Petty’s Pride: What Is Tom Petty’s Greatest Album?

It was hard enough narrowing it down to four candidates for Tom Petty’s finest album. It meant leaving out standouts like Hard Promises, Echo, and Highway Companion, to name just a few.

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Now imagine the agita that we experienced in trying to pick just a single album to represent Tom Petty’s finest piece of work. That’s the monumental task that we set out for ourselves. See what you think about our choice. But first, the contenders:

‘Damn The Torpedoes’

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers already had a couple of albums and a major battle with a record label under their belt when they prepared Damn The Torpedoes. Producer Jimmy Iovine insisted on the crispest sounds possible, leading to radio-friendly classics like “Refugee” and “Even The Losers”. He also made Petty scour his back catalog for unrecorded winners. “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Louisiana Rain” turned up. Iovine’s help aside, this record represented the natural progression of incredible players led by an ace songwriter and performer.

‘Southern Accents’

By all accounts, the making of Southern Accents was a chaotic, somewhat torturous experience. And you can hear that in the finished product, which is half a concept album interrupted by stabs at pop glory. But the high points on this record might rise beyond anything Petty has ever done. Remnants of the theme album that surfaced on the cathartic “Rebels” and the gorgeous title track. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” stands out as one of Petty’s best singles. And “The Best Of Everything” very well could be his finest album closer.

‘Full Moon Fever’

Because of the timing of the release, most people assume that Petty, fed up with being a bandleader, decided to go solo on Full Moon Fever. But that only came after the fact that the Heartbreakers, aside from Mike Campbell, showed little interest in the project. So Petty pressed on in deep collaboration with Jeff Lynne. Lynne brought out a looseness in Petty, both in the recording and songwriting. Petty, meanwhile, rose to the occasion with his most accessible record, full of winning hits like the title track and “I Won’t Back Down” that still displayed subtle depth.

‘Wildflowers’

The 90s were the height of the CD era. In lesser artists hands, that led to filler galore. But Tom Petty reached such a songwriting peak on Wildflowers that the 15 songs included contain no clunkers. And he was able to revisit the album several times with unreleased tracks from the sessions. Producer Rick Rubin proved simpatico with Petty, who employed both the Heartbreakers and some special guests on an incredible variety of songs, from raucous to hushed. Highlights? Why not just look up the track listing and save yourself the time?

This is an impossible choice, but here we go. Southern Accents is the first to get crossed off, simply because there are a few tracks on there that are way below the caliber of the best on the album. We have to knock out Wildflowers, if only because it’s more a model of consistency without those dizzying peaks.

Both Damn The Torpedoes and Full Moon Fever feature peaks galore. But Damn The Torpedoes just wins out as Tom Petty’s finest album. Not only are all the songs amazing, but it also features the Heartbreakers at their very best.

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