Album Review: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -The Best Of Everything (Geffen)

As advertised, The Best Of Everything is two discs full of all the hits and more from Tom Petty, both solo and with The Heartbreakers. And Mudcrutch too.

This 38-track compilation touts itself as “The definitive career spanning hits collection”, and it would be hard to argue. The only aspect of Petty’s work I can think of that’s not represented is The Traveling Wilburys.

The usual suspects are rounded up…Free Fallin’, Breakdown, Refugee, American Girl…along with a few lesser-known gems such as Dreamville, I Should Have Known It and the title track, which is an alternate version from the one appearing on Southern Accents, featuring an additional verse and sparser production.

They even included my personal favourite, The Last DJ.

There is one other rarity, a previously unheard and unreleased song called For Real, recorded  by Petty and the band in 2000. The lyrics, heard now that Petty is gone, sound particular poignant, as if Tom is laying out his mission statement for us:

Oh brother, look what we’ve become
Oh brother, could we be so dumb?
They set us up like dominoes
I didn’t do it for no magazine
Didn’t do it for no video
Never did it for no CEO
But I did it for real

Would’ve done it for free
I did it for me
‘Cause it was all that rang true
I did it for real
And I did it for you

I think I, like most rock & roll fans, was affected by Petty’s 2017 more so than most. Among classic rockers such as Neil Young, or Bob Dylan or Mick Jagger, Tom was a decade or so younger and it just seemed that he would go on recording and performing forever.

Sadly, that all came to an abrupt end.

Most die-hard fans already own 90% of these song, so the previous box set, 2018’s American Treasure, with its rare outtakes an deep cuts, might be more appropriate.

But for those who have just now come to realize what a legacy of great songs Tom Petty left behind, and are eager to own a physical copy of them, this is as good a start as any.

Speaking of a physical copy, I should mention that in addition to the music , also included is an excellent essay by longtime fan Cameron Crowe, plenty of photos and track information.

So, go on, shove this into your car’s CD player and crank up Refugee or Running Down A Dream and sing along at the top of your lungs.

Tom Petty will be smiling, because, after all, he did it for you.

Marty Duda

Disc 1
1. “Free Fallin’”
2. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
3. “You Wreck Me”
4. “I Won’t Back Down”
5. “Saving Grace”
6. “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
7. “Don’t Do Me Like That”
8. “Listen to Her Heart”
9. “Breakdown”
10. “Walls (Circus)”
11. “The Waiting”
12. “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
13. “Southern Accents”
14. “Angel Dream (No. 2)”
15. “Dreamville”
16. “I Should Have Known It”
17. “Refugee”
18. “American Girl”
19. “The Best of Everything” (Alt. Version)

Disc 2
1. “Wildflowers”
2. “Learning to Fly”
3. “Here Comes My Girl”
4. “The Last DJ”
5. “I Need to Know”
6. “Scare Easy”
7. “You Got Lucky”
8. “Runnin’ Down a Dream”
9. “American Dream Plan B”
10. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (feat. Stevie Nicks)
11. “Trailer”
12. “Into the Great Wide Open”
13. “Room at the Top”
14. “Square One”
15. “Jammin’ Me”
16. “Even the Losers”
17. “Hungry No More”
18. “I Forgive It All”
19. “For Real” (previously unreleased)