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Mojo | 
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| Artist: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Label: Reprise / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $8.55
You Save: $10.43 (55%)
New (51) Used (12) from $8.20
Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 41
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.2
UPC: 093624966807
EAN: 0093624966807
ASIN: B003A4IFGY
Release Date: June 15, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Jefferson Jericho Blues | | • | First Flash Of Freedom | | • | Running Man's Bible | | • | The Trip To Pirate's Cove | | • | Candy | | • | No Reason To Cry | | • | I Should Have Known It | | • | U.S. 41 | | • | Takin' My Time | | • | Let Yourself Go | | • | Don't Pull Me Over | | • | Lover's Touch | | • | High In The Morning | | • | Something Good Coming | | • | Good Enough |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Some time in the last few years Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers took a left turn. Maybe it was when Petty woke up in the night with the idea of reuniting his first band, Mudcrutch, to cut the album they never got a chance to make back in the early 70's. Maybe it was when the Heartbreakers assembled the mammoth multi-disc 'The Live Anthology,' which detailed thirty years of concerts. Maybe it was when they gave all their home movies, outtakes and live footage to director Peter Bogdanovich to create the Grammy-winning four-hour career documentary 'Runnin Down A Dream.' There have been side projects and experiments since the band last went into the studio to cut a new Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers album.
With 'MOJO,' they have taken their recent freedom and experimentation to heart. They have gone off the reservation and all signs indicate they aren't coming back.
The first thing that hits you about 'MOJO' is that the spirit of the Mudcrutch sessions has carried on with the Heartbreakers. This is the sound of a band playing together in a room not a studio - facing each other, all singing and playing at the same time. The music is alive, with no overdubs or studio trickery. What you hear is what they created on the spot at that time.
Tom Petty says, 'With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band. 'MOJO' is where the band lives when it's playing for itself.'
As for the songs, 'MOJO' showcases a wide variety of American music from rock 'n' roll to country and both electric and acoustic blues. And then there are the images in Petty's lyrics which slip in on the melodies and set up a home in your head: The barefoot girl in the high grass chewing on a stick of sugar cane, the run-in with the law that begins when a carload of buddies decide to party with the motel maids, and the hilariously audacious idea of opening an album with an electric blues rocker about Thomas Jefferson's love affair with Sally Hemings. Petty would probably chuck a rock at anyone who called him a poet, but he sure is a southern writer of humor and sensitivity.
'MOJO' has juice and guts but it also has some sweet balladry for the slow dancers and even a wacked-out reggae number that is unlike anything that the Heartbreakers have done before. It's the kind of album nobody's supposed to be able to make anymore. It got here just in time.
Album Description
Blu-Ray audio pressing. 2010 album from the veteran rockers, their first album in eight years. The first thing that hits you about Mojo is that this is the sound of a band playing together in a room - not a studio - facing each other, all singing and playing at the same time. The music is alive, with no overdubs or studio trickery. What you hear is what they created on the spot at that time. Tom Petty says, "With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band. Mojo is where the band lives when it's playing for itself." As for the songs, Mojo showcases a wide variety of American music from Rock `n' Roll to Country and both electric and acoustic Blues. Mojo has juice and guts but it also has some sweet balladry for the slow dancers and even a wacked-out Reggae number that is unlike anything that Heartbreakers have done before. It's the kind of album nobody's supposed to be able to make anymore. It got here just in time.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 141
 The album that had to be June 16, 2010
Sam Horner (Minnesoter)
65 out of 72 found this review helpful
The Heartbreakers have evolved distinctly throughout their 30+ years of recording together. Listening to their catalog from the beginning to the present, one travels from an era of short, punchy garage-rock tunes in the 1970s, to the laid-back pop hits of the Jeff Lynne era, to their current period of meditative rock planted firmly in the band's primordial roots.
It's a natural progression, what with Petty's lament of modern music with the Last DJ in 2002, his efforts to keep '60s and '70s-era classic rock alive through his Buried Treasure radio show, the success of last year's Live Anthology, and a rapidly decentralizing music industry that's no longer ruled by the gatekeepers of Top 40 radio. It almost seems that Mojo just... had to be.
If Mudcrutch was Petty's country album, Mojo is his foray into blues recording (sprinkled with a little psychedelia and reggae to taste). Like Mudcrutch, Mojo is freewheeling, high-energy, and upbeat, and prone to a little jam session here and there -- which would have been unthinkable in the days of the neatly-trimmed Full Moon Fever or Into the Great Wide Open. Without a single bad song in the mix, Mojo is a cohesive album you can listen to from beginning to end.
Personally, I am digging latter-day Tom Petty. The band is as good as they've ever been, and each member seems to have increasing freedom to showcase their immense instrumental talents and unrivaled ability to complement one another. Mike Campbell's guitar is on fire through the whole album, and Scott Thurston breaks out of his shell with fine blues harmonica on several tracks.
As a departure from the past musical stylings that made the band successful, Mojo will certainly raise some eyebrows and not be to everyone's liking. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. These guys aren't trained monkeys paid to crank out the same songs over and over again. They're world-class musicians, and they deserve the chance to breathe a little. Play on, boys.
I had the blues when I first heard about Mojo June 16, 2010
Walkin' Dude (Washinton State, USA)
25 out of 30 found this review helpful
We've all been there with a rock 'n roll act past their prime. They release a "blues" album. And it's OK. There are like 3 catchy songs and 8-10 mediocre songs. So when I heard Mojo was coming and it was "bluesy" with a "reggae" track my heart sank a little. Here we go again...
Well, I'm happy to say there is not that album. The songs are wonderful. This is easily Petty's best effort since Wildflowers. Yes, there is a definite blues influence but it still sounds like a Heartbreaker's album, too. The playing is top-notch. These songs sound great. Stuff I didn't even initially like (First Flash of Freedom) now sounds like it belongs in permanent rotation on the iPod. This is really good stuff.
On a more curious note, I have a playlist on my iPod called "new stuff" that basically has everything downloaded to the iPod in the last 30 days and today it had the Stone's Exile on Main Street and this album in it. The two really complemented each other very well as I listened to it. I never thought of the Stones as a big Petty influence but it is definitely there on Mojo. This may be the first album I spring for the Blu-Ray version. This band really sounds fantastic on this album.
5.1 Not Quite Dead July 1, 2010
Richard D. Grimes (Burnsville, NC)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
First of all the music is great. Mike Campbell's guitar playing really stands out throughout the whole disc. He's normally somewhat buried in the mix on Petty albums but not this time. My wife and I both sat listening to this on a very good deftech surround system and between songs we both kept commenting how great the music sounded. The surround mix is pretty transparent, you know it's there but it never jumps out from behind you. Maybe a little too transparent for my tastes but still well done. The bluray sound quality is excellent too. I also own the Neil Young Archives on bluray and was very disappointed in the lack of surround. And like the Neil Young bluray you can download all the songs for free and in several different high quality formats. I own well over 100 surround SACD and DVD Audio discs and was extremely disappointed when the record labels abandoned the formats. So I'm very thankful to Tom Petty for this release and hope more artists follow his lead.
Tom Petty the way they heard it in the studio! July 2, 2010
David Miles (Burbank, CA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
There has been much written about this terrific album already. Let's just say it's one of the best American bands ever, hitting on all four cylinders. They have made great music through their entire career and haven't been concerned with following any trends,doing what they do the way they want to do it. Tom & company are at the top of their game, making up the rules as they go. That said, I applaud this release in High Def as another example of them going outside the box. The difference between the blu-ray and the cd is staggering. This album is recorded so well it even holds up pretty well in mp3, but the blu-ray is a revelation. The debate between digital and analog has been fought for so long and no the war is coming to an end. This is by far the highest quality consumer format to date.If you own a nice system capable of playing the high resolution formats you owe it to yourself to listen to this. There is no going back now for me, I welcome many more albums to be released this way. In this age of mp3s, it's great to hear someone still cares about "real" sound.
Petty & the Heartbreakers definitely have got their MOJO working! June 18, 2010
J. Polsgrove (Baja Arizona)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
(This was edited after having listened to the CD pretty much non-stop for 4 or 5 days. It's still as great as my review below says it is!)
The great blues classic, "I Got My Mojo Workin'" should have been covered by the guys and added as a "hidden" bonus track. That classic song sums up what this music is -- proof that Petty and the Heartbreakers are still relevant and, man, do they have their mojo workin'! I love this CD! I was going to download it, but after sampling it, I knew I wanted the "real deal" and bought the CD. (I ripped it to mp3 for my iPod, and I've listened to it every night as I drift off to sleep.)
There is not a single weak track among the 15 on this CD, which runs 64 minutes! It was recorded "live in the studio" and it has that spontaneity that comes with live recordings. The sequencing of the songs is great. You're immediately pulled in by the first track, a toe-tapping Jefferson Jericho Blues, then drop into a relatively slow 6-minute First Flash of Freedom. From there, it's just contagious and song-by-song you can't hit "eject" on the CD player! This CD is addicting, so beware, ye of weak heart and will!
The last few Petty albums have been, well, depressed and kind of boring. Here, Petty is back with the Heartbreakers for their first release in eight years, and the energy the guys in the band bring to this CD is just awesome!
There are no standout hits on this (no Refugee, no American Girl, etc.). Instead, the CD is all top-notch songs that are really quite different than what Tom Petty has ever done. I've always considered him a "California rocker," but with this rock-meets-swamp/rock-meets R&B effort, I am tempted to classify him for this as "Southern Rock." I think Petty's southern influences have really come forth on this CD and I can't stop listening to it.
If you like the sad, dreary, contemplative Petty, this is NOT for you. If you're having a party and want some music that gets people up and on their feet doing a little booty shaking, then buy this CD immediately!
It's my favorite CD of 2010 so far!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 141
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