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Post by kds on Sept 30, 2020 19:11:52 GMT
I've just finished Full Moon Fever, which was far better than the previous two albums. Although, I'd probably rank it slightly behind Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises right now. I swear that has nothing to do with Free Fallin' being on the list of "songs I don't care if I never hear again."
It was probably smart on Tom's part to wait until he was a fully established artist with over a decade in the business before finally covering a Byrds classic, or else it might've been a bit too on the nose.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 30, 2020 19:13:48 GMT
It was probably smart on Tom's part to wait until he was a fully established artist with over a decade in the business before finally covering a Byrds classic, or else it might've been a bit too on the nose. He (and the band) really did amount to something along the lines of "harder-edged Byrds songs sung by Bob Dylan" except when the production got too shimmery.
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Post by kds on Sept 30, 2020 19:16:00 GMT
It was probably smart on Tom's part to wait until he was a fully established artist with over a decade in the business before finally covering a Byrds classic, or else it might've been a bit too on the nose. He (and the band) really did amount to something along the lines of "harder-edged Byrds songs sung by Bob Dylan" except when the production got too shimmery. Especially in the early years with that jingle jangle guitar sound. Sadly, Petty really got away from that sound as he grew older.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 30, 2020 19:39:55 GMT
It struck me late in "All the Wrong Reasons," the first song of Side One on Into the Great Wide Opening, that I'd been listening to this album FOREVER. But of course, I haven't. I've only (now) been listening to it for seven-and-a-half songs.
Jeff Lynne's influence is really strong in this, and the reality is that this album especially has a certain sameness to it. The songs are mostly midtempo soft folk-pop (more than rock) songs. There is a particular strummed acoustic guitar sound that as far as I can tell is omnipresent on Jeff Lynne's work in that era, and it is here in basically every song. The way Petty is singing, more restrained and in a pleasant range and timbre, but the same every song as opposed to really letting it rip sometimes or even taking on character voices (as he did in the past, sometimes to my serious dismay).
The lack of synth nonsense is pleasant in a lot of ways, but coupled with the lack of raw rock and roll, the limited palette definitely comes through: this all sounds roughly the same. Same style of songs arranged the same way and produced the same way. It's pleasant to be sure. It's not that I don't like this. I probably like it about as much as I did those first few non-Torpedoes albums. But it's definitely a different, specific thing. Consistent is good, but it also usually means--as it does here--no real HIGH points just as much as no real low.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 30, 2020 19:58:39 GMT
Into the Great Wide Open - 7.5 In some ways this is a worse album, just for the sameness I already described. But I have to admit that right after I said that, something like four of the remaining five songs actually broke the mold to a greater degree! So really sequencing was the bigger issue along those lines. Still, two thirds of the album sounds awfully similar. Lots of mid-tempo folk-pop with that acoustic guitar sound of a base.
I enjoyed hearing them rock a bit more on Side Two, and really liked the change-of-pace that "Built to Last" delivered for the final song, almost like a Spector tune totally rethought from a production standpoint.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 30, 2020 20:32:14 GMT
Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) - 7/10
To me, this is a slight improvement over Southern Accents, but both represent a temporary dip in quality before a fantastic resurgence. Southern Accents was a bit more ambitious, but this one is more fun. There's also more to it (two additional songs). Probably too improvisational in its creation, but it has its moments. "Jammin' Me" is a highlight, but I also think "It'll All Work Out" is a gem. Again, I like this side of Tom, and there's more to come. Other songs I enjoy are the fun, light-hearted "All Mixed Up", "Think About Me", and "The Damage You've Done" (among others).
Full Moon Fever - 9/10
This is my favorite album of his and I think it's probably his best. It's right there with Damn The Torpedoes. It's funny, I used to feel the same way as Kapitan about "Zombie Zoo". A friend of mine (who's the biggest Beatles/McCartney/Petty fan I grew up with) LOVED it. I think he said it was his favorite Petty song. I never understood that. Despite loving the album, I thought it was uncool - an uncool novelty song. 15 years later, I revisit the album (again), and now it's one of my favorites. It's so fun, catchy, and it's got very memorable lyrics. I love singing along. The bridge is pretty fantastic, too. It's a blast.
Tom said that Jeff Lynne taught him a good rule: If you have a verse that's not as good as the chorus, you don't have a verse.
Oh, I didn't see a mention of "The Apartment Song" - that's a favorite! Another great song to drive and singalong to.
Into The Great Wide Open - 8/10
"Built To Last", "All The Wrong Reasons", "Learning To Fly", and "Into The Great Wide Open" are my favorites. Top-shelf Petty. "Out In The Cold" is my favorite rocker on the album. Really good, gritty, catchy stuff. Great guitar work. KDS gotta like this, right?
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Post by kds on Oct 1, 2020 12:24:19 GMT
I decided that FMF would be my stopping point yesterday. I'm onto Into the Great Wide Open now. More to follow.
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Post by kds on Oct 1, 2020 13:25:57 GMT
I just finished Into the Great Wide Open. As Kap noted, it's got the consistency that one would expect from a Jeff Lynne album. I didn't really feel the same sameness Kao heard. I tend to her that more in Tom's post GH albums.
I do have to say after listening to the the first eight albums (seven HB one solo), that I'm glad I didn't gauge Petty's catalog by the high fan ranking of the Wildflowers album. I would only place Wildflowers ahead of Southern Accents and Let Me Up.
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Post by B.E. on Oct 1, 2020 19:51:07 GMT
"Alright For Now" is far and away my favorite Petty ballad of any album so far, unless I'm forgetting something great. I do think it's a standout track. Not really any other quite like it in his catalog. A very warm, intimate vocal performance. And I love the ending. When he gets to the final chord of the last verse, instead of landing on the tonic, he drops back to the vi chord and sings the root note before repeating the final line as he had throughout the song. In regard to Jeff Lynne's influence, I want to say Tom returns to more single-tracked vocals. On Into The Great Wide Open there are some fantastically dry single-tracked leads. "Learning To Fly" and "Into The Great Wide Open" are great examples. Tom sounds incredible. On his earlier albums there would have been a lot more reverb/echo. I like both approaches, but if the vocal can live up to the exposure, I'm not sure anything beats the intimacy and character of a dry vocal. 1991 was 15 years into his career. He was 41 years old. I think he was still on top of his game. I don't think you start to notice a decline until post- Wildflowers, and even then it's not nearly as drastic as many of his contemporaries.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 1, 2020 19:55:13 GMT
Funny you say that about dry vocals. I know some people definitely prefer them. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats has talked about wanting EVERYTHING dry, all the time. (As time has gone on, he hasn't stuck to that.) The engineer/producer Steve Albini talks about preferring dry, or at least the room sound itself w/o outboard gear reverb.
Honestly I don't have a preference. Sometimes I think reverb is really helpful for vox. But I also think it--and especially it mixed with delay/echo, and then anything else such as tuning--gets excessive. And specifically with reverb, you run into a mixing problem of needing to add volume as you add reverb, so you end up with a weird kind of thing where a vocal (for example) is actually super loud to make up for the reverb pushing it back.
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Post by B.E. on Oct 1, 2020 19:56:39 GMT
I do have to say after listening to the the first eight albums (seven HB one solo), that I'm glad I didn't gauge Petty's catalog by the high fan ranking of the Wildflowers album. I would only place Wildflowers ahead of Southern Accents and Let Me Up. You know what? I agree, exactly. It's a close call for me between Into The Great Wide Open and Wildflowers, but I do give the nod to the former. It's an easier listen.
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Post by kds on Oct 1, 2020 20:00:46 GMT
"Alright For Now" is far and away my favorite Petty ballad of any album so far, unless I'm forgetting something great. I do think it's a standout track. Not really any other quite like it in his catalog. A very warm, intimate vocal performance. And I love the ending. When he gets to the final chord of the last verse, instead of landing on the tonic, he drops back to the vi chord and sings the root note before repeating the final line as he had throughout the song. In regard to Jeff Lynne's influence, I want to say Tom returns to more single-tracked vocals. On Into The Great Wide Open there are some fantastically dry single-tracked leads. "Learning To Fly" and "Into The Great Wide Open" are great examples. Tom sounds incredible. On his earlier albums there would have been a lot more reverb/echo. I like both approaches, but if the vocal can live up to the exposure, I'm not sure anything beats the intimacy and character of a dry vocal. 1991 was 15 years into his career. He was 41 years old. I think he was still on top of his game. I don't think you start to notice a decline until post- Wildflowers, and even then it's not nearly as drastic as many of his contemporaries. I'm a little more familiar with Tom's post GH albums (granted getting a little ahead), and I think you're right, there's a decline there, but nothing really terrible. Like, he doesn't have a Summer in Paradise / Van Halen 3 / Flash Gordon type album in his canon.
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Post by kds on Oct 1, 2020 20:02:37 GMT
I do have to say after listening to the the first eight albums (seven HB one solo), that I'm glad I didn't gauge Petty's catalog by the high fan ranking of the Wildflowers album. I would only place Wildflowers ahead of Southern Accents and Let Me Up. You know what? I agree, exactly. It's a close call for me between Into The Great Wide Open and Wildflowers, but I do give the nod to the former. It's an easier listen. I said in a different thread that Wildflowers would benefit with a tighter run time. Maybe with a little trimming, I could see it competing with Into the Great Wide Open, which is 20 minutes shorter.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 1, 2020 20:04:22 GMT
I'm only six songs in on Wildflowers right now, but so far I'd say it's definitely up there with its two strong predecessors. Also similar songs, though different production approach. That said, if KDS's complaint is running time and tightness of the tracks, maybe six songs in isn't sufficient to make that call: I'm not even on "Side Two" yet.
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Post by B.E. on Oct 1, 2020 20:07:42 GMT
You know what? I agree, exactly. It's a close call for me between Into The Great Wide Open and Wildflowers, but I do give the nod to the former. It's an easier listen. I said in a different thread that Wildflowers would benefit with a tighter run time. Maybe with a little trimming, I could see it competing with Into the Great Wide Open, which is 20 minutes shorter. There's more songs (which is cool), but the songs are also longer (not cool, IMO). I've been thinking about what you said about the first two albums being short. Tom was still thinking mid '60s, then. Can you imagine "American Girl" stretched out to 4:45 or, say, the Beatles "She Loves You" stretched out to even 3:35? It would suck the excitement right out of those songs. Brian Wilson packed more into 15 seconds back in the mid '60s than most '90s artists in 5 minutes. Some of those Wildflower (and Echo) songs fall into that trap, for sure. Repetition is not exciting. Edit: It's not strictly repetition, though. It's also more slower tempo songs. The slower tempo just exacerbates the problem, I think. Don't get me wrong - I still really dig these albums.
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