It’s becoming work, folks. I’m almost done but still not sure why this guy’s been around and selling out for more than 30 years…
Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever – 1989 (Buy It)
Petty ditched the Heartbreakers for a while and hooked up with his Wilbury Pal, Jeff Lynne for his most interesting and accessible album in eons.
Here is the rekkid that contains those hits you remember liking TP for. “Runnin Down a Dream”, “Free Fallin”. Maybe it’s just me but I like a little pop sheen on my rock. And Lynne provides it.
Hard to give this album any more accolades than it already has received. It’s the best Petty has to offer in his first two decades as far as I am concerned. Sure, there are tracks like “Depending on You” that sound like they fell off a Traveling Wilbury CD, but, so what? The Wilburys were the anti-supergroup of the late 80s. They were catchy and fun and what’s wrong with that?
I dare you to listen to The Apartment Song and not think of this year’s Jenny Lewis tune, “Carpetbaggers”.
Grade A
A Side: Free Fallin, Runnin’ Down a Dream, I Won’t Back Down
BlindSide: Love is a Long Road, Yer So Bad, The Apartment Song
DownSide: There isn’t a clunker on this record.
