Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: The Best Of Everything 1976-2016
Yes, this is another Tom Petty compilation. As others have pertinently said - "do we need one?". Possibly not. Possibly yes. The previous one, American Treasure was an excellent collection of outtakes, alternative versions and live cuts interspersed with some superb remasters of early tracks. This set is more of the "well known" tracks type of release, but it still has a few rarities, a really good Stevie Nicks collaboration track and some impressive tracks from Mudcrutch (the name The Heartbreakers first called themselves from 1970-1975). The important thing, for me, is the outstanding remastered sound, which has still, incredibly frustratingly, not been applied to the first two Heartbreakers albums, Southern Accents and Tom Petty solo albums like Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers (although this one has recently been done). Although you don't get more than one or two tracks from each album, it is great to hear those that are included in superb big, full, bassy sound - at last.
The Anthology set also has a good sound quality too, as does American Treasure. So, do we need another collection? For me, yes - to add to those two and get as much Petty remastered material as possible. It really gives a new life to the songs.
Personal highlights are - You Wreck Me, Mudcrutch's Scare Easy, the previously unreleased For Real, the Springsteen-esque I Need To Know, the pounding rock of Runnin' Down A Dream, Even The Losers, You Got Lucky, Learning To Fly, the riffy, Stonesy Jammin' Me and the Stevie Nicks song Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. Of course, there are many more, including the more famous ones. There is not really a duff track on here, let's be honest.