Customer Reviews

Mojo

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The Heartbreakers have evolved distinctly throughout their 30+ years of recording together. Listening to their catalog from the beginning to the present, one travels from an era of short, punchy garage-rock tunes in the 1970s, to the laid-back pop hits of the Jeff Lynne era, to their current period of meditative rock planted firmly in the band's primordial roots.

It's a natural progression, what with Petty's lament of modern music with the Last DJ in 2002, his efforts to keep '60s and '70s-era classic rock alive through his Buried Treasure radio show, the success of last year's Live Anthology, and a rapidly decentralizing music industry that's no longer ruled by the gatekeepers of Top 40 radio. It almost seems that Mojo just... had to be.

If Mudcrutch was Petty's country album, Mojo is his foray into blues recording (sprinkled with a little psychedelia and reggae to taste). Like Mudcrutch, Mojo is freewheeling, high-energy, and upbeat, and prone to a little jam session here and there -- which would have been unthinkable in the days of the neatly-trimmed Full Moon Fever or Into the Great Wide Open. Without a single bad song in the mix, Mojo is a cohesive album you can listen to from beginning to end.

Personally, I am digging latter-day Tom Petty. The band is as good as they've ever been, and each member seems to have increasing freedom to showcase their immense instrumental talents and unrivaled ability to complement one another. Mike Campbell's guitar is on fire through the whole album, and Scott Thurston breaks out of his shell with fine blues harmonica on several tracks.

As a departure from the past musical stylings that made the band successful, Mojo will certainly raise some eyebrows and not be to everyone's liking. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. These guys aren't trained monkeys paid to crank out the same songs over and over again. They're world-class musicians, and they deserve the chance to breathe a little. Play on, boys.

64 minutes in length approximately. The sound is clean with a slight blending ("bleeding") of instruments that's one of the trademarks of musicians playing together in one room. The disc is slipped in,bare,inside the cardboard fold-out holder,which,inside,has a posed,b&w photograph of the group in the studio. The booklet contains the lyrics to each song,along with recording dates. There are b&w photos of the group throughout the booklet.

That subtle feeling of recording together is Petty's (and the band's) nod to recordings done "in the old days",when there was a certain sound and feel to rock 'n' roll albums. This is another indication (another being the live set released a while back) of Petty's mind set of late-straightforward,honest music,played by a band who know their way around. At this stage in Petty's (and the bands)career,it would be easy to try and sound "contemporary",or worse,simply rely on past glories. Instead they have produced an honest collection of real music. Sitting across from each other seems to have invigorated the band into playing some of their finest music yet,especially guitarist Mike Campbell.

This album is full of r&r,blues,country,and anything else (the reggae feel of "Don't Pull Me Over") they feel like playing-all with that Petty/Heartbreakers sound. There's even a jazzy walking-bass line underneath the opening guitar salvo,on "First Flash of Freedom",which,throughout,very subtly anchors and carries this song. This track also has the sound and feel (especially the vocals) of Petty's solo album "Highway Companion",and would fit snugly in that album. The album is a good balance of up tempo songs ("Candy") and slower ballads ("The Trip to Pirate's Cove") that together paint a true picture of this band. Tracks like "I Should Have Known It","Jefferson Jericho Blues",'Running Man's Bible",and "U.S. 41",among others are full of that bluesy (especially "Takin' My Time"),r&r sound,that,combined with Petty's images,through his lyrics,show that the band has been re-ignited in the studio.

Everyone will have their favorites,but most long time listeners will probably agree that the bands sound and approach has been re-energized. Maybe it's Petty's stage of life,maybe it's Petty's and the bands reaction to present day music,maybe a combination of things. But whatever the reason(s)this album is an example,an affirmation,of how basic rock 'n' roll should sound. With this album TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS are keeping rock 'n' roll alive. Hopefully the band will continue to play (and record) music like this in the future-but for now,this collection of songs will do nicely.

We've all been there with a rock 'n roll act past their prime. They release a "blues" album. And it's OK. There are like 3 catchy songs and 8-10 mediocre songs. So when I heard Mojo was coming and it was "bluesy" with a "reggae" track my heart sank a little. Here we go again...

Well, I'm happy to say there is not that album. The songs are wonderful. This is easily Petty's best effort since Wildflowers. Yes, there is a definite blues influence but it still sounds like a Heartbreaker's album, too. The playing is top-notch. These songs sound great. Stuff I didn't even initially like (First Flash of Freedom) now sounds like it belongs in permanent rotation on the iPod. This is really good stuff.

On a more curious note, I have a playlist on my iPod called "new stuff" that basically has everything downloaded to the iPod in the last 30 days and today it had the Stone's Exile on Main Street and this album in it. The two really complemented each other very well as I listened to it. I never thought of the Stones as a big Petty influence but it is definitely there on Mojo. This may be the first album I spring for the Blu-Ray version. This band really sounds fantastic on this album.

First of all the music is great. Mike Campbell's guitar playing really stands out throughout the whole disc. He's normally somewhat buried in the mix on Petty albums but not this time. My wife and I both sat listening to this on a very good deftech surround system and between songs we both kept commenting how great the music sounded. The surround mix is pretty transparent, you know it's there but it never jumps out from behind you. Maybe a little too transparent for my tastes but still well done. The bluray sound quality is excellent too. I also own the Neil Young Archives on bluray and was very disappointed in the lack of surround. And like the Neil Young bluray you can download all the songs for free and in several different high quality formats. I own well over 100 surround SACD and DVD Audio discs and was extremely disappointed when the record labels abandoned the formats. So I'm very thankful to Tom Petty for this release and hope more artists follow his lead.

Just finished my second listen. Now, I'm not a huge TP fan, but I wanted to support the new format of hi-def audio.

This is a very well put together BD-A. The 5.1 spacing is superb. So very natural and smooth. Just pop in the disc & it plays...so no worry about having to turn on your TV.

I am very pleased with the purchase, worth evey dollar!

(This was edited after having listened to the CD pretty much non-stop for 4 or 5 days. It's still as great as my review below says it is!)

The great blues classic, "I Got My Mojo Workin'" should have been covered by the guys and added as a "hidden" bonus track. That classic song sums up what this music is -- proof that Petty and the Heartbreakers are still relevant and, man, do they have their mojo workin'! I love this CD! I was going to download it, but after sampling it, I knew I wanted the "real deal" and bought the CD. (I ripped it to mp3 for my iPod, and I've listened to it every night as I drift off to sleep.)

There is not a single weak track among the 15 on this CD, which runs 64 minutes! It was recorded "live in the studio" and it has that spontaneity that comes with live recordings. The sequencing of the songs is great. You're immediately pulled in by the first track, a toe-tapping Jefferson Jericho Blues, then drop into a relatively slow 6-minute First Flash of Freedom. From there, it's just contagious and song-by-song you can't hit "eject" on the CD player! This CD is addicting, so beware, ye of weak heart and will!

The last few Petty albums have been, well, depressed and kind of boring. Here, Petty is back with the Heartbreakers for their first release in eight years, and the energy the guys in the band bring to this CD is just awesome!

There are no standout hits on this (no Refugee, no American Girl, etc.). Instead, the CD is all top-notch songs that are really quite different than what Tom Petty has ever done. I've always considered him a "California rocker," but with this rock-meets-swamp/rock-meets R&B effort, I am tempted to classify him for this as "Southern Rock." I think Petty's southern influences have really come forth on this CD and I can't stop listening to it.

If you like the sad, dreary, contemplative Petty, this is NOT for you. If you're having a party and want some music that gets people up and on their feet doing a little booty shaking, then buy this CD immediately!

It's my favorite CD of 2010 so far!

There has been much written about this terrific album already. Let's just say it's one of the best American bands ever, hitting on all four cylinders. They have made great music through their entire career and haven't been concerned with following any trends,doing what they do the way they want to do it. Tom & company are at the top of their game, making up the rules as they go. That said, I applaud this release in High Def as another example of them going outside the box. The difference between the blu-ray and the cd is staggering. This album is recorded so well it even holds up pretty well in mp3, but the blu-ray is a revelation. The debate between digital and analog has been fought for so long and no the war is coming to an end. This is by far the highest quality consumer format to date.If you own a nice system capable of playing the high resolution formats you owe it to yourself to listen to this. There is no going back now for me, I welcome many more albums to be released this way. In this age of mp3s, it's great to hear someone still cares about "real" sound.

The naysayers just don't get it. At this point Petty has nothing to prove to anyone - he can do whatever the eff he wants. This great album shows him to be very relaxed and creative. He and the band even try reggae and psych, and it all works so well. The musicianship is absolutely stunning. It is evident these guys had a blast jamming and creating music together, and the result is a very warm and rich record. It's mellow, but energetic, and with an undertone of restlessness. Petty's voice is better than ever and lyrically, he often keeps it simple, but the lyrics are memorable. I've been a Petty fan for years, and yeah it's not like his other albums. But if you ask me, Mojo is a masterpiece and possibly his best yet.

First of all, I must say I am in my middle 40's and have owned every album, single, side project, and soundtrack Tom has ever put out. Put simply, Tom is my favorite artist of all time. I'm so glad that Iam the age I am to have enjoyed his entire career as it happened.

On to the album. Easy. It's Brilliant. Yes, it's not going to appeal to those that like Tom just for his catchy "Free Falling" type of songs. But us fans who love Tom's experimental and deeper side, it's simply a gorgeous album. Tom can tackle any "form" he wants to whether it be pop, rock, country, blues, reggae. At the end, it's gonna have that "Petty" vibe no matter what.

My God, how gorgeous is "Something good coming", my favorite track. I tend to love Tom best in his more subtle music and the song exemplifies how Tom's style of simplistic beauty just lets it breathe at the right pace.
Other favorites are Pirates Cove, Don't Pull Me Over, Candy, First Flash of Freedom.

In addition, while Mike Campbell is relatively unknown to the casual fan and underrated in every guitarist mention. This is probably Mike's biggest showcase of an album. This is definitely a guitarists album. Kids taking guitar lessons, listen up. It's not all about speed and aggression, it's about tone and finding the right phrasing to match the song, and perhaps nobody is better at that than Campbell

Here's to Tom's "new" sound, I guess, but for us old-timers, it's not new, it's just......Tom freakin Petty.

Finally got a chance to listen to Petty's latest, MOJO, which has been released on Bluray in a 5.1 surround mix. There was an informative cover story in last month's Sound and Vision magazine about therecording process and I have to say Petty succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish with this mix. I wasn't a big fan of the DTS mixes made in the late 90s (with the exception of Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth) because they were too gimmicky (cymbal crashes in the rear - really?). Petty's vocals weave in and out of the various speakers on "First Flash of Freedom" and "The Trip to Pirate's Cove" and it's a neat effect. Benmont Tench's keyboards are the real benefactors of this mix. Overall, the songs have more definition and depth. It's just too bad the songs themselves aren't better; this is pleasant Petty but it's not classic. Hat's off for the try and I hope more musicians take advantage of the higher resolution BluRay offers. If the labels would release high rez releases for audiophiles like us with extras (for example, on screen lyrics and guitar tabs would be nice or a commentary track) for $25 and a barebones edition for the general public under $10, they might have been able to stave off downloads.