Tom Petty’s 1989 Full Moon Fever was his first solo album and remains his one truly flawless effort. He has put out wonderful albums both on his own and with The Heartbreakers (Wildflowers and Southern Accents are particular favorites) but nothing quite as consistent and immediate as this one.

Full Moon Fever is like the Thriller of southern rock. It’s packed with hits (five of its singles reached Billboard’s top five, including three straight number ones), one hook-laden track flowing into the next for 43 minutes of pure bliss. Not only doesn’t it have a weak song, it doesn’t have a weak moment.

The biggest hits (‘Free Fallin’,’ ‘I Won’t Back Down’ and ‘Running Down a Dream’) remain fresh despite their ubiquity in the years after Full Moon Fever‘s release. The quieter moments (‘A Face in the Crowd,’ ‘Alright For Now’) still pack a punch. And the lesser known tracks that finish off the album (‘A Mind With a Heart of Its Own,’ ‘Zombie Zoo’) are still possibly the best songs on it.

‘A Mind With a Heart of Its Own’ is an oddball rockabilly masterpiece that contains one of my favorite Tom Petty lyrics:

‘Yer So Bad’ is another should-be classic in the same style. Petty alternates between the quirky tale of his swinger sister and her suicidal yuppie ex-husband in the verses and a sweetly direct expression of love in the chorus: “But not me, baby, I’ve got you to save me. Yer so bad, best thing I ever had. In a world gone mad, yer so bad.”

My uptight high school girlfriend took offense at the woman being referred to as the “best thing” he ever had. I sympathetically agreed with her at the time but now I know better.