25 Comments
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Steve Bradley's avatar

Such a brilliant album!

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Rocco Pendola's avatar

One of the best records ever and, yes, super underrated song.

Awesome post!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Thank you, Rocco! Super underrated indeed!

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Minor Fossil's avatar

Yea, pretty much every song on this album is amazing.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Right?!

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Mr. Raven's avatar

Tom Petty was the singer Bruce Springsteen wanted to be.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

That's a spicy take. I like it!

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Mark Finn's avatar

One of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever. My second favorite Tom Petty album, but that’s a whole lot like asking Sophie to pick a child to keep. I’m so glad I got to see them on their last tour in May 2017. It seems almost stupid to assert this, but they put on a hell of a show.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Not stupid at all, and I'm more than a little jealous you were able to experience them in person!

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Steve Goldberg's avatar

I remember this album being all over the radio when I was in middle school (whatever grade 12 years old would be). It would be years before I would own any Petty albums but this was the one I played the most by far as a teenager. It's a true classic, and "Century City" is indeed as good if not better than the others. Being an L.A. boy, I always appreciated his many songs about So Cal, even when they were not so nice.

You've seen "Runnin' Down a Dream," the 2007 Peter Bogdanovich documentary about him/them?

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I haven't! I think I mentioned it on Notes, but I looked at it's on the Kanopy app, so I'm hoping to watch it today/tomorrow.

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Steve Goldberg's avatar

I think it’s like five or six hours long so you might want to cancel all your other plans! It’s pretty amazing.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Lol. Damn! Might have to break it up into chunks.

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Dave Purcell's avatar

Amazing record, great deep cut. I was 13 when this came out and didn't appreciate until many years later how well Petty walked the new wave/classic rock line, so somehow appealing to both audiences. What a band!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Great point! Petty was always one of those artists that was always "okay" to like, regardless of what crowd you might've been running with.

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Jen Zug's avatar

Tom Perry is a favorite. He’s one of my comfort musicians.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Same!

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Matt Tillotson's avatar

Great pick.

Rockstar games went with "Love Is A Long Road" for their GTA VI debut trailer, and I feel "Century City could have worked very well there also.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Yes!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Yes!

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Justin Steiner's avatar

Great artist, great album, great song. I have plans to write about a handful of Petty albums in the relatively near future.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Right on! I’m looking forward to it.

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Bob Tooker's avatar

I saw Petty in Seattle, 1985, I think. Great show and what a band.

I absolutely loved him in the Traveling Wilburys.

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Tony Daniels's avatar

I absolutely love Damn the Torpedoes. It is also one of my desert island albums. But Century City is my least favorite song on the record. In fact sometimes (when listening digitally) I skip it. I typically connect with the music before the lyrics and this song just sounds out of place on this record to me. I’ve never connected with it musically or lyrically. Not sure why, but I’m glad you dig it. Tom Petty Forever!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Nothing wrong with that. We like what we like! Tom Petty forever indeed!

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