Tag Archives: Tom Petty

The Best 111 Songs By Tom Petty

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(* This is a slightly altered post from a few years ago.  The sentiment remains the same)

An American icon cannot be narrowed down to eleven songs. Petty belongs with the greats. Time and time again he has stood up to the record companies and won. Not just once…but many times. He is everything that rock n roll was and everything it should be. He has stood for artists’ rights…he has stood against over-production. He blasted the radio industry, American Idol, and everything that is wrong with music today. He made a 4-hour music documentary against all common sense…and in turn made one of the greatest music documentaries of all time. And at the end of the day…no matter how much stands up for or stands against…he backs it up making good honest music…that has only gotten better with time.

Rock on, Tom Petty.  RIP

The 111 Best Tom Petty Songs:

  1. American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
  2. A Woman In Love (Hard Promises)
  3. Runnin’ Down A Dream (Full Moon Fever)
  4. Shadow of A Doubt (A Complex Kid) (Damn The Torpedoes)
  5. Zombie Zoo (Full Moon Fever)
  6. Refugee (Damn The Torpedoes)
  7. Learning To Fly (Into The Great Wide Open)
  8. Crawling Back To You (Wildflowers)
  9. Rebels (Southern Accents)
  10. Free Fallin’ (Full Moon Fever)
  11. King’s Highway (Into The Great Wide Open)
  12. Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Greatest Hits)
  13. Walls (Circus) – (She’s The One)
  14. Waiting For Tonight (Playback)
  15. The Last DJ (The Last DJ)
  16. I Won’t Back Down (Full Moon Fever)
  17. Wildflowers (Wildflowers)
  18. Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
  19. I Need To Know (You’re Gonna Get It)
  20. Out In The Cold (Into The Great Wide Open)
  21. You Got Lucky (Long After Dark)
  22. The Waiting (Hard Promises)
  23. Don’t Do Me Like That – Mudcrutch Version (Playback)
  24. Finding Out (Long After Dark)
  25. Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys Volume 1)
  26. Love Is Long Road (Full Moon Fever)
  27. A Thing About You (Hard Promises)
  28. Time To Move On (Wildflowers)
  29. Two Gunslingers (Into The Great Wide Open)
  30. Ways To Be Wicked (Playback)
  31. Counting On You (Echo)
  32. Dark of the Sun (Into The Great Wide Open)
  33. I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Full Moon Fever)
  34. Magnolia (You’re Gonna Get It)
  35. Lover of the Bayou (Mudcrutch)
  36. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (Bella Donna)
  37. Dreams of Flying (2)
  38. Square One (Highway Companion)
  39. Yer So Bad (Full Moon Fever)
  40. Even The Losers (Damn The Torpedoes)
  41. Trailer (2)
  42. Runaway Trains (Let Me Up)
  43. Into The Great Wide Open (Into The Great Wide Open)
  44. End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys – Volume 1)
  45. Hope You Never (She’s The One)
  46. Flirting With Time (Highway Companion)
  47. You and Me (The Last DJ)
  48. You Wreck Me (Wildflowers)
  49. Ankle Deep (Highway Companion)
  50. Depending On You (Full Moon Fever)
  51. A One Story Town (Long After Dark)
  52. Here Comes My Girl (Damn The Torpedoes)
  53. King’s Road (Hard Promises)
  54. So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star (Pack Up The Plantation)
  55. Dreamville (The Last DJ)
  56. Saving Grace (Highway Companion)
  57. We Stand A Chance (Long After Dark)
  58. The Apartment Song (Full Moon Fever)
  59. Deliver Me (Long After Dark)
  60. Restless (You’re Gonna Get It)
  61. Won’t Last Long (Echo)
  62. To Find A Friend (Wildflowers)
  63. Don’t Come Around Here No More (Southern Accents)
  64. The Trip To Pirate’s Cove (Mojo)
  65. Forgotten Man (Hypnotic Eye)
  66. Century City (Damn The Torpedoes)
  67. Dogs On The Run (Southern Accents)
  68. Needles and Pins (Pack Up The Plantation)
  69. Angel Dream (No. 4) – (She’s The One)
  70. Insider (Hard Promises)
  71. A Mind With A Heart of Its Own (Full Moon Fever)
  72. Listen To Her Heart (You’re Gonna Get It)
  73. All You Can Carry (Hypnotic Eye)
  74. Save Your Water (2)
  75. A Higher Place (Wildflowers)
  76. Hope (2)
  77. It’s Good To Be King (Wildflowers)
  78. Louisiana Rain (Damn The Torpedoes)
  79. Sea of Heartbreak (Unchained)
  80. I Will Run To You (Wild At Heart)
  81. Grew Up Fast (She’s The One)
  82. Southern Accents (Southern Accents)
  83. Big Weekend (Highway Companion)
  84. You’re Gonna Get It (You’re Gonna Get It)
  85. Something Good Coming (Mojo)
  86. Down South (Highway Companion)
  87. One More Day, One More Night (Echo)
  88. Night Driver (Highway Companion)
  89. Running Man’s Bible (Mojo)
  90. Poor House (Traveling Wilburys – Volume 3)
  91. Since You Said You Loved Me (Playback)
  92. Letting You Go (Hard Promises)
  93. Jammin’ Me (Let Me Up)
  94. Lover’s Touch (Mojo)
  95. Hurt (You’re Gonna Get It)
  96. Fooled Again (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
  97. Let Me Up (Let Me Up)
  98. A Self-Made Man (Let Me Up)
  99. Makin’ Some Noise (Into The Great Wide Open)
  100. All Or Nothin’ (Into The Great Wide Open)
  101. How Many More Days (Let Me Up)
  102. Fault Lines (Hypnotic Eye)
  103. The Wrong Thing To Do (Mudcrutch)
  104. Asshole (She’s The One)
  105. Anything’s That Rock N Roll (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
  106. Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea (Unchained)
  107. Red River (Hypnotic Eye)
  108. Damaged By Love (Highway Companion)
  109. Scare Easy (Mudcrutch)
  110. High In The Morning (Mojo)
  111. Money Becomes King (The Last DJ)

The 55 Best Albums of 2014 (45-55)

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Back from vacation and back on the horse.  I will be attending Sundance next week and will keep on top of all the music shenanigans happening.  Until then, let’s finish off 2014 the right way.

Here are the 55 Best Albums of 2014 (45-55):

45. Kele - Trick
46. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Only Run
47. Phantogram - Voices
48. Metronomy - Love Letters
49. The Faint - Doom Abuse
50. Death From Above 1979 - This Physical World
51. PS I Love You - For Those Who Stay
52. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There?
53. Tom Petty - Hypnotic Eye
54. Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Phosphorescent Harvest
55. Pixies - Indie Cindy

Buy These albums now!!

 

 

The 11 Best Stevie Nicks Team-ups

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We all have our favorites.  We all have artists who we follow.  We all have artists who we can listen to no matter the album, whether it’s considered their best or their worst.  For me that artist is Tom Petty.  He has been one of my favorites for over 25 years.  He also may be the only artist among my favorites I’ve never seen live.   That changed this week.  After going through a deeply frustrating personal set-back, one of my best friends came through out of the blue with a free ticket to his show in Anaheim.  It could not have come at a better time, and it was exactly what I needed.  Tom Petty…40 years a rock n roll star…put on one of the best rock shows I have ever seen.   It was big, personal, and filled with every riff I ever wanted to hear out of Petty’s mouth or Campbell’s guitar.  Today, I have gratitude that when we get knocked down that our friends are there to pick us up.

One of Petty’s best rock friends is the one and only Stevie Nicks.  Many people don’t know that Nicks almost became a member of the Heartbreakers in the 80s.  Nicks may have had a massive career in dysfunctional family of Fleetwood Mac but her solo outings were ripe with huge duets and guests that made her equally respected on her own.  And with Mike Campbell sneaking into every one of her solo albums, it’s safe to say that she might as well be a Heartbreaker.

Here are the 11 Best Stevie Nicks Team-Ups:

  1. Stand Back w/ Prince (The Wild Heart)
  2. Stop Draggn’ My Heart Around w/ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Bella Donna)
  3. Whenever I Call You Friend w/ Kenny Loggins (Nightwatch)
  4. I Will Run To You w/ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (The Wild Heart)
  5. Leather and Lace w/ Don Henley (Bella Donna)
  6. Magnet And Steel w/ Walter Egan (Not Shy)
  7. You Can’t Fix This w/ Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffe (Reel To Reel)
  8. Too Far From Texas w/ Natalie Maines (Trouble in Shangri-La)
  9. Sorcerer w/ Marilyn Martin (Streets of Fire)
  10. Everybody Loves You w/ Dave Stewart (In Your Dreams)
  11. Twisted w/ Lindsey Buckingham (Twister Soundtrack)

Buy Stevie Nicks new album, 24 Karat Gold…now!!

 

The 11 Best Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Songs of the 80s

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Tom Petty rules.

Petty owned the 70s.  It was this decade when Petty crawled out of the Florida swamps and kicked us in the ear drums with jangle-rific rock n’ roll that infected us with push play, rewind, repeat.  “American Girl” & ” Refugee” will out live us all.  In the 90s, Petty had a massive rebirth ignited by the late 80s iconic solo album, Full Moon Fever.  “Learning To Fly” had us strumming along as they went to the top of the rock charts, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway were making video cameos, and indie filmmakers were hiring the band to score soundtracks.  Like the decade did for other 70s icon, John Travolta, the 90s reminded us why we loved them in the first place.

Twenty years down the road, TP & the HBs were as dominant as ever.  But in between the 70s and the 90s, Petty took the road less traveled.  The 80s may be Petty’s most subversive decade.  The 80s were owned by MTV.  Petty couldn’t dance like Michael Jackson, and he couldn’t wear a dress (or not wear) like Madonna.  He couldn’t rap like LL Cool J and claymation just wasn’t his thing.  But that didn’t mean Petty and the boys weren’t churning out music that stood on par with the best of their career.

Here are the 11 Best Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Songs of the 80s:

  1. Rebels (Southern Accents)
  2. A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me) (Hard Promises)
  3. Insider (Hard Promises)
  4. Change Of Heart (Long After Dark)
  5. The Waiting (Hard Promises)
  6. Deliver Me (Long After Dark)
  7. It Ain’t Nothing To Me (Southern Accents)
  8. Runaway Trains (Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough)
  9. You Got Lucky (Long After Dark)
  10. We Stand A Chance (Long After Dark)
  11. Jammin’ Me (Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough)

Buy Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers new album, Hypnotic Eye…now!!!

Don’t forget to check out our blog’s awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now!  (featuring Tom Petty’s best of the 00s)

Buy this book or everyone you know will die.

The 11 Best Songs By The War On Drugs

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With the news of Tom Petty’s new album, Hypnotic Eye, (a major news in which he speaks about his days at the 30 treatment Miami) the initial thought that hit me…seems to have hit just about everybody in the collective music community that the universe might just be aligning for the perfect tour:  Tom Petty with special guests, The War On Drugs.  It was epic enough that Christine McVie was returning to Fleetwood Mac (too bad Rilo Kiley isn’t still around to open).  But to have two seemingly connected bands (one the leader and the other the padawan) release albums at almost the same time seems too good to be true.  The War On Drugs new album is their best album to date.  It’s one of the first albums of the year I’ve been urging my friends to go out and buy.  With WOD’s obvious similarities to Petty & co…the mere thought of the two of them sharing a stage was something more of a lost dream than a potential reality.  Like Wilco & Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam & Neil Young, Steel Panther & Spinal Tap…sometimes dreams do come true…let’s keep our fingers crossed that this one might just happen.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The War On Drugs:

  1. Best Night (Slave Ambient)
  2. Taking the Farm (Wagonwheel Blues)
  3. Baby Missiles (Slave Ambient)
  4. A Needle In Your Eye #16 (Wagonwheel Blues)
  5. Your Love Is Calling My Name (Slave Ambient)
  6. Arms Like Boulders (Wagonwheel Blues)
  7. Comin’ Through (Future Weather)
  8. Brothers (Slave Ambient)
  9. Show Me the Coast (Wagonwheel Blues)
  10. Pushing Corn (Barrel of Batteries)
  11. The History of Plastic (Future Weather)

Buy The War On Drugs new album, Lost In The Dream…now!!

The 11 Best Albums of the Year (so far)

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 Over halfway through the year and I am unimpressed.  Eminem’s new album is pretty good and definitely a return to form.  But the best of the year?  It’s not even the best Em album.  Maybe 3rd best.  And Massive Attack, Morcheeba, and MGMT have all made nice albums…but these are far from their best material.  So what gives?  Last year at this time, the Animal Collective, the xx, Grizzly Bear, and Phoenix had all released albums.  I’ve listened to Sleigh Bells (a reincarnation of Atari Teenage Riot), Best Coast (the new Raveonettes), Surfer Blood (a watered-down Pavement), Beach House (a more moody Joan As Police Woman), & Local Natives (a less innovative Elbow) and have been underwhelmed by all of them. Where’s the good music people?!

 This decade is really starting off with a whimper.

 Here are the 11 Best Albums of 2010 (so far):

 1.  Eminem – Recovery

2.  LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

3.  Massive Attack – Heliogoland

4.  Morcheeba – Blood Like Lemonade

5.  Jonsi – Go

6.  MGMT – Congratulations

7.  Tokyo Police Club – Champ

8.  Against Me! – White Crosses

9.  Free Energy – Stuck on Nothin’

10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo

11. Caribou – Swim

 Buy these great 2010 albums and others now!