Some of these songs take their blues cues direct from the source of the vintage sound of Chicago while others borrow from American rock bands who created an interesting way to split the blues atom for rock and roll purposes. “Takin’ My Time” and “Lover’s Touch” both mine the essential Willie Dixon songbook, the former using his unmistakable stop-time riff while the former has shades of “The Same Thing,” a song most famously associated with Muddy Waters.
On “First Flash Of Freedom,” Campbell summons the spirit of Dickey Betts and the Allman Brothers Band creating that distinct twin twang of Gibson guitars. The Allmans are again summoned on “Let Yourself Go,” this time owing to way Benmont Tench recreates Gregg’s jazzy organ style beneath more great lead guitar from Campbell. “I Should Have Known It” would have sounded right at home on Aerosmith’s titanic, bloozy Rocks, boasting shrieking leads that would make Joe Perry and Brad Whitford envious.
There is one small downside to the Mojo approach. The motto that served The Heartbreakers so well for so many years yielded great hooks aplenty and some of the most memorable singles in FM radio history. This is a fantastic record on so many levels but it lacks the great singalong moments we’re so accustomed to on a Heartbreakers record, a sad casualty but a small price to pay for a record that is consistently and continually satisfying. Mojo is tough to place within the Heartbreaker discography. It stands apart from everything they’ve done which is an impressive achievement in and of itself for a band entering their fourth decade together. That they sound so damn good doing it- well, that’s not a surprise either.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Sounds good and like the Mudcrutch sessions affected Tom's approach
2 - Josh Hathaway
I think Mudcrutch and 'Buried Treasure' had a definite impact on the direction of this record and it is largely very effective and an excellent listen. I can't wait to hear them in Nashville in August playing these songs against the rest of the great Petty catalog of songs.
3 - Tom Johnson
Great album, really love the loose feel of the band throughout. Guess Live Anthology's bluesy, rootsy meandering was a bit of a preview of what we were going to see here and we didn't even know it.
Did you grab Amazon's exclusive Bad Girl Boogie EP, Josh? I wish it could have been a bonus for the CD, but at $1.89, I can't complain too much for four songs, and it's awesome, too.
4 - Josh Hathaway
That EP was actually included on CD in my copy of the 'Live At The Olympic' DVD, so I already had it. If memory serves, those songs were mostly taken from their appearance on 'Soundstage,' which I also have on DVD. So, yeah, I've got it. The seeds of this album have been out there and they finally took root and grew into a great record.
5 - Josh Hathaway
LDJ will never go down as my favorite Heartbreakers record but it's not nearly as bad as it was received by many critics and there are some very strong moments on it. Anyway, yeah, that's the tie-in between the two.
6 - Songbird
Hmm... never been a huge Tom Petty fan and I have to say... Mojo does not convince me... very nice review though... :o)
7 - Steve B
The song on Mojo is called I Should Have Known It. I Should Have Known Better is by The Beatles from A Hard Days' Night.
I saw the concert in Kansas City last night.
The new music was well received, surrounded by classics. They opened with Listen To Your Heart and the last song was American Girl. I'd go again.