The Kid And His Music
By Glenn Whitney
The Gettysburgian - October 11, 1985

Tom Petty, "Rebels" -- Live 12" version (MCA)
Tom's record company has resorted to the new trick on radio programmers by releasing a live version of a dying AOR hit. Petty has had record contract troubles in the past and this new marketing ploy might not meet with his approval either. Very little energy or excitement is generated on this in-concert track which deviates only slightly from the album version. However, somehow he has added nearly one minute to the original song (which is a recent one, by the way) but it's mainly crowd noises and an over-extended ending. ★★