Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Hypnotic Eye"

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
2014, Warner Bros.

1. American Dream Plan B
2. Fault Lines
3. Red River
4. Full Grown Boy
5. All You Can Carry
6. Power Drunk
7. Forgotten Man
8. Sins of My Youth
9. U Get Me High
10. Burnt Out Town
11. Shadow People

I wasn't quite as impressed with the one Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album I have (as opposed to just Tom Petty himself) and at first I thought the same was going to be true with Hypnotic Eye. My first listen was kind of... underwhelming. However, it soon grew on me and I really enjoy it. It's not anything ground-breaking that's for sure, but I think that's part of its charm. Tom Petty is always reliable. I don't think he's capable of doing anything "bad" per se. That's what this album is - simple, unpretentious rock n' roll. It tastes great and goes down smooth.

Useless Fact: I don't really have any obscure Tom Petty trivia, unfortunately. I think he's a White personality-type... if you're familiar with the Hartman color code of personality.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Into the Great Wide Open"

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open
1991, MCA

1. Learning To Fly
2. King's Highway
3. Into the Great Wide Open
4. Two Gunslingers
5. Dark of the Sun
6. All or Nothin'
7. All the Wrong Reasons
8. Too Good To Be True
9. Out in the Cold
10. You and I Will Meet Again
11. Makin' Some Noise
12. Built to Last

For some reason Into the Great Wide Open was kind of underwhelming. I've never really loved "Learning to Fly" as I think it's kind of a pedestrian fluff song. The rest of the album kind of follows suit neither being bad but not really demanding my attention either. There are some songs I really like besides the title track which I've always loved. "Two Gunslingers" is a cool song with a cool story and lyrics. I also really like the rocking "Makin' Some Noise" and the sort of 50's-inspired "Built to Last." The rest of the songs just sort of play without really capturing me.

Useless Fact: I think I mentioned that Johnny Depp starred in the video for the title track, didn't I? Well, I'm mentioning it again.

Petty, Tom - "Wildflowers"

Petty, Tom - Wildflowers
1994, Warner Bros.

1. Wildflowers
2. You Don't Know How It Feels
3. Time To Move On
4. Wildflowers
5. It's Good To Be King
6. Only a Broken Heart
7. Honey Bee
8. Don't Fade On Me
9. Hard On Me
10. Cabin Down Below
11. To Find a Friend
12. A Higher Place
13. House in the Woods
14. Crawling Back to You
15. Wake Up Time

Next stop on the Tom Petty train is Wildflowers. It's got my other two favorite tracks: "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "You Wreck Me." The latter in particular is a hard rocker with a great groove that instantly improves my mood when I hear it. Wildflowers is, with a few exceptions, quieter and more intimate than Full Moon Fever. It's more ponderous as well. I've heard Petty was going through a divorce when he wrote this album. The music leans a bit more toward folk and Americana. "Don't Fade On Me" is one of the most incredible songs I've ever heard from the man. The chorus riff alone gives me a music-gasm. I think I might slightly prefer Full Moon Fever over this one, but just slightly.

Useless Fact: Rick Rubin produced this album.

Petty, Tom - "Full Moon Fever"

Petty, Tom - Full Moon Fever
1989, MCA

1. Free Falling
2. I Won't Back Down
3. Love Is a Long Road
4. A Face in the Crowd
5. Runnin' Down a Dream
6. Feel a Whole Lot Better
7. Yer So Bad
8. Depending On You
9. The Apartment Song
10. Alright For Now
11. A Mind With a Heart of Its Own
12. Zombie Zoo

While I never had the entire Full Moon Fever album, the singles really, really take me back. They remind me of a particular time in my life when my entire day consisted of church, watching MTV, listening to music, playing Nintendo, and reading Nintendo Power. I had absolutely no responsibilities other than "stay out of trouble" and "don't burn the house down." Fine, fun times. "Free Falling" and "Runnin' Down a Dream" were played endlessly on MTV. They're also played on the radio stations a lot down here in Georgia and each time it activates my nostalgia chip. For whatever reason I never saw fit to buy the entire album as a lad. After my dalliance with Greatest Hits I naturally defaulted to Full Moon Fever on my quest to find more Tom Petty. People, if the singles are all you hear from this album you are missing out. The entire CD is full of finely crafted pop rock with stellar musicianship and catchy hooks. As tend to be the case when I research an artist, my favorite tracks aren't even the singles. "Yer So Bad" and "The Apartment Song" are two of shining examples. As is "Alright For Now" which is a beautiful acoustic ballad - I didn't even know Tom Petty did that kind of thing.

Useless Fact: George Harrison and Roy Orbison both lent their considerable talents to the making of this album. Some fans even refer to this as Traveling Wilburies Vol 2. (Traveling Wilburies being the supergroup comprised of Petty, Harrison, Orbison, Bob Dylan and someone else whose name escapes me.)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - "Greatest Hits"

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
1993, Geffin

1. American Girl
2. Breakdown
3. Listen To Her Heart
4. I Need To Know
5. Refugee
6. Don't Do Me Like That
7. Even the Losers
8. Here Comes My Girl
9. The Waiting
10. You Got Lucky
11. Don't Come Around Here No More
12. I Won't Back Down
13. Runnin' Down a Dream
14. Free Fallin'
15. Learning To Fly
16. Into the Great Wide Open
17. Mary Jane's Last Dance
18. Something In the Air

If you're an avid reader of my blog you might have seen me mention my most hated radio station ever: 95.5 in Savannah. It's famous for its musical "diversity." I mean it will play AC/DC songs from both the Bonn Scott and Brian Johnson eras! Anyway, occasionally they'll play a Tom Petty song. At some point I realized that these Tom Petty songs were probably the only songs I really enjoyed (other than Pink Floyd). I also realized that "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is probably one of my favorite songs ever. So.... I picked this up while I was getting groceries one day. It's good. Though I'm more familiar with songs from track eleven and on because the others are a bit before my time. However, these have grown on me too, especially "The Waiting" and "You Got Lucky." It only goes up to 1993 which means it's missing "You Don't Know How It Feels" - another song I never get tired of. I have now made it a priority to get some more Tom Petty because I have learned that singles collections leave out some of an artists best stuff.

Useless Fact: The video for "Runnin' Down a Dream" is a tribute of sorts to cartoon/comic strip/video game  Little Nemo in Dream Land. The video for "Into the Great Wide Open" starred Johnny Depp and Petty himself as the "roadie named Bart." "Mary Jane's Last Dance" starred Kim Basinger as a... corpse.