Advertisement
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country

PRE-GRAMMY GALA GOES GAGA FOR GERSON
Jody will be the center of attention at Clive's shindig. (12/18a)
ON THE COVER:
BILLIE EILISH
A star upon the highest bough (12/19a)
NOISEMAKERS:
A HOLIDAY TREAT
Something for their stockings (12/18a)
SUPREME COURT SETS 1/10 HEARING ON TIKTOK BAN
How will SCOTUS rule? (12/19a)
THE HIP-HOP CONUNDRUM
Grammy being Grammy (12/19a)
NOW WHAT?
We have no fucking idea.
COUNTRY'S NEWEST DISRUPTOR
Three chords and some truth you may not be ready for.
AI IS ALREADY EATING YOUR LUNCH
The kids can tell the difference... for now.
WHO'S BUYING THE DRINKS?
That's what we'd like to know.
Critics' Choice
FOUR DECADES OF PETTY ON VINYL: THE CURE FOR WHAT AILS YOU
12/16/16

Sometimes a project is so huge it takes two burly major label outlets to lift it. Such is clearly the case with the two hefty Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th anniversary box sets, The Complete Studio Albums, Vols. 1 & 2—two glorious testaments to some of the finest rock and roll ever committed to vinyl (more of the details here). The nine-disc Vol. 1 (1976-91) and seven-disc Vol. 2 (1994-2014) are being delivered via UMe and Reprise/Warner Bros., and they sound like a million bucks—not only because of the outrageous catalog of great music but because they’ve been lovingly reissued on 180-gram vinyl. Several of the albums have been out of print for years (vinyl of the great Wildflowers, for one, has been fetching a pretty penny on eBay and elsewhere). In addition to the cavalcade of giants hits—“American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Breakdown,” “Last Dance With Mary Jane,” “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” and so on—the non-aficionado can discover a world of brilliant, incisive songwriting. Those of us who strive to write good songs tend to ask “What would Tom Petty do?” Here’s why.