Bob Dylan’s closed out the 60s with Nashville Skyline (1969), a short, sweet, straight-up country album featuring a drastically different singing voice.
In the midst of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, just after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, this was viewed as a puzzling move by an artist who just five years earlier was soundtracking the protest era with The Times They Are a’Changin’.
The Random iTunes Fairy must still be in a tribute mood after this week’s Tom Petty retrospective. Here’s Prince with his classic ‘Purple Rain.’
I was surprised this song hasn’t shown up on the blog before now. In fact, only two songs from the Purple Rain soundtrack (‘Computer Blue’ and ‘The Beautiful Ones’) have been given the Song of the Day treatment, and both of those were on Random Weekends as well.
On the final day of my Tom Petty tribute week, I reveal my favorite of his albums.
#1 – Damn the Torpedoes – 1979
It felt right to go with a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album in my top spot, and Lord knows there is no better Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album than Damn the Torpedoes.
This was the band’s third album and the first where they sound like they have truly mastered their craft. Songwriting, performance and production come together in way that makes Damn the Torpedoes not just the best Tom Petty album but one of the best rock albums of all-time, period.
[Continuing my countdown of favorite Tom Petty albums, in honor of the late, great musician.]
In my #2 spot is Tom Petty’s first, and best, solo album.
#2 – Full Moon Fever (1989)
Though I was familiar with several of Tom Petty’s singles with The Heartbreakers, Full Moon Fever was the first full-length album of his I owned. It was also one of the first CDs I purchased for myself as I transitioned to that new digital format.
[Continuing my countdown of favorite Tom Petty albums, in honor of the late, great musician.]
My top three Tom Petty albums are all so good in so many different ways that I can make a case for any one of them as #1.
These are also the three albums that show up in the top spots of just about every Tom Petty ranking I could find online. That’s because Petty has generally been more of a singles artist than an album artist, but also because these three albums are just that good.
Meet Me In Montauk 