Continuing my look at the albums of 1976…
Today’s debut album is mostly a forgettable introduction to a band with great things in its future. But two great songs that (almost) bookend the album make sure it can’t be dismissed entirely.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ self-titled debut didn’t sell very well and received little attention from U.S. critics. It actually fared much better in the UK, where today’s SOTD gave the band their first Top 40 hit.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…
#3 – Southern Accents – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
I’ve written a lot about Southern Accents, the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
I’ve covered how it was meant to be a concept album about life in the South before changes in the track list muddied up that idea. I’ve mentioned that the band had frequent arguments over the sound and direction of the album, leading Petty to punch a wall in frustration, breaking his hand.
I’ve noted that the album received mix reviews from critics and divided fans.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ sophomore album, You’re Gonna Get It!, was released in 1978, between the band’s 1976 debut album and 1979’s classic Damn the Torpedoes.
As such, it suffers a bit from middle child syndrome, and was received rather tepidly by critics. It produced two singles, ‘Listen to Her Heart‘ and ‘I Need to Know.’
My #8 album of 1991 belongs to the late, great Tom Petty, recording as he so often did, with The Heartbreakers.
Into the Great Wide Open was the follow-up to 1989’s Full Moon Fever, and can’t help but pale in comparison to that all-time classic. But this is still a very good collection in the same smart Byrds-ian pop-rock vein as its predecessor.
It’s been almost nine months since Tom Petty died of cardiac arrest brought on by an accidental drug overdose.
One of the drugs, fentanyl, also contributed to the deaths of Prince and Lil Peep. This is certainly the only context in which Lil Peep’s name will ever be mentioned alongside those legends.
Meet Me In Montauk 