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.
I’ve been promising a Tom Petty tribute since the rock legend passed away unexpectedly on October 2, and this week I will deliver it in the form of a countdown of my five favorite Petty albums.
I recently listened to a podcast called ‘The Great Albums,’ on which the hosts do track-by-track reviews of their favorite records. They were discussing a Tom Petty album (one I’ll feature this week) and wondered why it was that Petty’s name didn’t automatically come up when people discuss the giants of rock-n-roll.
Note: This Random Weekend SOTD was scheduled to run this Sunday. When I heard the awful news of his passing, I decided to move it up a week. I’ll give the man a proper remembrance at some point, but for now I’ll just run this blog entry untouched. I will say, this particular song selection is quite poignant in light of the news.
Here’s a lovely Random Weekend selection from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 2010 album Mojo. It’s a great album that I rarely revisit, but should.
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?
Meet Me In Montauk 