Shelter

Makes perfect sense!
 

That's interesting, I would have argued the other way: The songwriter path strengthens the songwriting. At least ideally. You don't have too many other factors (like in a band) to distract the listener from the actual song, so you better write some strong songs. But I think I know what you mean, a lot of people rely on the words too much and don't put enough care into melody, harmonies, arrangement. But Tom certainly was not like that. At least not as I hear him.
 
I'm not sure I would have liked that. To me, it's trying enough when Wilco shift into prog-rock-mode. 

Yes, The Last DJ (song) qualifies, and so do enough songs on Wildflowers and She's The One, Echo even, to make them enjoyably mixed stylistically diverse albums to my ears. I missed the jangle and the harmony, the whole West Coast melancholia, that seeps through actually all the albums up to Mojo (with the exception of The Last DJ album, maybe). It probably started on Wildflowers, but you didn't really notice until Echo that Tom's divorce and all the nasty experiences tangled up in it took their toll. On Rhino Skin he sang, as we all know, "If you listen long enough / You can hear my skin grow tough". That put a lump in my throat back then, I remember that very precisely, and it still makes me sad when I hear it. Today I know exactly what he meant. I sensed it back then and I felt sorry for him, but now I can imagine how he felt. Not that I've been divorced, thank God, but there are other experiences that can make your skin grow tough.
So I'm not disappointed or anything with HE. I totally understand how Tom could only have written such an album at that point in his life. It's just that it doesn't really do it for me, as an album, songwise. Almost everybody likes their Petty  a bit different. ;-) Me, I wish he would have recorded something like Chris Hillman's Bidin' My Time that he produced. And I still think he had such an album in him, maybe one more Wildflowers, folky, countryish, singer-songwriter style. A wise and forgiving statement. There are traces of that on Mudcrutch 2. But I think he wasn't ready yet for such a personal statement on album level. He would have gotten there, eventually, I'm quite sure. That's easy to say now, of course, because I can never be proven wrong. But then again much of the most fun topics here on the Farm is based on mere speculation, isn't it?
It's sad, so sad, that he's gone. Another solo album, maybe; maybe another one with the Heartbreakers, riding into the sunset with his holsters empty, a wry smile on his face as he turns around and greets everyone with a tip to the hat. Mama, put my guns into the ground, I can't shoot them anymore. On the other hand - would that really have been the way to go out for the kid who toyed around with a knife during business meetings in the late seventies, the guy who tore up a dollar bill on the cover of Rolling Stone, the man who wrote The Last DJ? Probably not.
Absolutely.

The Yardbirds!!

The Yardbirds!!

Its a sad anniversary for me, July 20, 2017 Boston, MA was the last time I was graced to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live.  I had considered going all out and getting tickets for the Hollywood Bowl shows, but my brother in law was getting married out in PA and there was no logical way to get out to LA in time for the show as we were driving out to PA and back.  I had great seats near dead center row 6 which is the closest I ever came to Tom.  I remember when he was walking off stage after American Girl thinking I would never be that close to Tom again.  Can't say why it popped into my head as I had great seats for Hartford (about row 10, it was "h" whatever that was, but there was a bigger gap between the stage and seats there.)  As always he played a great show, I didnt mind that the patter and set list were all but identical to Hartford.  He dropped the needle all over the catalog and my wife, nearly 20K other folks and myself had a great time singing along to some amazing songs.  
I've been to a lot of concerts in my time, but nobody came close to the charisma and stage presence of Tom.  Its a night I hope I never forget and I'm glad to say I found a copy of the show online.  
The shot of the crowd was taken by accident and that's me in the middle  
 

You have one talented bro.

So here's their list - I'd say it's a pretty good try.  I'm not a metal guy, so I'd probably swap out the Ibanez for an Epiphone Casino, but I could live with the rest.  
10 - Gibson Explorer
9 -  Ibanez Jem
8 - Gibson Flying V
7 - Rickenbacker 300 series
6 - Gibson SG
5 - Gretsch 6120 (Chet Atkins)
4 - Gibson ES-335
3 - Fender Telecaster
2 - Fender Stratocaster
1 - Gibson Les Paul

Making a lot of sense, yeah..! 
And thank you for your kind words, too!

So much feelings about this release, right?  Two more random thoughts of mine:
1. The fact that AAT is credited to "Tom Petty", rather than to "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers", really speaks for how much of a celebratory, tribute kinda release-of-love this is from Dana, Adria, Ben, Mike and Ryan. I suppose that is that is where the focus of this thing is to be found really. It's clearly all about the genius of Tom, as found a bit beyond and behind his most well known and played songs, all filtred through the ones that was closest to him. I really appreciate how they have been brave and personal enough to leave the usual suspects out of this. (Save for the stray case of I Won't Back Down, a song that may indeed, within the concept here, tell a real story, though.) To me, that may very well be what makes this thing as truly special as those people's personal involvement seem to suggest.
2. I have, with pride and joy, noticed how many of my, perhaps more unexpected favorite songs are on this box. In fact two of my all time top favorite songs of Tom's - songs he himself rarely mentioned, let alone played or re-issued, as long as he didn't have to, and songs that most fans don't seem to like that much either - here finally get their much due recognition! Songs being Deliver Me and You & I Will Meet Again. 
 
 

Ain't we all in space?

I can't say I'm so excited about the release for basically the same reasons others have given.  But I do also think it would have been a better idea if they had used a different non-Wildflowers era photo to tease the announcement.  They could have used a photo from pretty much any other decade and many of us wouldn't have gotten our hopes up that this was going to at last be Wildflowers All the Rest.  That's the release I'm truly waiting for.  And it kind of made the announcement of American Treasure a little anticlimactic and deflating. 

Ok, random thought: Ain't all living creatures officially "Live Nation customers" these days?! At least all living creatures who ever went to a concert in the last 5 to 10 years. I mean, it is kinda hard to avoid their monopoly, isn't it?

I don't do this very often.. but I just stumbled upon this one.. quite atmospheric
 

Ok, random thought: Ain't all living creatures officially "Live Nation customers" these days?! At least all living creatures who ever went to a concert in the last 5 to 10 years. I mean, it is kinda hard to avoid their monopoly, isn't it?

Let's see...
- All The Rest (hello..!?!)
- "The Complete Outtakes Box 1975-201?" - with book/also sold separately, containing detailed sessions/discogrphy info. (Yeah, I know... like that would happen...)
- "The Complete Demos Box 1971-201?" (Hm.. Righ, I know.. I'm not in Kansas anymore...)
- "The Complete Beacon & Fonda Box 2013". Complete tracklist! The best performances of all titles perfomed during the residencies, 2013 with photos and liner notes (and perhaps a special shout out from the LA Fire Marshall...)
- Book with complete charts/sheetmusic and arrangements, as mentioned by Nurk. Would be awesome for all musicians out there.
 
 
At least maybe the first one of those would happen. And the last one. Just perhaps.
 
 
 
 

Well, as far as I can tell, the countown is over. Page works normally. And at least in part I was right.. they were counting down a new web site design..   

"All The Wrong Reasons" has been bouncing around my noggin for a couple of days.  Longer than that really.  That song never leaves for very long.  Which is odd, because I rarely listen to it.

I don't do this very often.. but I just stumbled upon this one.. quite atmospheric
 

I don't do this very often.. but I just stumbled upon this one.. quite atmospheric
 

Haven't been around here much lately, but I saw one show on the Southern Accents tour; it was at the Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey. I remember it as being a good but not great show; they played everything from Southern Accents except "Mary's New Car." I didn't love the Rebelette influence on the older songs (such as "You Got Lucky"), but I still enjoyed the show in general.
Regarding the Long After Dark tour, that one was much better! I saw four shows from September 1982 through June 1983. Yes, "Hang On Sloopy" was on the setlist. I don't remember the Stan joke, but I do remember Tom referring to one of the "Hang On Sloopy" verses as being "one of the filthiest ever written...let's hear it for sexual explicity"...yes, that was how he pronounced it, haha.
 

I don't do this very often.. but I just stumbled upon this one.. quite atmospheric
 

^ Now.. that is very hard to say.  
I know, I have been heard saying, time and time again, how much I love the heavy grit and groove they reached in their last years (uh, still hate typing those words!), that extra punch in the drum-bass backdrop and the crunch of the guitars. As was heard, the way I precieve it, gradually increasing from early 2000s on, to hit some kinda climax level around the 2012, 2013, 2014 tours.. and that I think may be due to a combination of 1 ) them developing their game all the way, 2 ) perhaps also changing their preferences some, in favor for the slightly grittier, and 3 ) the techniques to capture their live sound getting better.*
But, for one thing: while I love what Steve has brought to the table in terms of never being late.... or early.... and how sweet that sits with some of Tom's songs.... I do perhaps find his approach a bit, shall we say soulless at times.. he does seem as much part of the solid stage backdrop and rigs, as the sweaty groovy member of the band I know he is. And then. There is the infamous (around here, at least) aspect of how the setlist, in my very own and twisted view, didn't generally quite live up to it's full potential with this last line up. To say the least. And after all, such a thing also tints the opionion of favorite line-up, no matter how sharply they dress stuff, no matter how telepathically awesome they starts to play. 
And.. there is something to be said for that certain elegance, the youthful swagger and energy, at times feverish temper reached with their second and third versions of the line-up. The raw energy still lingering from the early years, that little space between instruments that suggest life and danger in the picture - not too comfortable yet, as it were - but already glorious and slick enough by that magic sweet harmony touch and the cool, sometimes wickedly laid back bass style of Howie's (that just reminds me of one other bass player, and that is Tom himself) - the whole enterprise also moving into those first stages of a more "produced" era, when they started to reproduce wider/fuller arrangements with Scott doubling on whatever needed (first behind curtain and then in plain sight.  ). 
Because of my deep admiration for Howie's absurdly underrated work and for how much I prefer Stan's more dynamic/organic way to play, I think I'm gonna go with this second/third line-up as my live favorite. Too bad, we never got to hear that one in a heavier, more mature, 2000s sound quality recording, ripping out some of those old songs that they never really had time for in the post Wildflowers days. Not that I can hear a single flaw, listening to professionally released Kiss My Amps Vol 2, for example, but still... I can't help at times but wonder how that Steppin Stone; When A Kid Goes Bad or that Willin' may have sounded with Stan and Howie onboard.
And... as you may have figured. I was wrong to say that I saw every line-up. That was just wishful thinking and stupid swank. I have seen all members of the band in action, is what I meant to say. I obviously missed the first line-up - thus I never saw Ron play with Stan, which must have been very cool! And neither, I think, did I see them play without Scott. Sometimes I wonder how they managed to do so...  
Did that answer your question at all?
 
 
----
*It may be worth adding a 4 ) called Ron, here, but I'm not sure if there is one, or if it's just the other 3 playing tricks on me. Anyway, it does seem to me as if Ron, after a few years of being back with the band, really upped himself to the upmost notch of style and gravity. Sometimes in the latter tours I think he sounds perfectly mean (in a good way!) driving and groovy - a philosopher player that does it just right and just organic enough to create a weirdly powerful pulse at times, contributing beautifully to that heavier-than-ever sound of theirs that I love so much (and that I dreamed to one day get to hear so many of their overlooked songs performed with). He really "tucks it under", as he puts it. (And perhaps Steve's sitting-rock approach was just what Ron needed to totally perfect his craft? - Not that the Ron and Stan team didn't shine brightly enough, but I suppose it was more of a equal display there, with Stan "swining it" more often than not. While with Steve's more plain backdrop, Ron may have been allowed, even forced, to take more of the groove and swing upon himself?) Anyway, considering how I hear the live sound of the 2000s - I was quite suprised to learn that Tom plays some of the coolest bass parts on Hypnotic Eye himself. For practical reasons, I'm sure. But too bad, really. Upon first listen to Forgotten Man or U Get Me High, I was so thrilled for how Ron shined..! Oh, well.. I derail. Love the Ron!)
 

After me - and some others, surely - derailed this other perfectly straight thread with talks about the music video aspect of TPATH, I thought I'd better take this stray comment back to one of the more fitting threads for it.
Thing is, I recently revisited all of the promo videos they ever did, and I must say I more or less love all of them. This is as great a video cataloge as any artist is likely to ever have, imo. No matter if we talk the straight up "performing" videos, the arty music video cuts or the little films that some of them are, it's all dynamite.
Generally, what I miss the most, is some of the story stuff gold they never made any videos for! The missed oportunities, as it were. Just imagine, if you can, if Mike Lipscombe, Phil Joanou, Adria Petty or Julien Temple (or someone else with a touch) was to shoot a "film" for Something Big! Even without a video, that one is one of the most vivid "videos" in my mind.. and there is a certain type of Tom's songs that creates that "stream" of pictures inside every time... Blue Sunday, comes to mind too.. (As I said many times over the years, all of LDJ would have been a wonderful lo-fi movie, in my opinion.. in the style of Neil Young's Greendale - and a not too dissimilar message either.. If only perfection wasn't standing guard  )
Of the song that do have videos, as much as I love what they made of it, there is so much "filmic" qualities to Letting You Go, that I really wish they would have gone for more of a short film on that one. There is really is some "raining on your summer home" going on when I listen to that song.. Oh well.. no doubt, "dreams are just dreams" hu? 
Like I said... Great art! Great long list of wonderful videos!
 

As far as I know - and I've spent at least 25 years looking - there is no one resource, place or person, that has collected complete discography session info for Tom. With some artists you'll find such info - session, dates, song titles, personel, credits... and occasionally  like with Bob, some people even even trace mastertape numbers or tracks breakdown, over dubs and so on - neatly logged, chronicled and put in blogs, homepages or even books, but sadly I've never found nothing even close to comprehensive for Tom's sessions. I always love to find more info on detailed credits and tracklists, dates etc from sessions myself, whatever I can find it, but it's not the easiest feat to collect these things, as it turns out. So far it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of pieces missing. 

MaryJanes2ndLastDance, Chimera, & Shelter - thanks for your help. I'm new to this forum and can see it's a good place with fine folks.