Tag Archives: Damn the Torpedoes

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Song of the Day #3,402: ‘Even the Losers’ – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

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.

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Song of the Day #1,419: ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Best Albums of the 70s – #12
Damn the Torpedoes – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1979)

Few artists can put out an album on which every song sounds like a billboard hit (whether it was or not). Tom Petty has done it twice.

I ranked his Full Moon Fever high on my 80s list, but a decade earlier he pulled off the same feat on Damn the Torpedoes, his third album with The Heartbreakers.

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Song of the Day #1,195: ‘Refugee’ – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

1979’s Damn the Torpedoes was Tom Petty’s first bona fide classic (but not his last).

Its nine songs show Petty at the top of his game — from the spoken-word verses of the pleading, Byrds-like ‘Here Comes My Girl’ to the Eagles-esque (but better!) balladry of ‘Lousiana Rain.’ The album doesn’t contain a weak moment and it’s hard to pick a favorite.

I love the blistering kiss-off ‘What Are You Doing In My Life?’ as much as the anthemic ‘Even the Losers,’ the jaunty ‘Don’t Do Me Like the That’ as much as the rave-up ‘Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid).’ This is a greatest hits record masquerading as a studio album.

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