Search - Mudcrutch :: Mudcrutch Extended Play Live EP

"The Great Lost Europe 72 Track" and more...

Mike | San Jose, CA | 12/31/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rolling Stone called the 15 minute version of "Crystal River" (adding 6 minutes to the studio version) "the great lost Europe 72 track"...not that there's anything wrong with that.



Let's face it...Tom and Randall and Mike and Benmont and Tom KNEW they were channeling the Dead on this track...and performed live, I refuse to see anything other than Jerry beaming a 1000-watt smile from Rock & Roll Heaven.



"Extended Play Live" isn't a stand-alone masterpiece...it is a COMPANION piece to Mudcrutch. I really don't believe you can have one without the other.



Tom Petty really accomplished the impossible here. In his "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers" career, he attained...and maintained...success far above and beyond most of his "peers."



He released a few "solo albums"...Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Highway Companion.



In doing so, he placed himself squarely among visionaries such as Neil Young and Frank Zappa, musicians who spent their lives in search of the SOUND, ignoring the players and more importantly ignoring the LABELS.



From all reports, Tom is having fun in Mudcrutch. That's great. He deserved it. He's EARNED it. Keep on rockin' in the free world, Tom.



Maybe the next CD will be from "Mudcrutch." Maybe it will be from "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers." Maybe it will be another "solo" effort.



But...in paraphrasing Hank Williams Jr....leave that boy alone and let him sing his songs. He's worth it."

The Return To The Jammin' Machine

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 01/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in those days thirty years ago when guitars ruled the earth, you smile and remember how different it all was. Riding in that car, and that song comes on the radio, you are floating, everything is right....."POP"....Welcome to 2009, and lucky enough for all of us Tom Petty, is doin' his best to take us back to 1972. With this four track, 28 minute live exended play CD, he really has done it!



From two shows in Ventura and West Hollywood, we have right here what could most likely be the best CD of 2008. Two guitars, a bass, drums and keyboards drift into some good places with Tom singing right over them. This is rock music, as you have not heard it played in many years.



John Cippolina, Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Barry Melton....if those are your kind guys, this is the CD for you. This disc begins with: "The Wrong Thing To Do" and it sounds like classic Heartbreakers, circa 1981. Mudcrutch, is tight and straight outta the gate, the boys get down to business, over Tom's thumping bass lines, the guitars wail and moan. "Bootleg Flyer" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Tom's albums from the late seventies, it has the drive and feel of that time. The band, is moving at a frantic pace here, nobody is acting their age on this.



As fine as the first two numbers are, the centerpiece of this CD is: "Crystal River" a soaring long majestic song that is a proper rival to any epic tune from the 1970's. This song starts gently, and begins to build and flow, every member of Mudcrutch get's room in this for their part of the glory, the piano has grace and beauty, the guitars snake and slide around before they take flight, and then it all gets bigger and better, this is a glorious piece of rock music, and at 14 plus minutes, it still seems short.



You don't get a lot of time to catch your breath after; "Crystal River" as the band takes off again into: "High School Confidential" and look out Jerry Lee, as Mudcrutch gives it a new spin, this is all thump and crash, flat-out Rock 'n' Roll...and a very proper conclusion to this disc.



This is a great disc, when is the tour stopping in San Francisco?

FIVE STARS !!!"

It's a bargain.

David A. Landes | Ballwin, Missouri United States | 11/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's a bargain for the almost 28 minutes of good sound from three live performances. Great digitally engineered recording. Even has one new song not found on the original 'Mudcrutch' albumn (an old Jerry Lee Lewis riff). How about that! And finally, there is mucho 'extended play' with the tune 'Crystal River.' Quite an entertaining session for the typical "country/southern rock" listener."