So why is Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
In compiling the best 1,000 albums ever, I eventually had a large group of albums that I labeled “on the bubble” in terms of whether they would eventually be included in the “final” Top 1,000. Those that didn’t make the “final cut” can be thought of as Honorable Mentions, and perhaps I’ll publish those albums publicly one day.
Damn the Torpedoes, by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is one of those albums. Released in 1979, I would hear songs like “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That” a lot growing up on Long Island’s classic rock radio.
Full Moon Fever, released a decade later in 1989 and Tom Petty’s first solo record, kicks off his peak period of output in my view. Its softer material gets most of the attention, but my favorite single song is the driving and meticulously crafted rocker, “Runnin’ Down A Dream.”
It’s hard to think of a better road trip song than this one – though so much of Petty’s material lends itself to the open road on a sunny day.
“Free Fallin’” is arguably Tom Petty’s best known and most popular song of all time. It’s a slow paced and even gentle rock song, almost skirting the line into singer-songwriter territory on the verses. It’s the kind of song for me where it seems like I’d get annoyed or bored by it at some point but somehow I never do – it’s just kind of endlessly gorgeous and moving.
It’s Tom Petty’s voice and performance that makes it special, of course. It’s the kind of performance that makes a song feel classic, and even timeless.
“Yer So Bad” could be the perfect song to represent all of Tom Petty’s music – it’s rock and roll with hints of folk and blues, with great writing that’s deceptively simple and highly catchy. And Tom Petty’s voice is just one of the most likable in rock history, I’d venture to say.
“A Mind with a Heart of Its Own” and “Depending on Your” are fabulous deep cuts that rock and swing and shine.
Stuff that has something to do with Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever
So, yes, it’s finally happened! Well, it very nearly happened.
Let me explain.
In the “stats & info” area (see below) on every single best 1,000 albums ever piece, I include Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking* for the album under discussion (and if it wasn’t ranked, I note with authority, “not ranked!”).
* As I talk about here, the Rolling Stone rankings are the very thing that started me down the road to doing this wacky best 1,000 albums ever project thing to begin with.
Over many months, I teased that it would be wild if one of the best 1,000 albums ever selections were exactly or nearly exactly the same as a Rolling Stone 500 albums selection in terms of its rank.
Which is all to say that Full Moon Fever is going to be as close as we ever get to this Total Eclipse of the rankings: #294 out of best 1,000 albums ever, and #298 on Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums rankings.
Total Eclipse of the Full Moon Fever, people!
Some stats & info about Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Album Rock, Contemporary Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #298
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Full Moon Fever released? 1989
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #294 out of 1,000
Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
And I’m free, free fallin’.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.