The most striking thing about this two-disc overview of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers is the powerful case it makes for its creators as the most consistent band of not only their era, but of all time. Think of another rocker who can claim to have created a quarter-century of recordings that, when ranked on a 10-point scale, never dip below a solid 7? Indeed, while disc 1 reflects a marginally more aggressive mindset than disc 2, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine the discs flip-flopped; maturity has yet to induce lethargy for Petty and the boys.

The problem with anthologies, especially those of still-performing artistes, is that you have to have a cut-off point and unless everything post cut-off totally sucks, you're bound to leave off some of the artiste's best work. That's why this album doesn't even pretend to call itself "Best of", "Greatest" etc; firstly because such an album title already exists for Tom Petty and secondly, this album very appropriately calls itself "Anthology" for that's what it is: a chronological representation of what Tom Petty has done up to a point in time.
What's the solution? Either wait for "Anthology Part 2" or like me, get this brilliant album and get the whole albums after this. You won't be doing justice to yourself being satisfied with only 2 or 3 tracks from "Wildflowers" anyway as that brilliant album is already a rock classic in the making and you really need to hear the whole album to appreciate just how good it is.
As for this album, the 34 tracks that are on 2 discs are very well selected and you even get the hard to find duet with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" here too. The sound quality of this remastered album is also very good seeing as how especially on disc one, the state of the old original masters cannot have been very good and you can only improve upon the master which is also why the sound quality on the later tracks on disc two sound a lot better.



Tracklist:

Disc 1
01. Breakdown [0:02:43.07]
02. American Girl [0:03:34.13]
03. Hometown Blues [0:02:12.52]
04. The Wild One, Forever [0:03:00.50]
05. I Need to Know [0:02:24.08]
06. Listen to Her Heart [0:03:02.50]
07. Too Much Ain't Enough [0:02:56.32]
08. Refugee [0:03:22.08]
09. Here Comes My Girl [0:04:25.72]
10. Don't Do Me Like That [0:02:43.15]
11. Even the Losers [0:03:59.68]
12. The Waiting [0:04:00.00]
13. A Woman in Love (It's Not Me) [0:04:22.67]
14. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (with Stevie Nicks) [0:04:03.73]
15. You Got Lucky [0:03:38.20]
16. Straight into Darkness [0:03:49.27]
17. Change of Heart [0:03:18.53]

Disc 2
01. Rebels [0:05:20.37]
02. Don't Come Around Here No More [0:05:04.70]
03. The Best of Everything [0:04:02.63]
04. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star [0:03:39.02]
05. Jammin' Me [0:04:08.18]
06. It'll All Work Out [0:03:12.12]
07. Love Is a Long Road [0:04:07.35]
08. Free Fallin' [0:04:18.23]
09. Yer So Bad [0:03:07.15]
10. I Won't Back Down [0:02:56.42]
11. Runnin' Down a Dream [0:04:24.25]
12. Learning to Fly [0:04:03.53]
13. Into the Great Wide Open [0:03:43.55]
14. Two Gunslingers [0:03:09.60]
15. Mary Jane's Last Dance [0:04:32.15]
16. Waiting for Tonight [0:03:31.30]
17. Surrender [0:02:54.20]



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