does tom petty have any redeeming qualities?

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seriously, i'm watching his behind the music...he's like whitebread america incarnate? plus his grating sub-dylan voice and his smarmy "we must destroy disco" jerkoffery. bah.

― jess, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

someone please convince me that this guy has anything going for him.

― jess, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I Can't help you here Jess. Spent too many nights suffering through the Greatest Hits (ex-roomate was a fan).

― turner, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Um, I like Johnny Cash's version of "I Won't Back Down".

Then again, I would probably like "Vision of Love" if Johnny Cash was singing it.

― Nicole, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Potentially useful gateway drug to better music -- though in the grand scheme of things not much more than the Byrds, really -- and "Don't Come Around Here No More" was, for all the smarmy 'tude, a weird burst of early eighties mainstream interestingness on the radio when I was growing up -- hey, it even had a time change at the end! Beyond that...uh...never mind.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

His Rickenbacker "signiature model" 12-string electrick guitar is very nice and I would like one.

― Norman Phay, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

but you would play prog on it right norman, not "refugee," right? please. please??

― jess, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, he gets away with writing pop songs about death more often than anybody else. Also, and I know this is asking for trouble, but he's a really good guitarist.

― John Darnielle, Monday, 31 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've never found him that attractive, he's like a rat-faced Brian Jones. But "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was OK. And I wish he'd sung "Leather and Lace" with Stevie instead of Don Henley.

I bet he really digs that Ryan Adams kid.

― Arthur, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i meant to say arthur, he looks like an apes skeleton. or like he's being slowly drained of life by the succubus.

― jess, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Good god Jess, have you never been in a CAR?

― Josh, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You mean, like that poor poor girl in Silence of the Lambs?

― David Raposa, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He's from Gainesville, Florida, my alma mater. That should be good enough. He wrote a song about the suicide of young college girl at the University of Florida there ... she lept from a dormitory tower. The suicide of a young, attractive woman will forever be a sad, tragic, literarily-symbolic event, amongst which we have the romantics to blame for.

― Chris, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He gave Depp a role in his videoclip? Suxy.

― helenfordsdale, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom Petty is so inoffensive I can't imagine anyone really hating him. He's never been pretentious or controversial. He's never embarassed himself. He writes competent straightahead pop/rock -- the kinda stuff that lets you know he probably still has concious respect for people like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, along with the Byrds and Dylan -- and he doesn't sound all that different now from how he sounded in 1979.

And that's alright, I think. Somebody's gotta make that kinda music. I like Tom Petty. I grew up listening to Tom Petty. He sounds good on a car radio or in a rural barroom (but he's not "southern rock"). There's written some nice tunes.

― Oliver Kneale, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom Petty is so inoffensive I can't imagine anyone really hating him.

well that's just it oliver. he's so innofensive i can't even work up a good hatin. he's just there. but he's not so "just there" that he doesn't crop up on vh1 whenever necessary affirming the genius of classic rock, decrying disco, or any other personal jess bugbear. and to paraphrase kodanshi, "he has a dearth of very sexy whores in his videos."

Somebody's gotta make that kinda music.

oh, really?

― jess, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the korrekt phrase iz: "TREMENDOUSLY sexy whores"

happy new yr

(at least he's not Tom Cruise...)

― mark s, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

but he's not so "just there" that he doesn't crop up on vh1 whenever necessary affirming the genius of classic rock, decrying disco, or any other personal jess bugbear.

He probably shows up on VH1 a lot because he's recognizable to both the hovering- around-40 set and younger people. I think his new records still get radio airplay. As for the classic rock/disco thing... well, that's just his taste. I like both classic rock and disco, and I'm not deeply hurt when someone else doesn't.

Somebody's gotta make that kinda music.

oh, really?

Sure, why not? It's got an audience.

― Oliver Kneale, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

he's kind of an arsehole but there are worse sinners in the whole "inoffensive" church of satan. like texas or someone.

― Ronan, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Jess Sez:but you would play prog on it right norman, not "refugee," right? please. please??

Damn fuxing right. After all, I play prog on my ricky "Suzannah Hoffs" model ;-)

― Norman Phay, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think refugee is a cool song.

― di, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

None whatsoever. He's not catchy, he doesn't rock, and he doesn't have a mood. I'm all for whitebread America but its spirit was better captured by Boston, early R. E. M., or mid-90s fucking Offspring singles. Dullness and mediocrity incarnate is more how I'd put it.

Oliver: In grade school I thought his version of "So You Want to Be a Rock n Roll Star" was one of the worst songs I'd ever heard.

Josh: I have. And I switched off the radio when he came on.

John: He is??? Should I still take your word on checking out Trey Azagoth, I wonder.

― sundar subramanian, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He's got nothing but redeeming qualities. He's like a less great Joan Jett. He's written a bunch of great songs, he's not Bono, he continues to play rock and roll and hasn't made any transparently obvious attempts to keep up with trends, he made one of the only watchable videos evah (Don't Come Around Here No More), he's not Bruce Springsteen, he's still married to the same girl (I think), he's got a sense of humor about himself, and he was good live when I saw him twenty years ago. He'd be the first to tell you that he's whitebread America incarnate--so what? What's he supposed to do about it? There are lots of people much more worthy of your scorn.

― dan, Tuesday, 1 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He may be a nice guy and all, but does that make me want to listen to him? On balance -- no. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

One of his redeeming qualities (as of right now) is his current lack of public presence. It mirrors the presence he's taking up in my headspace - as long as he doesn't smother me with his Dylanesque whine, I am quite content with his mastery of the rock/pop idiom and his dirty jangle.

― David Raposa, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom Petty has written some very good music.

― Gage-o, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Never heard of 'we must destroy disco', could be good.

I like Tom Petty but own none of his records.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I concur that Mr. Petty's written some great tunes. I mean, so what if he's not hip, are we really going to go back into that quagmire again?

― Mickey Black Eyes, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"He's like a less great Joan Jett": the word "less" is doing quite a lot of work in this sentence

― mark s, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i'll vouch that the Greatest Hits he put out circa 94 is solid and a guilty pleasure (though it doesn't include the Stevie duet, which i love), although it's been years and i dunno if i'd be able to stand it now.

and i'll stick my neck out even further and say that "American Girl" is a classic rock tune i'll never tune out in the car, and it bugs the hell outta me when shits like the Goo Goo Dolls or Everclear (who, i concede, are probably about as close to a modern equivalent as Mr. Petty has) butc

― al, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I haven't thought about him in a long time; I actually pulled out my copies of "Damn the Torpedoes" and "Hard Promises" to jar my memory, and recalled with pleasure many songs. He doesn't top my best of list, but surely he's nothing to get upset over. And yes, his Stevie duet is killer.

― Sean, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

wtf? you can't fuck with tom petty.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 10 September 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

A co-worker of mine is a huge Tom Petty fan, and it's his birthday tomorrow (not Petty's, my friend's). I actually went boppin' around the East Village looking for obscure Petty ephemera (vintage t-shirt from Damn the Torpedoes or something), but came up empty.

I liked "You Got Lucky" and a few of his earlier hits (notably "Refugee") but everything since has been prety mediocre at best.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 10 September 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

it's all about "breakdown"

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"Refugee" is the only good chord progression he ever squeezed out. The songwriting on things like "You Don't Know How It Feels" or "Running Down the Dream" is laughable.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, "Breakdown"'s alright.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

nice

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

his lyrics are bad, and his vocals can grate, but yeah he has some good tunes: "the waiting" is esp. nice.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 10 September 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"Break Down" did indeed sound tough and sexy when it was a new song. Beyond that, meh.

― briania (briania), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

but yeah a lot of his recent (i.e. past 15 years??) hits seem really lazy to me, esp. "you don't know how it feels" and "mary jane's last dance." i guess he sort of stopped trying at some point.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 10 September 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

"breakdown" has those backing vocals that actually sound a little disco to me! or sleazy, at least.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 10 September 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never understood how people can get that excited about him. I mean, yeah, he's had some good singles, but none of them have been particularly ground-breaking or life-affirming.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I find most of his songs "pleasant," and this can actually be good or bad. They don't grate or annoy, but they sometimes slip into the background. However, I have a soft spot for just about any popular act with an "ugly" voice.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

and an ugly face

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i have the first album and enjoy some of the singles. i even took the complete videos out on video once.

― kephm, Friday, 10 September 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

josh otm.

― cºzen (Cozen), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

he had a very good guitarist in mike campbell

― amateur!!st, Friday, 10 September 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah campbell and tench both rule

― cinniblount (James Blount), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I like tom petty, actually.

― cºzen (Cozen), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

he was great on the various garry shandling shows

― cinniblount (James Blount), Friday, 10 September 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 637 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

yeah but Permanent Vacation is (a) not the band's best seller (b) not considered a good album by anyone

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:40 (eleven years ago)

ok pretend he said pump

― da croupier, Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:40 (eleven years ago)

it's not an indefensible position

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:41 (eleven years ago)

Pump would def be in my top five Aerosmith

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:42 (eleven years ago)

I was torn tbh but went w/permanent vacation for ushering in the Nu-Aerosmith era

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:42 (eleven years ago)

my point is only, it's not unlike Hyden to stake out a dumb position and double down

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:43 (eleven years ago)

hey I'm more offended he thought Petty's playing with GNR showed how hip he was

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:43 (eleven years ago)

you gotta go to bat for some pairing of Aerosmith, Draw The Line, Done With Mirrors or Get A Grip for Pump NOT to be in your top 5

― da croupier, Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:44 (eleven years ago)

tbf I remember seeing petty on that tour with the Mats and the moment when Axl just strolled onstage unannounced was pretty lose-your-shit awesome

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:46 (eleven years ago)

aaaaand here's another: http://www.stereogum.com/1696031/tom-petty-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:47 (eleven years ago)

like, this dude just kinda strolls onstage and starts singing along on free fallin' and... it kinda sounds like Axl... and it kinda shimmies like Axl does in the sweet child video... but what would axl be doing in Syracuse tonight? and now they're on to knockin on heaven's door and holy shit that is really axl fucking rose up there this is bonkers.

it was 1989 we didn't know yet that he was a monster

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:54 (eleven years ago)

well, the Bogdanovich documentary wouldn't be made for another fifteen years.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:55 (eleven years ago)

solid zing

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:58 (eleven years ago)

Apparently Hypnotic Eye is his first ever #1 album.

― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 19:59 (eleven years ago)

kinda lol but mostly sad: it's bc only olds by albums

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 20:01 (eleven years ago)

well, and people who bought tickets had the option of buying the album.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 20:03 (eleven years ago)

and because 100 copies gets you a slot in the charts nowadays

― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Wednesday, 6 August 2014 20:11 (eleven years ago)

you gotta go to bat for some pairing of Aerosmith, Draw The Line, Done With Mirrors or Get A Grip for Pump NOT to be in your top 5

― da croupier, Wednesday, August 6, 2014 2:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

draw the line fucking smokes, so much better than pump gtfo

― ruffalo soldier (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 7 August 2014 18:20 (eleven years ago)

Just seeing this sentence:

It’s true that the years I’ve designated as Peak Petty coincide with the time when I personally became a Tom Petty fan, so I can be fairly accused of being self-serving. But that doesn’t mean my assessment of Petty’s career is wrong.

I was able to guess who wrote it and where it appeared

― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 7 August 2014 18:30 (eleven years ago)

Steve Hyden is really good at making me feel like I should hate something I like

― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 7 August 2014 18:32 (eleven years ago)

just be thankful he didn't do the 'underrated, overrated, properly rated' thing again

I don't know what it means that my Petty deep cuts playlist only has 3 songs in common with Hyden's. probably just a testament to the strength of Petty's catalog.

― some dude, Thursday, 7 August 2014 18:50 (eleven years ago)

hope you have Let Me Up tracks; he just chose the three tracks on the double-disc comp

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 August 2014 19:25 (eleven years ago)

everyone sleeps on runaway trains. I guess it was technically a single so maybe not deep enough?

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Thursday, 7 August 2014 19:32 (eleven years ago)

that's a great song

― ruffalo soldier (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 7 August 2014 19:36 (eleven years ago)

six months pass...

for some reason, my five year old daughter is reallllly into tom petty all of a sudden. she drew this picture of him
https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11001682_10206058481601581_2667046924968240590_n.jpg?oh=b34b76efa393faecf0f861d30a60f8ef&oe=5587AA02

― tylerw, Monday, 23 February 2015 18:23 (eleven years ago)

that mic stand is very stable

― you can buy your hair if it won't grow (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 23 February 2015 18:47 (eleven years ago)

future engineer imo

― you can buy your hair if it won't grow (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 23 February 2015 18:47 (eleven years ago)

petty plays a mean lute

― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 14:49 (eleven years ago)

Probably the Vox?

http://www.edroman.com/guitars/abstract/images/TomPettyVoxTeardrop.jpg

― how's life, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 14:51 (eleven years ago)

oh shit for sure!

― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:01 (eleven years ago)

tom should for real use that as his next album cover

― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:01 (eleven years ago)

totally.
someone pointed out it could also be sandy bull w/ his oud
https://oudmusic.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/sandy-bull-e-pluribus-unum.jpg

― tylerw, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:04 (eleven years ago)

hahah!

― how's life, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:10 (eleven years ago)

I think every kid goes through their Sandy Bull phase

― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:13 (eleven years ago)

if they've got hair

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:13 (eleven years ago)

lol yeah, an easy path from petty to bull. she'll be listening to nothing but deep oud jams from somalia in no time.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:26 (eleven years ago)

it is kind of interesting though... trying to figure out what it is exactly that makes kids respond to tom petty. i know i responded to him when i was eight or nine. it might specifically be the full moon fever album. i mean, obviously really catchy songs, but wondering if there's something about the production that gets right to a kid's brain.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:29 (eleven years ago)

i guess petty has some muppet like qualities

― tylerw, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:30 (eleven years ago)

tom should for real use that as his next album cover

m@tt OTM, somebody get Mr. Petty on the phone

― sleeve, Wednesday, 25 February 2015 15:30 (eleven years ago)

That picture is very good for a five year old!! Thanks for posting it!

― NO CLOO (I M Losted), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 21:30 (eleven years ago)

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/0a/6a/2e/0a6a2e915a250b0feb3a8df0fe32e2ca.jpg

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 25 February 2015 21:44 (eleven years ago)

two years pass...

Finally got around to listening to Howard Stern interview Jimmy Iovine and Iovine is still dissing Stan Lynch for being behind the beat. Once you hear the shaker in Refugee, you can't unhear it.

Warren Zanes' book far more interesting than I expected.

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 27 August 2017 08:31 (eight years ago)

one month passes...

What I came up with when we polled'em.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 01:47 (eight years ago)

I just came across this post of the new Petty-produced Hillman album, with some other Byrds, Heartbreakers among participants---haven't had time to listen yet, but might be redeeming: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7968856/chris-hillman-bidin-my-time-album

― dow, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 02:01 (eight years ago)

Oh man, slightly unfair to OP to dredge up this thread today.

― enochroot, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 12:45 (eight years ago)

i saw chris hillman at the opry while i was in nashville, played "turn turn turn" and a righteous bros. cover from the new record, both sounded wonderful, looking forward to checking it out

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 12:58 (eight years ago)

Tom Petty had plenty of redeeming qualities, not to mention he had the respect of a lot of prominent musicians. On the other hand, he had no classic albums and was pretty much an American phenomenon.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 13:21 (eight years ago)

Eh, I'll stand up for OP.

I'm going to keep quiet for the next couple of days though. My opinions would only sound ... *ahem* ... contemptuously trivial.

― pplains, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 13:28 (eight years ago)

Oh man, slightly unfair to OP to dredge up this thread today.

― enochroot, Tuesday, October 3, 2017

My post answered the thread question!

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 October 2017 13:34 (eight years ago)

threadstarter earlier noted on twitter that he's listening to the heartbreakers today to lift his otherwise shitty mood, so alfred's post was evidently persuasive

rip tom

― mark s, Tuesday, 3 October 2017 13:40 (eight years ago)

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