Mojo

Some time in the last few years Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers took a left turn. Maybe it was when Petty woke up in the night with the idea of reuniting his first band, Mudcrutch, to cut the album they never got a chance to make back in the early 70's. Maybe it was when the Heartbreakers assembled the mammoth multi-disc 'The Live Anthology,' which detailed thirty years of concerts. Maybe it was when they gave all their home movies, outtakes and live footage to director Peter Bogdanovich to create the Grammy-winning four-hour career documentary 'Runnin Down A Dream.' There have been side projects and experiments since the band last went into the studio to cut a new Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers album.
With 'MOJO,' they have taken their recent freedom and experimentation to heart. They have gone off the reservation and all signs indicate they aren't coming back.

The first thing that hits you about 'MOJO' is that the spirit of the Mudcrutch sessions has carried on with the Heartbreakers. This is the sound of a band playing together in a room not a studio - facing each other, all singing and playing at the same time. The music is alive, with no overdubs or studio trickery. What you hear is what they created on the spot at that time.

Tom Petty says, 'With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band. 'MOJO' is where the band lives when it's playing for itself.'

As for the songs, 'MOJO' showcases a wide variety of American music from rock 'n' roll to country and both electric and acoustic blues. And then there are the images in Petty's lyrics which slip in on the melodies and set up a home in your head: The barefoot girl in the high grass chewing on a stick of sugar cane, the run-in with the law that begins when a carload of buddies decide to party with the motel maids, and the hilariously audacious idea of opening an album with an electric blues rocker about Thomas Jefferson's love affair with Sally Hemings. Petty would probably chuck a rock at anyone who called him a poet, but he sure is a southern writer of humor and sensitivity.

'MOJO' has juice and guts but it also has some sweet balladry for the slow dancers and even a wacked-out reggae number that is unlike anything that the Heartbreakers have done before. It's the kind of album nobody's supposed to be able to make anymore. It got here just in time. read more..

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Mojo Petty! by D. Hill
Wow, I am really enjoying listening to Mojo! I recently bought tix to see Tom Petty in Phoenix and as a bonus they gave me this album to download. 1st of all, I am a guitar player and am pleasantly surprised by the great guitar playing and the recording sound overall. From what I understand, this album was basically recorded live in the studio. I bet most bands today could not record an album like that. TP and the HB have no problem because they are a great live band. The interplay and dynamics of the recording is fantastic. You get 15 songs and most of them are great. Some of my favs are, Running Mans Bible- which has a great hook and cool guitar fills, Pirates Cove, No Reason to Cry- notice how the 1st chord sounds like the Free Fallin' Chord..., Takin' my Time - cool guitar tone, Let Yourself Go - a toe tapper that reminds me a little of Baby Please Don't Go, Don't Pull me Over - has a little Reggae fell to it, and Good Enough - which definitely is good enough! One of my pet peeves is fade outs at end of songs. Since this is recorded basically live in the studio, I would rather have no fade outs so you could hear the live ending, BUT, they do give plenty of time at the end of the song for leads etc. And not all songs fade out - Good enough is one... This is an album I have listened to over and over and can't say that for a lot of the music out today. Get this cd and you will enjoy it like I have. Keep on rockin' Tom Petty!!!