Petty take

AMERICAN DREAM PLAN B: Interestingly, Petty and co.’s Hypnotic Eye doesn’t even come out until 7/29; perhaps, like Bud, the Rolling Stone reader/voters based their picks on the tracks that have been made available in advance of the release—a whopping five of the 11 on the LP. Doing the math, those consumers who pick up all five for $1.29 a pop are looking at an iTunes Complete My Album price of $4.54 for the $10.99 package. (Those same tracks are hidden on Petty’s website, btw.) That is an unconventional strategy, but given the low commercial ceiling on new albums from veteran rock bands, why the hell not try something completely different? Speaking of which, Hypnotic Eye will be included in the price of every ticket purchased for the upcoming TP&HBs tour, another first for the band, which has a history of pushing the envelope—look it up. (7/21a)