Mojo (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album)

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Mojo
File:Tph mojo cover.jpg
Studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Released June 15, 2010
Recorded April 28, 2009 – January 11, 2010
Studio The Clubhouse, Los Angeles, California
Genre Heartland rock, blues rock, hard rock
Length 64:58
Label Reprise
Producer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
The Live Anthology
(2009)
Mojo
(2010)
Mojo Tour 2010
(2010)
Singles from Mojo (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album)

Mojo is the 12th studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on June 15, 2010 on CD and June 29 on BD.[1][2] It was Petty's first album with the Heartbreakers in eight years.[3] Mojo debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 125,000 copies in its first week of release.[4] The album was also the band's first full album with bassist Ron Blair since 1981's Hard Promises, as he played on only two tracks on the previous Heartbreakers album, The Last DJ.

Recording

In November 2009, Petty told Rolling Stone's David Fricke that it was his intention to record the album live in the studio without overdubs.[5]

He said of the album's tone, "It's blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jammy kind of music. A couple of tracks really sound like the Allman Brothers – not the songs but the atmosphere of the band."[5]

Promotion and release

The band began streaming the album song "Good Enough" on their website February 24, 2010, followed two days later by "First Flash of Freedom."[6] Videos for "Jefferson Jericho Blues," "First Flash of Freedom," "I Should Have Known It," "Something Good Coming" and "Good Enough" were posted on the band's YouTube channel.[7]

Tom Petty also released five of the songs prior to his and the Heartbreakers' Mojo tour via his YouTube account.[8] The first of these was the single "Good Enough," released March 4, 2010.[9] The songs released as of June 10, 2010, are, in order of release:

  1. "Good Enough"[9]
  2. "First Flash of Freedom"[10]
  3. "I Should Have Known It" (official video)[11]
  4. "Something Good Coming" (official video)[12]
  5. "Jefferson Jericho Blues" (official video)[13]

The last three of the songs were clean, non-overdubbed songs filmed in his new studio, as he expressed in a roughly 12-minute "Mojo Documentary".[14] He noted he had had the studio for "eight or nine years," which dates back approximately to before the recording of his previous studio album with the Heartbreakers, The Last DJ.[14]

In addition to his YouTube account, Mojo's track list was made available June 8, 2010, via an article on one of ESPN's websites. The article went into brief detail of the tour and songs. Most of the songs were made available on the website through a "Streampad" music player, at least until the album was officially released.[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 72/100[16]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[17]
The A.V. Club B–[18]
Chicago Tribune 3/4 stars[19]
Entertainment Weekly B[20]
The Guardian 2/5 stars[21]
Now 2/5 stars[22]
Paste 8/10[23]
PopMatters 8/10 stars[24]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[25]
Slant Magazine 2.5/5 stars[26]

The album has a score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews."[16] ChartAttack gave it a score of 2.5 out of five and said it was "an incredible disappointment" and "a record destined to be a cult hit 10 years from now, recognized as the band's most expansive and sonically adventurous disc. But expectations for Petty and his band are incredibly high, and from a contemporary standpoint, it comes off as lacking memorable hooks and choruses, something we all expect these guys to pull off in their sleep."[27] The Independent, however, gave it all five stars and said "it's one of their very best efforts, as ought to be the case when a band plugs into the potency of raw R'n'B spirit. [...] It's such a perfect alliance of sentiment and setting that Muddy himself might have penned it."[28] The Globe and Mail gave it three out of four stars and said, "The carefree Petty, at this stage of the game, isn't worried about hits. Like Big Bill Broonzy and others, he's found the key to the highway, and he's billed out and bound to go."[29] Uncut gave it three out of five stars and said, "Unfortunately, and rather ironically, Mojo is ultimately undone by the very virtuosity of its creators: the band stumbles repeatedly into that musician's trap of making music that sounds intended principally to impress other musicians."[16][30]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tom Petty, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Jefferson Jericho Blues"   3:24
2. "First Flash of Freedom"   6:53
3. "Running Man's Bible"   6:02
4. "The Trip to Pirate's Cove"   5:00
5. "Candy"   4:12
6. "No Reason to Cry"   3:04
7. "I Should Have Known It"   3:36
8. "U.S. 41"   3:01
9. "Takin' My Time"   4:21
10. "Let Yourself Go"   3:23
11. "Don't Pull Me Over"   4:05
12. "Lover's Touch"   4:24
13. "High In the Morning"   3:36
14. "Something Good Coming"   4:11
15. "Good Enough"   5:57
16. "Little Girl Blues" (iTunes bonus track) 3:08
Total length:
1:07:57

Personnel

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers


Production

  • Chris Bellman – mastering
  • Greg Looper – engineer
  • Ryan Ulyate – producer, recording, mixer
  • Travis Weidel – recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[31] 42
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[32] 59
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[33] 47
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[34] 3
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[35] 60
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 139
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 12
Greek Albums (IFPI)[38] 25
Irish Albums (IRMA)[39] 28
Italian Albums (FIMI)[40] 53
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[41] 11
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[42] 9
Scottish Albums (OCC)[43] 27
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[44] 40
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 27
UK Albums (OCC)[47] 38
US Billboard 200[48] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[49] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[50] 99

References

  1. McKnight, Connor. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Announce New Album, Tour". billboard.com. February 25, 2010.
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  4. Caulfield, Keith. "Drake Debuts At No. 1 on Billboard 200". billboard.com. June 23, 2010.
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  8. "tompetty" user account on YouTube
  9. 9.0 9.1 "Good Enough" on YouTube[dead link]
  10. "First Flash of Freedom" on YouTube[dead link]
  11. "I Should Have Known It" official video on YouTube
  12. "Something Good Coming" official video on YouTube
  13. "Jefferson Jericho Blues" official video on YouTube
  14. 14.0 14.1 Mojo Documentary on YouTube
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  31. "Austriancharts.at – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  32. "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  33. "Ultratop.be – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  34. "Tom Petty – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Tom Petty. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  35. "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  36. "Lescharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  37. "Officialcharts.de – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  38. "Greekcharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  39. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 24, 2010". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
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  41. "Charts.org.nz – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  42. "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  43. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  44. "Spanishcharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  45. "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  46. "Swisscharts.com – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  47. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  48. "Tom Petty – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Tom Petty. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  49. "Tom Petty – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Tom Petty. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
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External links