Bliss in a box

*Opening note*
Being a huge Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fan I bought this boxed set as soon as i found out it existed... I believe it to be a masterpiece, and have been patiently waiting for epinions to add it to the list of reviewable items... the first day they did I began this marathon of a review hoping to convey just how much I like this boxed set. I have spent a good number of hours, probably in excess of 7, writing, rereading, and revising this review in hopes that it will meet the high standard of quality set by the item I am reviewing - now here is the culmination of all my work - enjoy, and thanks for taking the time to read it.

*Second Note*
At points in this review you will see an asterisk (*) this appears when I am reciting a fact from the book that came with the boxed set, written by Bill Flannigan (C) 1995
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19 years, 11 albums, and countless live performances after they stepped onto the music scene, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released a career retrospective in the form of "Playback," a boxed set from MCA records. To say this is a great boxed set is an understatement, to say this is the single best collection of music ever is still an understatement... I can't think of a way to describe the contents of this boxed set, other than to call it simply, "Bliss in a box."

This boxed set contains 6 CDs jammed packed with everything from widely known greats like "Free Fallin'" to obscure b-sides and unreleased tracks such as the incredible "Waiting for Tonight." If these 6 CDs aren't enough it also comes with a great roughly 80 page book that contains the story of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from Gainsville to super-stardom.
I found this account of their story, which includes comments taken from interviews and other sources, to be very well written, and I especially like near the end of the notes where things are summed up so well, as follows..

"... And there at the front of the stage is Petty, with Campbell at his side hunched over a guitar and Benmont behind the piano, watching everything that happens with the attention of a secret service man.

After more than twenty years there's still Tom, Mike and Ben - the three guys who drove that caravan out of Gainsville on April Fool's Day when Richard Nixon was President and the war in Vietnam was being fought. Campbell knocks the sentimentality back with a wisecrack: "We were the cool ones."

In addition to "The Story of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" the book also contains band members comments and memories on every song included in the set (which is where a great deal of the little pieces of trivia about some songs that I include later in this review comes from). It also includes a complete listing of people who performed on each track, which I found interesting.

In addition to the book, the boxed set also comes with a replica backstage pass from the Strange Behavior tour (the tour supporting "Full Moon Fever"), it's not usable, but is a neat little trinket for die hard petty fans, which I happen to be.

Those are fine extras, but now onto the real reason for buying the boxed set, the CDs! To be more specific, "The Big Jangle," "Spoiled and Mistreated," "Good Booty," "The Other Sides," "Through the Cracks," and "Nobody's Children." These 6 CD's serve to show the progress made by Petty and the Heartbreakers from what I believe are the oldest tracks, "On the Street" and "Up in Mississippi Tonight" both recorded circa 1973, when the Heartbreakers were Mudcrutch, a small time band with more dreams than money, and more talent than limitations, to "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and several other songs recorded in 1993, when they were, as they are now, full blown Rock legends.

(For the purpose of keeping this review from being more obscenely long than it already is, I’ve kept the reviews of the first three CDs brief, as these CDs contain, with the notable exception of “Christmas All Over Again,” on the “Good Booty” CD, nothing that hasn’t already been on one or more albums.)

The Big Jangle
The first CD of the bunch is "The Big Jangle." It is perhaps the strongest CD in the set, as it spans the bands first four albums and contains many of the songs that are now considered classics, such as "Breakdown," "American Girl," "Refugee," "The Waiting," and many others. It also contains many less know, yet high quality songs such as "Too Much Ain't Enough," "No Second Thoughts," "You Can Still Change Your Mind," and several others that serve to make this CD as high quality as any I’ve ever listened to.

Spoiled And Mistreated
The Second CD in the collection, titled “Spoiled and Mistreated” contains songs from albums, "Long After Dark," “Southern Accents,” “Pack Up the Plantation (Live),” and “Let Me up (I’ve Had Enough).” This CD contains few well known classics, but does sport several of my personal favorites, including “Southern Accents,” “Best of Everything,” “Jammin’ Me,” and “Straight Into Darkness” just to name a few. This CD lacks the big name songs, but does not relent in the quality department. It even has two live covers, one of the Byrd’s “So You Want To Be A Rock n Roll Star” and the Animals “Don’t Bring Me Down” both songs contain a certain energy, a life force that best comes across in live music, and are excellent additions to the CD, and the set as a whole.

Good Booty
The third CD, and the last that fits into the album retrospective category, is "Good Booty." This collection opens with perhaps Petty’s most loved song, Free Fallin’” and continues with a few more tracks from “Full Moon Fever” before going on to encompass “Into the Great Wide Open,” includes the rockin’ “Mary Jane's Last Dance,” and even contains “Christmas All Over Again,” *a track from “A Very Special Christmas II.” This is one rockin’ Christmas song, definitely one I like to crank up around the holidays to spread a little Christmas cheer.

The Other Sides
This CD, which features, b-side releases from the Heartbreakers many singles starts out with the song "Casa Dega." How this song about a *town full of gypsies and fortune tellers (which is actually spelled Cassa Dega) was relegated to the b-side of a few different singles is beyond me, as this dark sounding shadowy tune has become a personal favorite of mine. "Heartbreakers Beach Party" is a fun song that was probably better left off any albums, but fits very well in a set like this, it's just Petty and the boys having some fun, one thing that I found humorous was at the very end of the track, when the music dies down you hear Petty say sarcastically, "Another modern classic." Well, "Heartbreakers Beach Party" isn't exactly a classic, but it's sure fun to sing along with and laugh at. The next song on the album is "Trailer" a really great song that would have fit so well on "Southern Accents," which is the album it was written for, but not ultimately included on. Instead it was released on the flip side of "Don't Come Around Here No More." "Cracking Up," *which is a cover of a song written by Nick Lowe, is a really cool sounding rock song. The Heartbreakers pull off a fabulous rendition of this song, complete with Petty giving some uncharacteristicly "crunchy(?)" vocals that really give the song a unique feel. Directly following "Cracking Up" is "Psychotic Reaction" sung by (now former)drummer Stan Lynch. *This is a cover of a song by a group called Count Five. It is very well done, great harmonica, but it's not one of my favorites, more than worth a listen though. Next is the live "I'm Tired Joey Boy." This song was written and originally done by Van Morrison, I've never heard Van Morrison's version, but it would have to be good to beat this version, as Benmont Tech really does an excellent job with the piano and Petty handles the soft vocals very well. Van Morrison does deserve a great deal of credit for writing this song though, as the lyrics are simply stunning, for instance

"...ambition will take you and ride you to far
and conservitism will lead you to boredom once more,
so go out by the river and watch the stream flow
recall all those dreams you once used to know
the ones you've forgotten, that took you way to
pastures not greener, but meaner..."

After that comes a cover of Charlie Rich's rockabilly tune "Lonely Weekend." I like this song as it sets a fast pace and never lets up, features some outstanding guitar work as well. "Gator on the Lawn" is the next song, another fun fast song that would be out of place anywhere except a boxed set (or the b-side of a single). *This song was inspired by the fact that Gainsville is the home of the University of Florida Gators, so gators are literaly everywhere, needless to say he got pretty sick of them. The next song, "Make That Connection" *is a mostly ad-libbed song, I like the intensity and sound of it, but think it is better suited here in this set than it would have been on an album. "Down the Line" is next. It is a cute song about moving on through problems, it sounds loose and is fun to sing with. After that comes "Peace In L.A." a song written during the L.A. riots, *was on the radio 4 hours after it was finished. One note about this song, the voice you hear making reference to burning, smoke, and fire, is none other than Howie Epstein and that part was recorded over the phone... *and the burning he was referenceing had nothing to do with the riots, his stove was on fire at the time. Following "Peace In L.A." is a short song called "It's Raining Again" not much to say about it... it's a fun listen, kinda Bluesy... not great, but not bad either. Next on the CD is a cover of *Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else." It was recorded live, and is a very fast, very well done rock song that features great guitar, one I find myself listening to a lot. Next is "I Don't Know What To Say To You" this is a really unique sounding song that Petty *ad libbed with the help of, of all things, a racing form. Last on the CD, but certainly not least is "King's Highway" the version featured on this CD is a live acoustic version. I like this way of singing it a lot, maybe even more than the fast rocked up version found on "Into the Great Wide Open." I just love the lyrics of this song, they're so optimistic in the face of adversity as they state..

"When the time get's right,I'm gonna pick you up
and take you far away, from trouble my love.
Under a big old sky, out in a field of green,
there's got to be something left for us to believe..."

A great way to end the CD.

Through the Cracks
"Through the Cracks" is a collection of previously unreleased songs, with most of them recorded in the late 70's to early 80's. This CD starts out with the Benmont Tench penned "On the Street." This is a fast, extremely tight song that I have grown to really like. It was one of the *songs on the original demo tape that won Mudcrutch their original record deal, which eventually led to the formation of the Heartbreakers. "Depot Street" is next on the CD, it is the story of a poor boy and a rich girl who get together no matter who cares. *This song was actually released as a single, it was the only thing released by Mudcrutch. I like it, it's kind of an up tempo song, rock with some raggae mixed in. After that comes a cover of *Solomon Burke's tune "Cry To Me." It's a ballad, recorded for a No Nukes album, kind of sappy in my opinion, but that's not a bad thing at all, the band does an excellent job on it, and it turns out to be a good song. The next song, "Don't Do Me Like That" is the mudcrutch version of that hit song. It's a lot more raw than the version that appeared on "Damn the Torpedoes," and has slightly different lyrics, but it retains the magic that makes it so addictive, and it is really interesting to listen to this song, and then listen to the released version (which is on the Big Jangle) and listen to how it evolved. After that comes "I Can't Fight It." This high energy, loud rocking song probably should have been on an album, and probably could have, but it contained an obscenity (the f-word) in the chorus, which I think probably kept it off either they're debut album, or "Damn the Torpedoes" on which I think it sounds like it would fit on very well. Next up is "Since You Said You Loved Me" another sappy ballad that manages to sound good, not much to it, I like some of the imagery used in the lyrics, and the instrumentals are well done. Then comes the original, rougher version, of the "Damn the Torpedoes" power ballad Louisiana Rain. I like this version much better than the album version, as the changes made to the lyrics in the album version (to remove a drug and a prostitute reference) affected the quality of the song, example...

Original version-
"Well it was out in California, by the San Diego Sea,
that was where I was taken in by an aging boardwalk queen..."

Album version-
"Well it was out in California, by the San Diego Sea,
Than was where I was taken inland and left it's mark on me..."

In this case I feel the change lost a little coherency in an otherwise great song. Next up is "Keeping Me Alive." I read somewhere that Tom's daughter, Adria, was listening to this song one day before a concert and said it was really good and asked him who wrote it, and was surprised to hear it was him, so he played it for her at that concert, which I believe is the only time he's played it at a concert. I like this song quite a bit, it is very well written and performed. After that comes probably my favorite song on this CD, "Turning Point." The lyrics to this song are just so well written, they convey feelings of confusion and being fed up like very few songs I have ever heard , with verses like-

"...Three or four years or more my life was on the floor
Blind faith, hangin' in, hungry and tired of it
Oh yeah, better luck--it takin' over us
But right now, oh boy, we've hit the turning point."

After that comes a demo version of "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." This version has Petty singing it without Stevie Nicks, I think it actually fares well, and I think I like it as much as the duet version. Next there is a fantastic version of "The Apartment Song," this version features Stevie Nicks and I think is better than the "Full Moon Fever" version of the song. Next is a version of *Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man." This is not one of the better songs on the CD, it's kind of countryish, it's more a thing of the song not being great in the first place, as Petty and the boys do a good job with it. The Conway Twiddy song, "The Image Of Me" is next. This song I do really like, again it sounds a little on the country side, but it is a very well written song that I find myself singing along with whenever it happens to be on. Then comes "Moon Pie." When I hear this little ditty i can't help but smile, it's goofy, but actually catchy, it's just the band messing around having fun, *while waiting for a wire to be plugged in or replaced or something. The last song on "Through the Cracks" is "The Damage You've Done (Country Version)." This is kind of a neat version of the "Let me Up (I've had Enough)" song. I don't like it as much as the version that made the album, as this one is slower and a bit on the goofy side, but good nonetheless.

Nobody's Children
The last CD of the set is "Nobody's Children," another CD full of unreleased songs. I think this CD is a bit stronger than "Through the Cracks" as it contains two of my favorite songs of the entire set, "Ways to Be Wicked" and "Waiting for Tonight." The CD opens with a song Petty eventually gave to Bob Dylan, who *rewrote it and recorded it. This song, "Got My Mind Made Up," sounds a bit generic, but it has some quality drum and guitar work, overall I like it. The second song on the CD is the above mentioned "Ways to be Wicked." Now this song I REALLY like. It is so passionate, angry, and sarcastic that whenever I hear it I lose what I'm doing and just sing along until it's over, the usually repeat it a few times, this is a rock song on every level... A band called Lone Justice released it on an album, but it wasn't up to the lofty standards set by this version. Next up is "Can't Get Her Out." This is a very well played, raw sounding song that i think should have been included on "Let Me up (I've had Enough)" for which it was recorded. It has some excellent guitar to complement the well done vocals. Fourth on the CD is "Waiting for Tonight." This is another song I really enjoy, and usually repeat it three or so times before I go to the next track. This song features the Bangles singing in the background for a great effect, and the writing in this song is again brilliant, as it takes you inside the thoughts of a man who has a very special night planned, his first special night in a long time. The song "Travelin'" is next, I think this song sounds a lot like the Traveling Wilburys, as it focuses in on group vocals, and sets the instruments in the background, similar to the way the Wilburys did, that being a good thing, as this is quite a good song. After that is a cover of the Elvis song, "Baby, Let's Play House." Not the best on the CD, but certainly not bad, it's a fun song to sing with, as it has a neat sound to it with all the little drop offs and pauses. After that comes another Elvis cover, this time the cutesy ballad, "Wooden Heart." It's a simple song and Petty does a great job with the soft vocals that the song requires, and the simple addictive melody is one I find myself humming a lot. The Next song is a real gem. It's called "God's Gift to Man." This song is completely improvised, but sounds like one the band had been working on for a while. The entire band plays real good, and the lyrics flow smoothly as they weave the tale of a woman who just can't seem to be good as one part goes...

"Well I seen her on TV just a couple of nights ago.
she was doing a commercial, smiling with some Ivory soap,
but I knew inside her heart was black as coal, there ain't no
way to replace the amount of love that that little girl stole..."

After that comes the drug reference laden, "You Get Me High." Not a spectacular song, but good enough not to be skipped over. "Come On Down To My House," the next song on the CD, is a blazing rock song, written by Petty to be just that, a fast loud rock song that he felt he needed to see if he could still write, I think he succeeded. After that comes a track that was almost 10 years in the making, "You Come Through." * Began in 1986 when Petty and Campbell wrote it and recorded it, it just sat there doing nothing til 1995, when Lenny Kravitz added some drums and vocals to it and it became what appears here... a really catchy song that I like more and more over time. The last song of the CD, and the boxed set is "Up In Mississippi Tonight." Recorded while the band was still Mudcrutch, this is a good song, that tells the story of a sad boy thinking about his girl, who ran off with a rich guy, up to Mississippi, this song shows the enormous amount of potential the band had, as it was recorded when the band was still new, and yet contains a maturity and sound quality usually found in vetern rock bands.

So there it is, my review of Playback. I'd like to close it with one more passage from the book.

(Benmont Tench Speaking)
"...I met these guys. Twenty-three years later, I look around on stage and there's the thread that's been consistant - Tom and Mike. And for a long time Stan. For it to be three-fourths of Mudcrutch up there is pretty funny." Benmont smiles. "If God has a sense of humor, while He's up there handing out all those blessings He has to get a good laugh."