Track Listing
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. Waiting, The
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 - (previously unreleased)
18. Something in the Air - (remix, previously unreleased)
| Details | | Playing Time: | 65 min. | | Contributing Artists: | David Stewart, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, guitars, keyboards); Benmobt Tench (vocals, keyboards); Howie Epstein (vocals, bass); Stan Lynch (vocals, drums); Mike Campbell (guitar, keyboards, bass).
Producers include: Rick Rubin, Jimmy Iovine, David A. Stewart, Mike Campbell, Jeff Lynne.
Digitally remastered by Joe Gastwirt (Oceanview, Los Angeles, California).
Hailing from the state of Florida, singer-songwriter Tom Petty has come to epitomize a new rootsy style of California rock'n'roll. Rhythmically, the music harkens back to the basic crunch of the Rolling Stones and the dancing pop of the Beatles, while Petty's gravelly vocals and sing-song narrative style suggest roots in the folk-blues Americana of Bob Dylan.
Years before R.E.M. returned to the jangly, Rickenbacker-infected timbre of the Byrds, Petty's nasal delivery and bell-like mix of guitars and vocal harmonies gave new life to the atmospheric ballad style of Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and company. GREATEST HITS is evenly divided between material from Petty's mid-'70s/early '80s breakthrough and the more mature work he's been doing with producer Jeff Lynne since 1989's FULL MOON FEVER.
The craft and content of his songwriting has grown more relaxed and accomplished with each passing album, whether alone or in tandem with Lynne and long-time lead guitarist Mike Campbell. Thus we move from the hard-churning outsider's anthem of "Refugee" with Benmont Tench's pulsing Hammond organ (from 1979's DAMN THE TORPEDOES), to the moody Southern California metaphors of the transplanted rock exiles and doomed romantics who populate "Free Fallin'" and "Learning To Fly"--all examples of Petty's timeless, evocative songwriting.
Editorial Reviews
4 Stars - Excellent
Q (02/01/1992)
...give Tom Petty his due...he's finally released a GREATEST HITS album that is just what it says it is... - Rating: A-
Entertainment Weekly (11/19/1993)
Highly Recommended - ...Petty's always had a real ear for the cultural charms of new-Americana--its freeway overpasses, tattoos, and taco shops--which he brilliantly mythologized...
Spin (01/01/1994)
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