Tom Petty Greatest Of All Time?
Tom Petty has been doing a lot of press recently for his upcoming Live
Anthology, which as Live anthologies go...is really well done.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Petty had this to say:
"I don't know that anyone's out there waving the banner for us being the best rock and roll band there is," the singer says. "But we might be." (Source)
One of my friends is a hardcore Tom Petty fan where even the slightest mention of anything negative of the man gets you a punch in the ovaries (if a woman) and a chop to the nuts (if a guy). He is absolutely apeshit for Tom Petty.
That is why I have to sit down here and think of legitimate reasons why he ISN'T the greatest of all time.
Criteria for being the greatest rock band of all time, I would think you would have to have influence over another generation of music. Big name bands after you should cite you as a major influence. This immediately brings the following bands to mind, in no order:
AC/DC
Black Sabbath
The Beatles
Elvis Presley
The Who
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Byrds
The Ramones
Chuck Berry
Bo Diddley
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Jimi Hendrix
Nirvana
The bands mentioned have influenced countless bands after them. Some of the best bands now have all been influenced by them in some way or another. Then you get into the secondary influence bands. Bands that took the original idea set forth by those above and expanded it.
Guns N' Roses
The Clash
Neil Young
The Doors
Van Halen
Yardbirds
NY Dolls
Aerosmith
The Beach Boys
David Bowie
I have listed 23 bands and I haven't even thought about mentioning Tom Petty yet. The reason is because he isn't influential. Yes, he has sold a bazillion copies, but so has Brittney Spears. He has won countless awards, but so has Milli Vanilli. His sound is a watered down version of The Byrds meets Bob Dylan.
In Tom Petty's own words, he tried to meld The Byrds with the Stones:
I got to see the Byrds once at the West Palm Beach pop festival on the same bill with the Rolling Stones. In the beginning, that was the original blueprint for the Heartbreakers — we wanted to be a mix of the Byrds and the Stones. We figured, "What could be cooler than that?" (Source)
I am not attempting to disregard everything Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers accomplished. It isn't easy creating music that speaks to a wide spectrum of people. But is he worthy of the greatest band ever tag? Not likely.
You might be thinking, well he would probably come in the third tier. Here is the third tier according to me:
U2
Bruce Springsteen
Janis Joplin
Elton John
Simon and Garfunkel
Prince
Sam Cooke
The list rolls on and on. Tom does get the best use of his song though - Silence of the Lambs.
***UPDATE***
I am not a fan of Rolling Stone and their lists, but Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers didn't even make their list of 100 Greatest Artists in Rock N' Roll. (Article)
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Petty had this to say:
"I don't know that anyone's out there waving the banner for us being the best rock and roll band there is," the singer says. "But we might be." (Source)
One of my friends is a hardcore Tom Petty fan where even the slightest mention of anything negative of the man gets you a punch in the ovaries (if a woman) and a chop to the nuts (if a guy). He is absolutely apeshit for Tom Petty.
That is why I have to sit down here and think of legitimate reasons why he ISN'T the greatest of all time.
Criteria for being the greatest rock band of all time, I would think you would have to have influence over another generation of music. Big name bands after you should cite you as a major influence. This immediately brings the following bands to mind, in no order:
AC/DC
Black Sabbath
The Beatles
Elvis Presley
The Who
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Byrds
The Ramones
Chuck Berry
Bo Diddley
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Jimi Hendrix
Nirvana
The bands mentioned have influenced countless bands after them. Some of the best bands now have all been influenced by them in some way or another. Then you get into the secondary influence bands. Bands that took the original idea set forth by those above and expanded it.
Guns N' Roses
The Clash
Neil Young
The Doors
Van Halen
Yardbirds
NY Dolls
Aerosmith
The Beach Boys
David Bowie
I have listed 23 bands and I haven't even thought about mentioning Tom Petty yet. The reason is because he isn't influential. Yes, he has sold a bazillion copies, but so has Brittney Spears. He has won countless awards, but so has Milli Vanilli. His sound is a watered down version of The Byrds meets Bob Dylan.
In Tom Petty's own words, he tried to meld The Byrds with the Stones:
I got to see the Byrds once at the West Palm Beach pop festival on the same bill with the Rolling Stones. In the beginning, that was the original blueprint for the Heartbreakers — we wanted to be a mix of the Byrds and the Stones. We figured, "What could be cooler than that?" (Source)
I am not attempting to disregard everything Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers accomplished. It isn't easy creating music that speaks to a wide spectrum of people. But is he worthy of the greatest band ever tag? Not likely.
You might be thinking, well he would probably come in the third tier. Here is the third tier according to me:
U2
Bruce Springsteen
Janis Joplin
Elton John
Simon and Garfunkel
Prince
Sam Cooke
The list rolls on and on. Tom does get the best use of his song though - Silence of the Lambs.
***UPDATE***
I am not a fan of Rolling Stone and their lists, but Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers didn't even make their list of 100 Greatest Artists in Rock N' Roll. (Article)
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