Hypnotic Eye - is tremendous. I know it seems like Hyperbole now that Tom has passed but I'm not kidding this record rocks. It starts out with a crunch American Dream Plan B. As usual Tom's lyrics aren't pulling any punches and just as your neck is getting sore from the head banging the band segues out into a light melodic chorus with full chord strums. At the two minute mark Mike cranks out some classic Chuck Berry licks and oh yeah this is rock n roll.
Fault Lines is mixed right onto the heels of the first track and the bass line is to die for I freakin' love it and the fuzz tone on the guitar is fantastic. Then enters Tom's voice singing about broken promises. I love this cut fantastic - give me more.
Red River veers back into the crunchy riffs of American Dream Plan B but the strength of this cut are Tom's lyrics - She’s got a 3D Jesus in a picture frame, Got a child she’s never named, She shakes a snake above her hair, Talks in tongues when there’s no one there. There's a nice short little acoustic measure in the middle of the song followed by Mike shredding it up and in an instant we are back to the verse.
The thing I love about this album is how each song is put together and arranged by Tom and the Band plus the mixes from one tune to the next are clean, tight and perfect. They flow effortlessly into one another.
The next tune Full Grown Boy has a gentle shuffle. It's quiet with shades of Kenny Burrell as the lead guitar takes on the tone of a classic hollow body. Love it!
Just as we are all chilled and relaxed in comes the heavy again with Tom singing about ghosts and then the stand out chorus of the disc comes in "Take What You Can All That You Can Carry". There's a little Steeley Dan feel to some measures but it has a rock beat that Mike just screams over. I love how they switch the tones of the guitars here back and forth between the verse and the chorus. At the top of their game people. All you Can Carry is a great tune.
Power Drunk the next tune should just play in the Oval Office 24/7. It has some interesting tone and textures again harkening back to early Steeley Dan just for comparrison if you haven't gotten familiar with this album.
Forgotten Man is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers doing what they do best charging mightly through Tom's lyrics. There is a nice acoustic break in the middle of the song before Mike rips our faces off again. Thanks Mike I love it when you do that!
Sin's of my youth opens up as if a film noir detective movie is starting and Tom's Lyrics settle quietly and lightly on the bands arrangements. Time for a little introspection and reflection and I love you more than the sins of my youth floats along with Benmonts keyboard. Very nice and chill and perfectly placed in the sequence of songs.
U Get Me High understands how light Sins of my Youth was and doesn't charge back in so hard. It retains some of that free floating melody we all love about Tom's tunes. And if you listen closely the bass is having a ball high stepping through the verse. This song also introduces different textures of guitar than we have heard before. All of their tunes are little rock n roll symphonies that always manage to hit the sweet spot.
Burnt Out Town brings Tom's humor up front in the opening and in the lyrics. It definitely swings and has a Bo Diddley feel to it with touches of Barrell House keyboards and a wailing harmonica. This tune puts you squarely on main street with one gas station and dirt roads.
Shadow people closes with a cultural statement about us. That one's thinking of great art...that one's strapped on a gun and joined up with the herd. We get almost a pink floyd like break in the middle of the tune with a subtle heartbeat around moody blue like guitar chords until someone pokes Mike and we are back gristling under our collective societal ills.
And it is because we are so inundated with those ills as we speak that I'm surely going to miss Tom's insight, the bands swagger and from a musical standpoint just the sheer intelligence and taste of their arrangements and productions.
In short this is a great album. There are a many touches of acoustic guitars peppering the heavy and the bass lines are imaginative, funky and all the tunes shift and turn. The arrangements are sophisticated and righteous. The shifting guitar tones jangle and explode, and the drum kit drives everything beautifully. This is just a great band doing its thing and in expert fashion. You have to pay attention to everything and not miss the endings as they transit into the next song. The whole thing feels like a movie score it moves so brilliantly from song to song but also within each song. Its in heavy rotation at my house and we are rockin with our bad selves. We love you for that and more Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
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