Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wake Up Time, November 14, 2002
Finally, an artist who has put together an album of songs that comment on something I've been talking to friends about for years: The pathetic state of the music business. Petty slams the industry from every angle on "The Last DJ" with a few other subjects tossed in for good measure. Choose your pick of quality material here because it's the best thing he's done since "Wildflowers" in 1994. This cd is almost as consistent as that one was, with a fire and spirit that I thought Petty would never recapture after the sluggish "Echo". The one feeling that stands out after listening to this album is depression. You can feel Petty desperately trying to find some place where music isn't prepackaged and demographized. He doesn't just sound angry he sounds hopeless as well, particularly on "Money Becomes King", "The Last DJ" and "Dreamville". It's a shame that elderstatesmen like Petty get the shaft when it comes to radio and video play. This once well-embraced artist is now viewed as over-the-hill and not worth the time. Petty is aware of this on "Joe", and it's yet another sad reminder of how radio used to be, no genres, no commercials, just lone DJs sending out messages in bottles and hoping that intelligent life received them. Who knows, maybe Petty will have sudden media attention and trendy attention paid to him like Eric Clapton did in the early 1990's.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the Most Ironic Rock Album Ever, October 28, 2002
Tom Petty carved a well-deserved niche for himself by being a musical nonconformist. Whether making power rock cool before there were hair bands or making it last long past its prime, his rockabilly style and refusal to conform to "mainstream" music standards are the very things that have made Tom popular, and repeatedly earn him top spots on the musical charts he seems to ignore.His latest work, "The Last DJ," is easily his most political album, tackling the assembly-line, corporate-controlled state of rock music rolling into the 21st century. The title track tells the tale of a rebel radio jockey, playing GOOD music because he WANTS to. Of course, the poor DJ can only find work at a tiny station in Mexico, where people can tune him in if the weather's good - if they even recognize him for what he is, and can tear their ears away from the advertising-ruled Britneys and Christinas on the other stations. Tom's got a point, boys and girls. I doubt there's anyone reading this review who hasn't bemoaned the state of popular music, and Tom lets the stops out all over the album. The other songs (with the exception of the awesome ballad "Dreamville") are extensions of the same premise, firing shots directly at the corporations responsible and the listeners for accepting spoon-fed .... Which means that the album as a whole has a much more limited appeal: Petty should have included some less-politicized music (or, maybe, music that attacked other contemporary issues). But the irony here is that Tom's right, and he knows it. Therefore, the only way to hear the songs on this album, aside from buying them from some corporate-controlled megamusicstore, is to hear them as part of the digital feed on a Clear Channel or Shamrock radio station. Petty's not the first to turn a system against itself, but much of his message gets lost when it's sandwiched between cookie-cutter poprock. Do yourself a favor, and buy the album. Shut off your radio for a bit, and listen to music as it's supposed to be. And enjoy. Final Grade: B+
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Petty Makes His Point ... and Ours ... With Style, October 27, 2002
I'm a big fan of Tom Petty's work. I've enjoyed just about everything that the man has done up to this point. But I really do love this new album. "The Last DJ" grabbed me during its first spin in my player and didn't let up for the next three repeat plays. I finally had to force myself to take it out to give another disc a chance (I have a large collection, and it was getting to be a bit unfair!).It's a solid album musically, and I think that the melodies are quite strong. "Like A Diamond", for one, gets in your head and never leaves. Simple phrases from the title song make this holder of a BS in Broadcasting quiver. And the "you'll get to be famous / I'll get to be rich" tells the tale of the current state of the music industry in one simple couplet. There are definitely some noteable influences evident on the record. Petty has out-Bruced The Boss with the simple storytelling aspect of the lyrics on this one, especially "Blue Sunday". And yes, I'm sure his fellow Wilbury, Mr. Zimmerman, also inspired Tom to not hold back with the cynicism and deeply-cutting images of the music indusrty that the new album puts forth. There is one other writer, however, who has to be acknowledged as a reason that this album exists, and that is Ray Davies. "The Last DJ" is almost a logical sequel to the Kinks 1970 album "Lola Versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round". As an exercise I imagined what tracks like Joe and The Man Who Loves Women would sound like with Ray singing lead ... and it's not a far stretch! I don't know whether or not Tom has ever stated that he is a Kinks fan ... but there simply MUST be something subconscious here. Not that anything is "lifted" from the Kinks ... but the feel is so close to something they could have done. But alas, Tom Petty did it, and my hat's off to him! He's given us a great album and a solid, honest, bold statement. And folks, let's all make a statement, too. If the station isn't broadcasting locally ... TURN IT OFF!
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