Gwen was close with "This Is the Day," but The The nailed it even more (better? harder?) with the Jools Holland piano solo on "Uncertain Smile." Incredibly funky.

One of Jeff Bridges' best roles, and excellent dialogue. "Listen to me, princess. We fucked twice. That’s it. Once the sweat dries, you still don’t know shit about me. Got it?" I'm telling you, it's great.

Michelle Pfeiffer totally deserved Best Actress in '89 for The Fabulous Baker Boys, but lost to Jessica Tandy. TFBB is a stone classic — Pfeiffer does her own singing, for pete's sake! Harrrumph. This bothers me way more than it should.

That's got to be what it is, right? They realize how effed they are and just die?

24 year-old me would freak out about you not giving the M-designation to Living with the Law, but I fear you might be right. I haven't listened to it in ages, but I have this suspicion it may be over-produced. Regardless, that album totally changed my life, and I agree that Dirt Floor is absolutely brilliant.

Yes, he did. He was fucking brilliant, and I don't use that word lightly. Troubled guy, but man, he could play.

Haha, no, I think yours was first, actually. I hadn't scrolled down far enough to see it. Great minds, etc…

I just referred to the Rush/women phenomenon above!

You know what they call women at Rush concerts? Unicorns, because they don't exist.

That "haircut" line is on Pleased to Meet Me, in "Shooting Dirty Pool."

But I can see why, though — if your music is based on getting obliterated and thinking everything is stupid, I can see why it would be tough to visit Madhouse Marty and the Morning Zoo Crew and hawk your wares.

Oh, I completely agree. They didn't do themselves any favors, and it's maddening to think about. I also saw another act open for Petty who went on to spiral downwards — Chris Whitley. His debut album "Living with the Law" absolutely blew me away, and he opened for Petty in support of it. He then went on to put out an…

There's an anecdote in the book where they meet up with some huge PR guy at a bar. He wants to represent them and it seems like a good fit. Then Westerberg (I think) says, "We'll hire you if you pull down your pants and squawk like a chicken." The guy says, "Ok, see you later" and bails.

I haven't read the book (yet), but my understanding is that they were matched up with Petty so they could learn how a "real band" does it. And it was probably terrifying for them, to see how this wasn't just a means of rebellion anymore — this was a Job and they had to act with a certain degree of professionalism.

Great interview. I bought the book but haven't read it yet. I wasn't sure I was going to, but I'm glad Gwen spoke as a proxy for people like me who just can't believe the bullshit they pulled. (I mean, turning WXRT against you is absolute career suicide.) But their past is obviously a huge part of their fucked-up…

I saw them open for U2 on "The Unforgettable Fire" tour. They were booed offstage. I felt bad for them.

Completely agree. High Tension had a lot going for it for a while, although the initial break-in was a little over the top sadism-wise, I thought. (Shotgunning the kid in the cornfield? Come on.) But the twist — which pretty much everyone saw coming — completely killed it.

Totally agree. His new stuff is so damn earnest and on-the-nose. Ok, you were an alcoholic and you hit bottom and got sober and married a smokin' violin player. That's great. Now how about you rock out a little bit instead of gazing at your navel?

Oh, I see — I misunderstood. Yeah, I mean, I don't get the solo llaying through the whole song. I don't see how it improves a tune to fill it with what sounds like a 16-year-old shredder playing all the pedals at Guitar Center. That said, when it gets to the verse about a country boy seeing steam rise off a body, it…

I'm not sure what you're referring to. Link?