Search - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers :: The Live Anthology (4 CD)

PETTY PROVES HE BELIEVES IN ROCK AND ROLL

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 11/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Four discs-66,55,53,53 minutes each approximately. The discs are in individual cardboard holders,which are slipped into an open side of the cardboard box. The booklet lists venues,dates,and who played on the individual tracks. There is an introduction written by Petty about the making of this box set. The sound (newly mixed),from various venues across 30 years,is uniformly good. The retro style packaging is perfectly in keeping with Petty's approach to music-when a well made and assembled vinyl album made a true r&r statement for an entire (including Petty) generation of listeners.



In this day and age of over-priced "deluxe" releases/re-releases,even of admittedly great r&r,this collection stands apart. Not only are all the tracks heard here chosen by Petty,guitarist Mike Campbell,and their producer,the tracks cover 30 years of TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS in concert. Great music,nice packaging,and a low price make this worth owning. Petty and his band are one of the few groups still playing music that matters. Listen to any track on this collection,and you'll have all the proof you need,no matter if the song is well known,or a live rarity. Their musical sound and approach have changed little over 30 years. Their combination of influences of Dylan/BYRDS,and rootsy garage rock,combined with a bit of the British Invasion sound,have served as the foundation for their sound from the beginning. And that's what gives their music backbone. On these tracks the band effortlessly switches across musical styles,from originals to covers,all with that sound they've played from the beginning.



All the tracks on this set are on an equal footing,from ballads to all out rockers. Long time listeners of the band will need little proof of the great music here. If for some reason you aren't to familiar with the band,and want a lot of their greatest songs ("Breakdown","Refugee","American Girl",etc.),along with some great covers (THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN's "Something In The Air",BOOKER T. AND THE M.G.'S "Green Onions",just two examples),with the added electricity of a live performance-this is it. With hundreds of hours of live material to choose from,distilled down to four discs,a lot of musical ground is covered. Arguably some listeners will wish a certain song was included (personally I would like to hear more Dylan/BYRDS covers),but overall,this is an outstanding overview from one of the few long time bands that still matters.



For anyone who wants to hear music that is important,but more importantly,exciting and visceral,and that guarantees a good time,this is the set to get. Still,listening to this great music makes you wonder-what more great music is still left on the reels? But this collection goes a long way in satisfying that craving (like mine) for a generous overview of TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS doing what they do best-performing great r&r in front of an audience. With that inimitable sound the band has built on all these years,you get the feeling that this band believes in the power and redemption of basic r&r. This set is even better than the 2 CD set released by Immortal,taken from a concert in 2003,in Chicago.



Do your head a favor and purchase this wonderful collection soon. And then sit back and listen to some music from one of the few long time bands that can still rock and roll."

Too Much Ain't Enough

Donovan | 11/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As told in the liner notes, this set was distilled from 3,509 tracks from 169 shows spanning the band's history. I got the collectors edition of this set which is available from the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers web site (or from Best Buy) for $99, and includes all tracks in this standard 4-CD edition, plus:



* A fifth disc with the following tracks

1) Think About Me

2) Down South

3) I Need To Know

4) Billy The Kid

5) I'd Like To Love You Baby

6) Image Of Me

7) Born In Chicago

8) Like A Diamond

9) The Last DJ

10) No Second Thoughts

11) Ballad Of Easy Rider

12) Don't Come Around Here No More

13) Too Much Ain't Enough

14) County Farm



* A blu-ray disc with all 61 tracks in crazy high fidelity audio quality



* Two DVDs - one of the "400 Days" documentary focused on the 1995 studio sessions and tour for the Wildflowers album, and one of the NYE 1978 Santa Monica show



* Vinyl reproduction of a 1976 live set with four tracks



* A bigger "liner notes" book, and some reproduced backstage passes on a sheet of cloth



So is the standard four-CD set offered here worth it? For under $20 (and less than one-fifth the cost of the deluxe version), you get 47 tracks amounting to about 4 hours of music.



For the key songs that made Petty and the band famous (Breakdown, American Girl, Refugee, The Waiting, Here Comes My Girl), this set delivers red-hot versions that rival the studio albums recorded mostly around the time the songs were new and the band had everything to prove. I've heard many live versions of these songs, and the ones included here do not disappoint.



Before the track list for this set was announced, I just hoped they would include angry, edgy vintage performances of songs like Straight Into Darkness and A Woman In Love (It's Not Me), and they did.



With those bases covered, the set proceeds to stretch out on tracks that reveal the musicianship of the Heartbreakers, in covers, extended renditions (It's Good To Be King: 12:15), and full-on improvisations (Lost Without You). At first glance, you might wonder how tracks like Melinda, Goldfinger, or Like A Diamond managed to edge out some of Petty's more celebrated songs, but the value is revealed on hearing - a great keyboard part or guitar solo, or just an instance when the band all fell in together beautifully. One gets the idea that a large part of the reason for this set (or at least its length) is to let Tom Petty share with the world some of the moments when he felt the Heartbreakers really shone bright.



That said, there are a number of well-known Petty songs that did NOT make it into this set. These include:



Rockin' Around (With You)

Listen To Her Heart

Don't Do Me Like That

Something Big

King's Road

You Got Lucky

Change of Heart

Rebels

Love Is A Long Road

Face In The Crowd

Yer So Bad

Into The Great Wide Open

You Wreck Me

Cabin Down Below

Walls



This set also carefully sidesteps live tracks that have already been released in other collections like the Playback box set (Psychotic Reaction, King's Highway), and doesn't touch Pack Up The Plantation (which I REALLY hope will be restored and re-released in its entirety as a DVD/CD combo - please?)



If any weakness could be found in this set, for me it would be the fact that I'd like to hear more of the older recordings. Many tracks in the set are post-2001, and the samples we get of tracks from 1981 (ie Nightwatchman) sound utterly fantastic. I'll probably find myself repeating those more often, and skipping tracks like I'm A Man, or Mystic Eyes.



Also, I'm surprised that more Fillmore tracks weren't included, like the epic version of Mary Jane's Last Dance (which rivals the shorter version included here), or the blazing cover of the Stones' It's All Over Now. And was there no viable recording of Hang On Sloopy?



And the final criticism - I feel bad saying this, but - Steve Ferrone's drumming (while technically very adept) just doesn't hit me in the heart like Stan Lynch's. Stan had a soulfulness that brought out the power and pathos of the songs. And the years when the band had both Stan and Howie, and those harmonies came through - it was unlike anything else. Fortunately you can hear them both on a number of these tracks.



All things considered, this is a beautiful gift to fans, offered at a pretty amazing price - whichever edition you choose."

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!

Joseph D. Beullens | 11/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Petty has time and time again proven his loyalty to his fan base. Not only releasing great albums one after another but in these retrospective box sets. I became a huge Petty fan after a friend recommended the running down a dream box set that I bought new for $15 that included 4 discs! And now he puts out 4 disc box of live cuts, ones not filled with the greatest hits only but great album tracks and awesome renditions of some superb covers. The sound quality on this is amazing, I know there is a version with the music on a blu-ray but I can't imagine the tracks sounding any better. This is a home run for the die hards and the casual fans alike. Under $20 for all this music is outrageous. At least in the throw away age of digital music Petty and the heartbreakers are keeping the album format alive with these sweet offerings. One of the greatest live sets available."