[.ca] Playback

From Amazon.com:
Tom Petty peaked early. In 1974, Petty's northern Florida bar band, Mudcrutch, moved to L.A., signed a deal with Shelter Records, and transformed itself into Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. By 1976, they had released their self-titled debut album, a seemingly impossible blend of the Byrds' jangly harmonies and Southern-California idealism with the Rolling Stones' bluesy punchiness and working-class grittiness. The rhythm section rocked; Mike Campbell was an effortlessly elegant guitarist, and Petty himself was a passionate singer. By the third album, 1979's Damn the Torpedoes, the band was creating such timeless rock & roll singles as "Refugee" and "Even the Losers." By 1980 their best music was behind them. The rhythms slackened; the melodies no longer grabbed; the performances lacked the same urgency. They played with admirable craft and sold millions of records, but they never again made music as powerful as their first three albums. This creates a serious imbalance in this box set, "Playback" (MCA), which fits 21 songs from the first four albums onto one overwhelming CD and then fills up another five CDs with 71 more tracks, which suffer by comparison. For the hardcore Petty fan, though, Playback is a treasure trove of obscurities. While most box sets adopt an 80/20 split between greatest hits and rarities, "Playback" is closer to 50/50, and includes B-sides never released in album form, rare Mudcrutch cuts, shelved studio tracks, and cover versions of songs by Jimmy Reed, Conway Twitty, and Elvis Presley. --Geoffrey Himes

somethin' else........:
this is a real mixed-bag of musical styles, & listening here, you realise what an accomplished all-round artist tom is, "Casa Dega" is totally beautiful, the intro bass beats, the lyrics, the soaring guitars & harmonies, love it! "lonely weekends" he does a little rockabilly here, & he does it very well - a great upbeat live track, with an infectious beat. "the apartment song" is incredibly catchy, impossible to get out of your head. the original versions of "stop draggin' my heart around" & "ways to be wicked" i love, for their more raw sound. "the damage you've done" a country classic, i totally love this, as sure as there's feathers on a chicken....... god, what else? the classic tom songs, "free fallin'" can't listen to this without envisioning Tom Cruise in-car karaoke moment(jerry mcguire), & always feel i'd like to do this myself...... also love the guitars on this song. "Insider(hard promises)" is a beautiful sad song, love the lyrics (i bet you're his masterpiece, i bet you're his self-control, yeah, you'll become his legacy....) i really could go on forever about these songs, i'm having trouble remembering..... "cry to me" is another beautiful rock/& roll ballad. i'm sure i'm gonna miss something out here, "runnin' down a dream" is another great song, really upbeat, great in-car beat. overall, this is a brilliant collection, some songs i don't listen to, but others i really love. "peace in la" a gorgeous christmas type song.... "kings highway" is another i love.

The Ultimate Tom Petty Anthology:
PLAYBACK is a six-piece boxed set that's the ultimate anthology of Tom Petty's timeless music. It features almost all of his greatest songs, and even though it misses some gems, what's here can inspire people to work harder to achieve their goals and dreams, as well as to be more loyal to the ones they care about. And the rarities! Yes, these tracks are mostly quite good and often great. Most notable are "Make That Connection" and "Waiting For Tonight", the latter of which features all of the Bangles singing backup vocals. If you can afford PLAYBACK, by all means, buy it. The rewards are worth the extra cost.

More styles of music:
This review is intended to supplement the more detailed reviews others have written. I might have purchased this collection sooner had a reviewer told me that I could expect to hear Tom performing at least one EXCELLENT (and, coincidentally, previously unreleased) song from genres not usually associated with him, e.g., rockabilly, country, reggae, soul. The other thing worth mentioning is that the previously unreleased tracks are (for the most part) fully and finely finished, so they collectively count as a new "album" (even the so-called home demo has great sound). If you want to get to know this artist, you are NOT at liberty to ignore this set.

But what about...?:
Great set of (very) early to nearly-latest work. But I agree with the overall assessment that cramming representation of the first four albums into one disc is an injustice. I mean, where's "Strangered in the Night," huh? OK, so that's a personal guilty pleasure of mine, but isn't pandering to guilty pleasures what a six-disc box set is supposed to do? But in all, a great archive of an important rock'n'roll artisan.

'The Best of Everything' just got better:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the band that consistently reinvents itself, yet stays the same, has done it again. The first Heartbreakers album I listened to was "Wildflowers" and I got hooked. Each song is so different and yet they sound so similar. Since then, I've become a fanatic of this music--"Anthology: Through the Years," "Echo," "Their Greatest Hits," and, finally, this collection of works, reaffirm what I've come to know: That this band is true genius. If you're a borderline fan of the Heartbreakers--that is to say that you own one or two of their albums--then you need this collection, more than anyone. Well-established fans should already have this in their collections. Like I've said before, no two of their songs sound the same, and yet they're quite similar. That is to say, most (if not all of the tunes) are great, but each for different reasons. Just buy any of their works and you'll know exactly what I mean.

• Breakdown
• American Girl
• Hometown Blues
• Anything That's Rock & Roll
• I Need to Know
• Listen to Her Heart
• When the Time Comes
• Too Much Ain't Enough
• No Second Thoughts
• Baby's a Rock & Roller
• Refugee
• Here Comes My Girl
• Even the Losers
• Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)
• Don't Do Me Like That
• Waiting
• Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
• Something Big
• Thing About You
• Insider
• You Can Still Change Your Mind
• You Got Lucky
• Change of Heart
• Straight into Darkness
• Same Old You
• Rebels
• Don't Come Around Here No More
• Southern Accents
• Make It Better (Forget About Me)
• Best of Everything
• So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
• Don't Bring Me Down
• Jammin' Me
• It'll All Work Out
• Mike's Life/Mike's World
• Think About Me
• Self-Made Man
• Free Fallin'
• I Won't Back Down
• Love Is a Long Road
• Runnin' Down a Dream
• Yer So Bad
• Alright for Now
• Learning to Fly
• Into the Great Wide Open
• All or Nothin'
• Out in the Cold
• Built to Last
• Mary Jane's Last Dance
• Christmas All over Again
• Casa Dega
• Heartbreakers Beach Party
• Trailer
• Cracking Up
• Psychotic Reaction \oLive\c
• I'm Tired Joey Boy \oLive\c
• Lonely Weekends \oLive\c
• Gator on the Lawn
• Make That Connection
• Down the Line
• Peace in L.A. \oPeace Mix\c
• It's Rainin' Again
• Somethin' Else \oLive\c
• I Don't Know What to Say to You
• King's Highway \oLive\c
• On the Street
• Depot Street
• Cry to Me
• Don't Do Me Like That \oMudcrutch Version\c
• I Can't Fight It
• Since You Said You Loved Me
• Louisiana Rain \oVersion\c
• Keeping Me Alive
• Turning Point
• Stop Draggin' My Heart Around \oDemo Version\c - Tom Petty, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• Apartment Song \oDemo Version\c
• Big Boss Man
• Image of Me
• Moon Pie
• Damage You've Done \oCountry Version\c
• Got My Mind Made Up \oOriginal Version\c
• Ways to Be Wicked
• Can't Get Her Out
• Waiting for Tonight
• Travelin'
• Baby Let's Play House
• Wooden Heart
• God's Gift to Man
• You Get Me High
• Come on Down to My House
• You Come Through
• Up in Mississippi Tonight