Tom Petty solo albums are odd things. This was his first one from 1989 and, rather like Bruce Springsteen often used members of the E Street Band on his supposedly solo albums, Petty saw several of his Heartbreakers turning up to appear on this one. I don’t really know why he bothered calling them solo albums, to be honest, if some of the Heartbreakers were there. The sound and the vibe was exactly the same as a Heartbreakers album.
Despite the presence of some eighties synthesisers, the sound is still a rocking one, however, powered along by those typical jangly guitar sounds. Heartbreakers or no Heartbreakers, the sound sounds indistinguishable to me, really. Therefore, I tend to lump the solo albums together with the Heartbreakers albums. Either way, this was an extremely successful album. It is a really good one too, without a bad track on it. It rocks from beginning to end in fine, lively, flowing style.
Free Fallin’ is an instantly recognisable and seductively slow-burning but anthemic number, as is the charismatic, insistent, singalong I Won’t Back Down. Those were two copper-bottomed Petty classics to kick the album off with. A great start, I have to say.
Both the slightly Billy Joel-ish piano-synth rock of Love Is A Long Road and the understated sound of A Face In The Crowd are both chugging and appealingly competent rockers. The tempo gets right up with the wonderful riffing of Runnin’ Down A Dream, with its name check for Del Shannon’s Runaway. This a is great track that doesn’t let up for a minute, acoustic and electric guitars merging perfectly. It is quite irresistible.
Petty always loved The Byrds and his cover of I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better is pretty much definitive. Yer So Bad is an upbeat acoustic-driven folky rocker with wry lyrics about Petty’s sister marrying a yuppie.
Depending On You is a jangly, new wave-ish rocker with hints of Graham Parker about it. The quality really isn’t letting up at all here. The same can be said for the John Mellencamp riff-powered rock of The Apartment Song, which contains a Peggy Sue drum bit in the middle, along with a very T. Rex-influenced riff. The pace slows on the sleepy acoustic strains of the short Alright For Now.
Not to worry, rock fans, though because two fine toe-tappers end this excellent album in the vaguely mid-sixties Dylanesque A Mind With A Heart Of Its Own and the goofy fun of the Elvis Costello & The Attractions-influenced Zombie Zoo. This was rightly one of the most successful and popular Petty albums. It is packed full of vitality and verve, delivered with an infectious enthusiasm by Petty and whatever he chose to call his band.
