and over again. They're world-class musicians, and they deserve the chance to breathe a little. Play on, boys.

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Some time in the last few years Tom Petty And the Heartbreakers took a left turn. Maybe it was when Petty woke up in the night with the idea of reuniting his first band, Mudcrutch, to cut the album they never got a chance to make back in the early 70's. Maybe it was when the Heartbreakers assembled the mammoth multi-disc 'The Live Anthology,' which detailed thirty years of concerts. Maybe it was when they gave all their home movies, outtakes and live footage to director Peter Bogdanovich to create the Grammy-winning four-hour career documentary 'Runnin Down A Dream.' There have been side projects and experiments since the band last went into the studio to cut a new Tom Petty And the Heartbreakers album. With 'MOJO,' they have taken their recent freedom and experimentation to heart. They have gone off the reservation and all signs indicate they aren't coming back.The first thing that hits you about 'MOJO' is that the spirit of the Mudcrutch sessions has carried on with the Heartbreakers. This is the sound of a band playing together in a room not a studio - facing each other, all singing and playing at the same time. The music is alive, with no overdubs or studio trickery. What you hear is what they created on the spot at that time.Tom Petty says, 'With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band. 'MOJO' is where the band lives when it's playing for itself.'As for the songs, 'MOJO' showcases a wide variety of American music from rock 'n' roll to country and both electric and acoustic blues. And then there are the images in Petty's lyrics which slip in on the melodies and set up a home in your head: The barefoot girl in the high grass chewing on a stick of sugar cane, the run-in with the law that begins when a carload of buddies decide to party with the motel maids, and the hilariously audacious idea of opening an album with an electric blues rocker about Thomas Jefferson's love affair with Sally Hemings. Petty would probably chuck a rock at anyone who called him a poet, but he sure is a southern writer of humor and sensitivity.'MOJO' has juice and guts but it also has some sweet balladry for the slow dancers and even a wacked-out reggae number that is unlike anything that the Heartbreakers have done before. It's the kind of album nobody's supposed to be able to make anymore. It got here just in time.PRODUCER'S NOTE:ABOUT THIS HIGH RESOLUTION BLU-RAY AUDIO DISCThis disc contains all 15 tracks from 'Mojo' in high-resolution 48K 24 bit PCM stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound. It is an audio-only disc, with basic navigation and song information displayed on screen.The 48K 24 bit audio on this disc has 256 times more resolution than a CD, providing greater detail and reproducing the music's full dynamic range, from the softest to the loudest sounds. To achievefull dynamic range it's necessary to master with less overall level, sothis disc might not sound as 'loud' as a standard CD or film soundtrack.To compensate for this, turn up the volume!The screensaver switches song information to non-static imagesof the cover art 30 seconds after each song begins.Thanks for caring enough to invest in high quality sound. With this disc you are now able to hear at home what we hear in the studio. The Blu-Ray audio package also includes a code to download the album in one of three formats: 320kbs Mp3, Apple Lossless, or FLAC.

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Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band: Live In Dublin (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Mix in hot jazz, a bit of gospel, blues, zydeco, bluegrass and country. Season with Bruce Springsteen and bake at high temperature in an Irish oven for what is perhaps the tastiest concert video of 2007.
This is not your anthemic, rock-til-you-drop, Born-in-the-USA Bruce. That energy is still there, but directed here into the American folk songbook, music written between mid 19th to mid 20th century and reflecting the concerns of the agrarian and working class, from the Oklahoma farmer of My Oklahoma Home, to the slave Old Dan Tucker, to African American dock workers of Pay Me My Money Down. This music was appropriated in the 1950's and 60's by politically active singer/songwriters such as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, and through them the music comes down to us in the 21st century through Springsteen.
Ten of the songs from the original 2006 Seeger Sessions disc are here, as are a handful of new numbers and songs from the extended Seeger Sessions release (How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live, When the Saints Go Marching In, This Little Light of Mine, American Land, Long Time Comin'), as well as new arrangements of some of Springsteen's less well-known songs (If I Should Fall Behind, Growing Up, Blinded By the Light, Atlantic City, and Highway Patrolman).
For long time fans the old songs in new-old clothes will be unrecognizable by the opening melody alone. It's not until Bruce starts singing that your mind begins racing to place that particular set of lyrics with a title. All of these newly outfitted tunes show some inventiveness, but the ones that worked best for me were If I Should Fall Behind and Highway Patrolman, quiet performances showcasing the lyrics, and Blinded By the Light, which like it's original rock incarnation is a wild, foot-stomping show closer.
In fact most of this show will have you tapping your feet and signing along. This is a joyous performance, and you can see that the musicians are enjoying themselves as much as the audience. If you have some room in front of your television, clear out that space and get ready to dance.
About the only downside to this release is that it's not a document of one evening, but a compilation of three. In itself that decision was not as critical as the one to delete all on stage banter, including song and band introductions, often one of the more enjoyable parts of any Springsteen show. The editing work is also noticeably poor at times with the action not in sync with the sound, presumably where the director chose to insert shots from nights other than those from which the sound was recorded.
Otherwise, this is a great DVD and watching it was the most fun I've had in front of the television in months.
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Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band Live in Dublin'features 23 songs drawn from the band's performances in Dublin, Ireland atThe Point on November 17, 18 and 19, 2006. Songs include fan favorites from'The Seeger Sessions,' radical interpretations from the Springsteensongbook and rare songs appearing for the first time on any Springsteenrelease.The DVD captures the band during the finale of its multi-leg 2006tour. The Word Magazine (UK) said of a concert on this tour, "I have never, makethat NEVER, seen a show better than the one mounted by Bruce Springsteenand his (Sessions) band."The Washington Post declared, "It was the bestlive show I've seen in at least five years.(And I've seen a few.)" Documented with nine cameras, the concert was filmed in High Definition(HD). Atlantic City Eyes On The Prize Jesse James Further On (Up The Road) O Mary Don't You Weep Erie Canal If I Should Fall Behind My Oklahoma Home Highway Patrolman Mrs. McGrath How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live (Bruce SpringsteenVersion) Jacob's Ladder Long Time Comin' Open All Night Pay Me My Money Down Growin' Up When The Saints Go Marching In This Little Light Of Mine American Land Blinded By The Light Special Feature: TWO BONUS TRACKS Love Of The Common People We Shall Overcome

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Long After Dark Review

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(More customer reviews)Seems like this is the closest that Tom Petty ever came to releasing a Lost Album. For whatever reason, even as they stuck around to pick up the comparatively dull _Wildflowers_ and the aptly-named _Echo_ so many years later, not a lot of his fans picked this one up.
I'm not quite sure why this is, because as many times as I've listened to _Long After Dark_, I fail to hear what's so wrong with it. There are some wonderful melodies and powerful lyrics here. Maybe it's that the pseudo-dissonance in the verse of "You Got Lucky" (or all those synthesizers) turned a few too many people off, or that "Change of Heart" was a little too obvious. After all, it's the singles that make or break an album commercially. Still, to leave it at that is to miss wonderful songs like "A One Story Town," "Finding Out," "We Stand a Chance," "Straight Into Darkness," and "Between Two Worlds."
Oops. Looks like I just mentioned half the album there. What can I say? It deserves it.

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No Description Available.Genre: Popular MusicMedia Format: Compact DiskRating: Release Date: 20-MAR-2001

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Last Days At the Lodge Review

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(More customer reviews)I would give this a 5 star, except that I gave his first CD a 5 star, and this one doesn't quite measure up. In some ways, I agree with the first reviewer, Amos has grown up. Some of his vocals and overall sound are unbelievable. He is so unique and classic at the same time.
Strangely, I enjoyed EVERY song on the CD except his first single 'Listen'. It is an alright song. The real treasures here are; Street Corner Preacher; Ease Back; Won't Let Me Go. Those are my three favorites from the CD, though there are a few others I absolutely loved as well.
Here are the tracks and how I would rate them (1-5):
1 Listen - 2.5 stars - it's alright. kind of grown on me
2 Won't Let Me Go - 4.5 stars - I love his high vocals in this one
3 Baby I Want You - 4 stars - loved this one also, very soft
4 Truth - 4 stars - this is classic Amos
5 What's Been Going On - 3.5 stars
6 Street Corner Preacher - 5 stars - might be the best track on the album
7 It Started to Rain - 4.5 stars - a very soft gem
8 Jails and Bombs - 4.5 stars - his most meaningful song, lyrically
9 Kid - 4.5 stars - another wonderful song, deep lyrics
10 Ease Back - 5 stars - super mellow
11 Better Days - 3.5 stars
Lots of 4.5's and a few 5's! This is really a wonderful CD that I would recommend to anyone, whether you are an Amos Lee fan or have never heard him before. I am sure many will consider this his best CD, but I would definitely tell anyone looking at Amos for the first time to get his first CD. There were so many amazing songs on that album, I don't know if he will ever top it. This CD, Last Days at the Lodge, is a huge improvement over his sophmore album, though. Overall, 4.5 stars and highly recommended!

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Last Days at the Lodge is Lee's third record, following his first two critically-acclaimed and tremendously successful records, Supply and Demand (2006) and his 2005 self-titled debut. This 2008 record is produced by Don Was, and features Lee on guitars, Doyle Bramhall, Jr. (Eric Clapton) on guitar, Spooner Oldham (Neil Young, Aretha Franklin) on keys, Pino Palladino (The Who, D'Angelo) on bass, and James Gadson (Bill Withers) on drums, along with many others. 11 tracks.

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Bob Dylan - Live in Australia [The Hard to Handle Tour) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this 'Glass Music' DVD of 'Hard to Handle' to replace my USA CBS/Fox VHS tape and was NOT pleased with the quality. Both video and audio were dull compared to the VHS, so I returned it. I think that the original DVD transfer was just poorly done. If you have no other source, this is a great concert (I caught the Dylan/Petty tour in Philadelphia) and you may want to get the DVD anyway.

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