back to browsing

Damn the Torpedoes [Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers]

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
1 disc

1. Refugee
2. Here Comes My Girl
3. Even the Losers
4. Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)
5. Century City
6. Don't Do Me Like That
7. You Tell Me
8. What Are You Doin' in My Life?
9. Louisiana Rain
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): BOO14883
Credits

Producer Jimmy Iovine; Tom Petty
Engineer Shelly Yakus
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Mike Campbell (guitar); Benmont Tench (keyboards, vocals); Ron Blair (bass); Stan Lynch (drums, vocals).
Additional personnel: Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass).

Recorded at Sound City in Van Nuys, California and at Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, California.
All songs written by Tom Petty except "Here Comes My Girl" and "Refugee" (Tom Petty/Mike Campbell).
Personnel: Tom Petty (vocals, 6-string guitar, 12-string guitar, harmonica); Benmont Tench (vocals, piano, harmonium, organ); Stan Lynch (vocals, drums); Mike Campbell (6-string guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar); Ron Blair (bass guitar).
Audio Remasterer: Chris Bellman.
Recording information: Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, CA; Sound City, Van Nuys, CA.
Photographers: Lynn Goldsmith; Aaron Rapoport.
It is encouraging to note that in compiling the superlative GREATEST HITS, four tracks from this blinder of an album were included, more than from any of his others. This is the ideal starting point for Petty students, (and then you can acquire all his other albums). For those unfamiliar, he is a rock 'n' roll Roger McGuinn. Those who are already aware of him will know that he has the knack of writing some of the best middle eight hooks ever heard, plays a Rickenbacker, and that he has an addictive voice and a knock-out supporting band. Is that enough?
Critic Reviews

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.134) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Ineluctable roots rock that's built for the modern world..."
Rolling Stone (p.83) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t starts with the Heartbreakers' defining track, 'Refugee' - the closest thing to an anthem they'd yet recorded - and doesn't lose its stride after that."
Q (8/01, p.154) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A mus-have...This is Petty at the height of his powers and slowly on the turn..."
CMJ (1/5/04, p.6) - Ranked #4 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1980".
Uncut (magazine) (p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he playing is raw, the emotion likewise, Petty's first person songs starting to take on a classic universality....While Springsteen conjures the details of heartland America via an extensive libretto, Petty unshowily puts you right there."