Disco de Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: “The Last DJ”

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+

Tom Petty has a lot to say and it isn't pretty. "The Last DJ" alone is worth the price of admission. This is the first song I've ever known to be banned on the radio that had NO violence, sexual content, vulgar language, reference to drugs or alcohol; the more stations that banned the song, the happier I was! Tom Petty was standing up for all the DJ's and what do they do... "Joe" has to be the creepiest song ever written. Lock up all your little girls when Joe the CEO comes to town. Yes, there are lots of classic TPHB on this cd, but this is a band still going strong for three decades, not only touring, but selling out concert dates far in advance. This is a man who has fought the industry his entire career. Why? For us! Thanks TPHB.

I was a huge Tom Petty Fan in the early 80's and 90's and then I stopped buying his (an most other Classic Rock) music after Wildflowers. I recently purchased Highway Companion (Based on it's good reviews) and I loved it. I went back and purchased all of his releases I missed including Echo, She's the One, and finally 'The Last DJ'. Echo and She's the One are classic Petty and they took me a few times of playing them before the songs grew on me. With the Last DJ I wasn't sure what I was going to get (based on some of the negative reviews and the small music clips provided on Amazon). Needless to say, I just finished listening to it and I loved it. Every song on the CD was good if not great. How this CD slipped past the masses is beyond me. If you want typical Petty, this CD may not be for you...if you want a great Classic Rock Album buy it now.

I really cannot understand why this album is getting so many bad reviews. This album is awesome. Tom Petty's music is different on this album but that doesn't mean its bad. In fact this is probably his most important because it send a great message. I read that some think its too preachy or some bullcrap..they just don't want to hear the truth, because thats what he's singing. "Money Becomes King" is a FRIGGIN AWESOME SONG!!! yall say it's too boring or slow and that it drags on and is whiny and BLAH BLAH BLAH. If thats what you think you shouldn't even be listening to TP. Don't you get it? You obviously don't care about real musicianship or great songwriting if you complain, and if you do then WHY ARE YOU LISTENING IN THE FIRST PLACE because thats the message he's getting across. The music business today care about nothing but money not musical skills or great songwriting or any substance at all.

BUT HECK, ITS NOT EVEN THEIR FAULT (EVEN PETTY UNDERSTANDS THAT THOUGH HE DOESN'T SAY IT DIRECTLY). ITS OUR FAULT! EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US. WE KEEP LOOKING FOR WHAT'S NEW OR WHATS BETTER OR WHAT WILL KEEP OUR ATTENTION THE LONGEST. THATS THE PROBLEM. SHORT FRIGGIN ATTENTION SPANS!!! "NO WE CAN'T JUST HAVE SOME SINGER ON STAGE WITH JUST A GUITAR! WE GOTTA HAVE DANCE NUMBERS AND BACKUP DANCERS, TOO, AND PYROTECHNICS, AND CONFETTI, AND NEAT LIGHTING, AND STUPID LOOKING DESIGNER CLOTHES, AND BLING-BLING, AND MIDGETS, AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE EXPOSING MY [...] LIVE AT THE SUPERBOWL IN FRONT OF FAMILIES WITH THEIR CHILDREN, AND SINGING???...NO WAY I'LL LIPSYNCH!!"

...now that i've got that off my chest...don't call tom petty a hypocrite! you say he shouldn't be complaining because he's "sitting on a big pile of cash" he got from the music biz. Where have you been?? That's not the petty i know. the petty i know has been fightin his whole career to lower his ticket prices or to lower his album prices, etc. I haven't even begun to make my point but i'll leave it at that. Just go out and buy this album. Every song is great...Especially that "long, slow, boring one" "Money Becomes King". That is the best song on here, lyrically. half the album is a excellent and the other half is decent petty material and i think that the first two tracks are worth buying this alone. believe me. if you are a REAL tom petty fan buy this. the people who gave bad reviews obviously aren't and know nothing of great songwriting or real music...or you can go listen to your justin timberlake or your ludacris cds...hmm..hard decision, eh?

A beautiful album with an all too true message.

Petty said it best himself, when he described "The Last DJ" as the first album to reach number 1 on any billboard chart without steady radio play. While this may not be the best Petty album I have ever heard, it is truly the most political. By the way that isn't a bad thing. Songs like the title track and "Dreamville" remind those of us born after 1975, both what good music is, and why we still pay good money for some albums. It is nice to see that even in the 21st century, there are still artists that are both true to their art form and successful at the the same time. For the "younger generation" this is an assertion of what the music industry could and should be.

Nothing but respect for Tom for making this album in a music industry that may have (but never should have) passed him by. Nothing but respect to one of the remaining Wilburys.