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Entertainment WeeklyAug 5, 2014All of Hypnotic carries a sense of knowing urgency. [9 Aug 2014, p.67]
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Jul 29, 2014A tight, spirited follow-up to 2010’s bluesier, less essential Mojo.
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Classic Rock MagazineDec 18, 2014An album true to his roots and his wrecked country, unwavering of vision. [Sep 2014, p.88]
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Q MagazineAug 28, 2014This time around Petty's Heartbreakers have brought out the very best in the man himself. [Sep 2014, p.102]
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Aug 12, 2014Not every track is brilliant, but Petty’s intention to make a rock album has been realised for the most part.
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Jul 30, 2014Track for track, it’s the equal of anything Petty has released in a long and righteously distinguished career.
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Jul 29, 2014Hypnotic Eye is a bastion of consistent excellence.
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Jul 29, 2014Hypnotic Eye offers the band mostly in lean, mean, garage-rock machine mode firing up the fuzz and swagger.
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Jul 29, 2014It’s his catchiest, most sharply focused album in years.
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Jul 29, 2014Almost 40 years on, Tom Petty has been kind to his mind and his voice. And the Heartbreakers have been kind to Petty. Hypnotic Eye is all the proof you need.
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Jul 29, 2014This is the Heartbreakers four decades and a million shows later, deepening their attack with sturdy reliability.
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Jul 29, 2014As romance, ethics, community and the economy collapse, Mr. Petty and the Heartbreakers offer two old-fashioned bulwarks: the solidarity of the band and the sinewy construction of the songs.
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Jul 28, 2014Impossible not to like.
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Jul 28, 2014Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have provided a blistering reminder of rock ‘n’ roll’s subversive nature with Hypnotic Eye.
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Jul 25, 2014This is a surprisingly, satisfyingly vigorous record.
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UncutJul 25, 2014If Hypnotic Eye was just about the snarl, it'd lose steam fast. Instead, it's only one element of a story that's bigger and richer, which is how a storied American band returned to the core principals of yesteryear without having to pretend to forget all they've learned in the meantime. [Aug 2014, p.63]
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Sep 5, 2014It's striking to hear a nearly 40-year-old outfit present one of their best albums yet. [Sep/Oct 2014, p.104]
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MagnetAug 6, 2014The zigzagging, liquid bass is the most surprising thing on a record you expect no surprises from. [No. 112, p.61]
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Jul 28, 2014Petty's music stands strong against a tide of new trends, fresh sounds, fabulous makeovers. His defiance underlines the music, animates it, makes it feel vital even if it may sound familiar.
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Jul 30, 2014No myths to sell, just the idea of a working rock band reclaiming what's left of a center-right boomer rock coalition. Hynoptic Eye gets my vote.
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Jul 28, 2014It won’t convert the unconvinced, but Petty sounds as inspired as ever.
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Jul 28, 2014By the time the second half of the album rolls around, the near-constant procession of sluggish tempos and downbeat refrains begins to wear.... These missteps aren't enough to erase the positive impression of Hypnotic Eye's best moments, but they may cause you to wish that Petty would just lighten up already.
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Jul 25, 2014Hypnotic Eye may just be a solid middle-of-the-pack release as far as Petty albums go, but only a fool would complain about having another 45 minutes of music from one of rock & roll's premier units.
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Aug 21, 2014Decades from now, Petty people will wonder at how a modest marvel like Hypnotic Eye aged into a late-career riff rocket.
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Jul 29, 2014Hypnotic Eye ends up a dynamic mini-album--but doesn’t quite sustain its momentum for an entire full-length.
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Jul 31, 2014None of them are as immediately catchy or memorable, and perhaps that’s to be expected. But Petty and Co. are at ease and doing what they please.
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Jul 30, 2014Hypnotic Eye is little more than a decent record with a few ideas above its station.
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Jul 29, 2014Although it’s easy to lament the fact that Petty and the Heartbreakers don’t vary all that much from their usual template. Hypnotic Eye also affirms the fact they remain an austere and unapologetic outfit.
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MojoJul 25, 2014Hypnotic Eye mostly returns to their earliest days of razor-edged guitars and garage rock.... The listless You Get Me High and Burnt Out Town's clunky blues may let the side down, but it feels good to finally have the real Heartbreakers back. [Aug 2014, p.94]
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Jul 25, 2014The songwriting is solid, the musicianship familiarly old-school, and while Hypnotic Eye lacks the killer standout tracks he turned out by the truckload in his youth, it packs enough vim and energy to suggest the fire is far from out.
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Jul 28, 2014Ranked alongside the Heartbreakers’ back catalog, their 13th falls somewhere in the middle. As a measuring of the fire inside Petty, however, readings are strong. Listening to Hypnotic Eye, you can rest assured he’s still kicking.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 25 out of 32
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Mixed: 5 out of 32
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Negative: 2 out of 32
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Aug 8, 2014
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Feb 24, 2022
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May 12, 2018