Tom Petty

Forget about the studio sheen of Long After Dark. Stacked with rippin' solos, the Heartbreakers devil-may-care rendering of the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock 'N Roll Star" is their way of asserting that they're a real deal, larger-than-life rock act. Stevie Nicks' raunchy back up vocals on the second tune, the Sonny Bono-penned "Needles & Pins," only underscores this, as does the addition of bashing cadenzas to the band's classic tunes. Among the stellar moments here, "Breakdown" steals the show, with Petty's ranting banter making for an astounding testament to his ability as a showman.

On Tom Petty and the heartbreakers' best albums, Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises,
they mined rich sources, most often the Byrds and the Rolling Stones, and made those
sounds their own. Petty's recent work has been less consistent, but on this live double
album he still sounds impassioned and impressive when he lays into his early songs (such as
"I Need to Know" or "American Girl," both included here) or a well-chosen cover... More >