Tom

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the One More Time… LP by Blink-182. It would be easy to find a cynical angle to approach the existence and sound of One More Time…, Blink-182’s ninth studio album and first to feature singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge since 2015. Did DeLonge’s return have something to do with singer/bassist Mark Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis in 2021? Was it because everyone in the band had discovered the sting of post-Blink projects not performing as well...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Monsters LP by Tom Odell. When it comes to Tom Odell’s fourth album, Monsters, it’s very likely that listeners will find themselves wondering if context does indeed inform musical creation, to a degree. The reason for that is simple: as soon as a stylus sinks into the A-side of Monsters and “Numb” opens it, an image of Ed Kowalczyk (the once-and-again singer of York, PA’s Live – for the unfamiliar) in...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Wildflowers & All The Rest 3LP reissue by Tom Petty. Author Rae Carson once wrote that, “Some people, the best ones, are motivated more by the chance to prove themselves than by a command to serve. It is the work itself that calls them onward, especially if they believe they are the only ones who can do it.” In effect, some people do their best work – any kind of work...

The Flaming Lips American Head (Warner Brothers) From the moment they have the opportunity to hear American Head, there’s no doubt that Flaming Lips fans will rejoice at the band’s return, for several different reasons. Some fans will just be happy the band is back with new music. Other fans will be thrilled that, for for the first time in over a decade, the Flaming Lips have returned to a more rockist permutation of their sound (last time was on...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 30th anniversary picture-disc reissue of Volume 1 by The Traveling Wilburys. The term “classic” gets thrown around a lot and, often, in directions for which it isn’t actually deserved. A true, genuine-article classic is a thing that sets an enduring impression and standard to which others aspire, and/or would claim to be of a similar lineage; it’s an important portrait of a moment. The Traveling Wilburys’ first album is such a...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty. There’s no way to say for sure if the reason Tom Petty elected to launch his solo career with Full Moon Fever was because the singer felt like he had a surplus of songs that he didn’t want to bring to the Heartbreakers, or if he was just trying to make a point. If it was because he didn’t want to...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Twelve years after they started, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers found themselves in a fairly unique position in pop music: they’ve been working long enough and had been influential enough that radio waves were beginning to get crowded which artists who cited the band as an influence – or at least seemed like it. On...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of the Pack Up The Plantation: Live! 2LP set by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It’s far a far less common occurrence now (when virtually every band in the universe releases a live album and, thanks to digital technology,is able to “fix” every flaw in the show in post-production) but, at one time, the release of a live album meant that the band in question was confident enough...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of Southern Accents by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Throughout music history, many albums have been made which it is said are conflicted due to tensions apparent within the band Acoming out in the music. Some of those albums turn out to be phenomenal – there was conflict brewing in Nirvana and it came out in In Utero and it was great as were the cases with End...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of the Long After Dark LP by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. In the first half-decade of their association together, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had already hit some pretty spectacular highs and lows on a condensed timeline. Virtually from day one, the group established that they had some great potential to write hits (see “American Girl,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “Rufugee” as easy and fantastic examples),...