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Tom Petty Retrospective
Thomas Earl Petty, better known as Tom Petty (October 20, 1950 - October 2, 2017) was nothing short of a legend in the music world. So much so that one can easily forget that his beginnings were rather humble. Unlike other musicians that I've covered such as Steven Wilson or Trent Reznor, Tom wasn't a visionary or innovative. Just a singer who had a passion for folk-tinged rock that managed to play all his influences (namely The Beatles and The Byrds) on his sleeve as a badge of honor rather than something to hide. What made Tom Petty special wasn't that he broke ground, but that he and his band The Heartbreakers played tired-and-true rock-and-roll with the best of them.
Given that the discography of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers clocks in at twelve studio albums, this won't be a Heartbreakers-only retrospective. Tom also released three solo albums between 1989 and 2006, the first of which (Full Moon Fever) contains three staples of classic-rock radio: "Runnin' Down a Dream" "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down." Additionally, the last decade of Tom's life involved the reformation of his pre-Heartbreakers band called Mudcrutch (where Tom played bass), which released two albums- the second of which was the last album released during Tom's lifetime.
But no mention of Tom Petty would be complete without touching upon the 80's/90's supergroup titled The Travelling Wilburys, a band which consisted of Roy Oribison, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra), and Bob Dylan. It's hard to imagine a supergroup with a more formidable lineup- except maybe if you swapped Jeff with Brian May (guitarist of Queen) or add in a Rolling Stone. And this retrospective will cover both albums from The Travelling Wilburys and examine the circumstances behind the supergroup's formation (which is much more humble than one would expect).
As for lyrical and musical analysis in this retrospective, they won't be as pervasive as in the Steven Wilson or Nine Inch Nails retrospectives. Mostly because the lyrics of Tom Petty usually aren't as deep or analytically dense as either artist. There are exceptions- most notably the songs from the Travelling Willbury's whose lyrics were written by Bob Dylan.
Albums covered:
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1976)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It! (1978)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes (1980)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Hard Promises (1981)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Long After Dark (1982)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Southern Accents (1985)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) (1987)
The Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (1989)
The Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (1990)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open (1991)
Tom Petty - Wildflowers (1994)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Echo (1999)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - The Last DJ (2002)
Tom Petty - Highway Companion (2006)
Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch (2008)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Mojo (2010)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye (2014)
Mudcrutch - 2 (2016)
Nine Inch Nails Retrospective
Formed in October of 1988 by producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer, and bandleader Trent Michael Reznor (b. May 17, 1965), Nine Inch Nails (or NIN) play a crucial role in the slow dominance of electronic music over the last three decades. Ironically, NIN secured their place in the popular music canon via their least-accessible material: 1994's The Downward Spiral and 1999's The Fragile. Indeed, Trent's primary influences were the works of David Bowie (especially the Berlin Trilogy) and Pink Floyd, two artists whose also contain far more depth than the surface-level details give off.
However, NIN began as a project where Trent authored all the electronic sampling work (done so effectively that it almost didn't matter whether they were real instruments or not). But one aspect of Trent's brilliance didn't take full-flower until The Downward Spiral: his impeccable sense of how experimental production techniques can add to an already-solid song. Trent's production techniques achieve details that leave listeners wondering how Trent made the sounds while also finding the sound a perfect complement to the incredibly-bleak lyrics.
And that bleak lyrics are true of NIN on nearly every album. In fact, Steven Wilson's lyrics are an apt comparison since both have extremely dark lyrical content. The difference being that Trent's lyrics have a habitual focus on depression and personal failure. Even after he found success, Trent discovered new methods and more elaborate methods to attain a similar effect while still remaining true to the sense of humanity: as found on 2007's Year Zero and the EP Trilogy (2016-2018).
Albums covered:
Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
Broken EP (1992)
The Downward Spiral (1994)
The Fragile (1999)
With Teeth (2005)
Year Zero (2007)
Ghosts I-IV (March 2008)
The Slip (May 2008)
Hesitation Marks (2013)
The EP Trilogy (2016-2018)
Not The Actual Events (2016)
Add Violence (2017)
Bad Witch (2018)