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To begin with, “Trailer” was one of the catalysts that led to the Southern Accents album before he let it go the way of psychedelics and horn sections. It did make it out as a B-side, and was included on the Playback box; 31 years later it’s gained an extra verse, but it’s still the same song, and a good one. “Dreams Of Flying” is classic Heartbreakers except that Randall Marsh doesn’t play fills either. Is that a backwards solo at the end? Slow and mysterious, “Beautiful Blue” gets gentle slide guitar touches and even a nice piano solo during one of the breaks. Something of an unspoken rule is broken by following it with a similar title. At this late date, a band on a major label should also never open a song with “woke up this morning”, but that’s why most bands don’t let the drummer write songs. That lyric aside, “Beautiful World” is undeniably catchy. Tom comes back to sing “I Forgive It All”, one of the prettiest, softest songs he’s done in a while.
The second half of the album alternates between songwriters, and some tracks even segue. Tom Leadon offers up “The Other Side Of The Mountain”, a near-hoedown, with rough harmonies and banjo from bluegrass legend Herb Pedersen. For a switch, “Hope” is a snotty garage rock song, complete with cheesy organ and fuzz guitar. Benmont contributes “Welcome To Hell”, which seesaws between barrelhouse piano and a mildly psychedelic bridge. “Save Your Water” is kinda wordy for Tom, attached to a very Byrdsy backing. Mike Campbell has sung lead on only one album, and now he’s got another in “Victim Of Circumstance”; once again, it might as well be a Petty tune. After an atmospheric transition, “Hungry No More” is the other big number, stretched to over six minutes, but with good harmonies (Herb Pedersen again) and a killer Campbell solo.
2 sounds much more planned than the first Mudcrutch album, and it’s better. It’s also shorter, which helps. Mostly it’s great to hear Petty write and sing breezy songs again.
Mudcrutch 2 (2016)—3½
Of course, nobody expected this to be Tom’s last recording, but at least he went out on a better note than his last two albums. The band sounds more engaged and the songwriting is stronger and more varied. I thought that “Trailer” was way overrated when it came out in 1985, and this version didn’t change my opinion. Then, the album really takes off (no pun intended) with “Dreams of Flying”. “Beautiful Blue” is a great follow up to “Crystal River”. Ben’s Mellotron is a nice touch. It makes the song sound even more psychedelic. “I Forgive it All” is a very touching acoustic number. “Hope” is what I thought “Hypnotic Eye” was going to sound like. It’s better than any song on that album. “Save Your Water” does indeed capture that “Untitled” vibe. “Hungry No More” ends the album with more country/psychedelia, with a touch of “Pet Sounds” in there, too.
ReplyDeleteAs for the non-Petty tracks: Tom could have written Marsh’s and Leadon’s tracks. They are catchy, upbeat, and have great hooks. "Victim of Circumstance" is a better song than “I Don’t Wanna Fight”, but that wasn’t a huge bar to clear. Once again, proof that Mike was anything but a singer. “Welcome to Hell” is the low point. No one needed another dumb country parody.
This is a really nice album. It makes me miss Tom a bit more.