It’s bittersweet to see Tom Petty pop up as a Random Weekend selection, just a few days past the one-year anniversary of his death. ‘A Higher Place’ is an appropriate title, I suppose, even if the song is not about heaven but rather a flood.
This is Petty at his Byrds-ian best, all jangly guitars and sweet harmonies. ‘A Higher Place’ is a standout track on one of Petty’s most special albums, Wildflowers.
[Continuing my countdown of favorite Tom Petty albums, in honor of the late, great musician.]
In my #2 spot is Tom Petty’s first, and best, solo album.
#2 – Full Moon Fever (1989)
Though I was familiar with several of Tom Petty’s singles with The Heartbreakers, Full Moon Fever was the first full-length album of his I owned. It was also one of the first CDs I purchased for myself as I transitioned to that new digital format.
[Continuing my countdown of favorite Tom Petty albums, in honor of the late, great musician.]
My top three Tom Petty albums are all so good in so many different ways that I can make a case for any one of them as #1.
These are also the three albums that show up in the top spots of just about every Tom Petty ranking I could find online. That’s because Petty has generally been more of a singles artist than an album artist, but also because these three albums are just that good.
Continuing my countdown of favorite Tom Petty albums, in honor of the late, great musician.
Tom Petty released three solo albums over the course of his 40-year career, and on their face they don’t differ all that much from his work with The Heartbreakers. In fact, almost every band member appears on each of those three records.
But there must be something to the distinction because (spoiler alert) all three of those solo albums show up in my top five.
Two of the more compelling Round One Montauk Madness matchups pitted pop (and pop culture) sensations Beyoncé and Taylor Swift against Tom Petty and David Byrne, respectively.
Petty won his battle in one of the closest Round One contests, picking up 56% of the vote. Swift had an easier time dispatching Byrne, netting 88%. Now they face off against each other.
Somewhere Tom Petty is slamming his fist against a table and crying out, “Why did I have to draw Beyoncé in the first round?!”
Mrs. Carter rules pop culture right now, musically, socially and politically, while Petty is a deeply respected classic rock dinosaur. Is it even a fair fight?
Yesterday I posted my 3,000th Song of the Day. At least I think I did.
Awhile ago I was browsing earlier posts on the blog and I happened upon a series of entries in the early 2,000’s that overlapped. Specifically, ten numbers — 2,117 through 2,126 — were used back to back. I have two 2,117s, two 2,118s and so on.
That means my 3,000th blog post was really my 3,011th. At least that’s what it means if I found the only such mistake in my 8 years of blogging.
