Release Date: October 8, 2002
Personnel: Tom Petty (vocals, guitar); Mike Campbell (guitars); Benmont Tench (piano, organ); Scott Thurston (guitar); Steve Ferrone (drums); Ron Blair (bass)
Produced by Tom Petty; Mike Campbell; George Drakoulias
List of Tracks: The Last DJ; Money Becomes King; Dreamville; Joe; When a Kid Goes Bad; Like a Diamond; Lost Children; Blue Sunday; You and Me; The Man Who Loves Women; Have Love Will Travel; Can't Stop the Sun
List of Tracks: The Last DJ; Money Becomes King; Dreamville; Joe; When a Kid Goes Bad; Like a Diamond; Lost Children; Blue Sunday; You and Me; The Man Who Loves Women; Have Love Will Travel; Can't Stop the Sun
The Last DJ proved to be one of Petty's most impassioned albums, a broadside against the increasing corporatization of America as the millennium passed. For erstwhile young fans of classic rock in the post-9/11 era like me, the album carried real weight.
The demise of terrestrial radio and Top 40 culture accelerated rapidly during the 2000s and the opening track takes aim at the homogenization of mass media. The radio DJ was a part of the mythos of post-war culture, playing rock and roll and acting as intermediary between artist and audience. By the 2000s radio DJs were assigned management approved playlists. After 9/11, Clear Channel Communication infamously circulated a list of banned songs in an ominous move of stinking of censorship. Petty finds an outlaw hope in the song, imagining a renegade DJ starting a channel in Mexico. Despite the exuberance, the nostalgia feels more fantastical than real.
Most of the record echoes with the theme. "Money Became King" follows a rock star who once had integrity but caved to corporate interests, a kind of darker companion to "Into the Great Wide Open." "Dreamville" switches gears, recalling a childhood memory with hints of psychedelia. "Joe" imagines a callous record company CEO exploiting artists for profit in a sharp character study. "When a Kid Goes Bad" is a steady rocker that breaks into a jam. "Like a Diamond" lands with a lighter touch, pleasantly mellow. Another tale of protecting artistic purity, "Lost Children" features more excellent guitar work from Mike Campbell.
The albums second half turns inward. "Blue Sunday" drifts into acoustic territory, with hints of country rock and heat-soaked dashboards. "You and Me" evokes '60s folk rock simplicity, "The Man Who Loves Women" is a cheerful ditty. "Have Love Will Travel" is classic Petty, drawing on American archetypes of resilience and the open road. "Can't Stop the Sun" closes out the record with a gesture towards epic rock, providing scale to the album's final moments.
The Last DJ remains a strong - and at times fiercely impassioned effort- by Petty and the Heartbreakers. The album's critiques of corporate America still carry punch and relevance. The more introspective second half may not hit as hard, but the album solidified Petty as an elder statesman of rock, a role he would inhabit for the rest of his career.
