313 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes

[csberry]

With a voice that bounces between a Bob Dylan mumble and a Mick Jagger's swagger, Tom Petty put together a great collection of songs. Similarly to Dire Straits in the UK, Tom was crafting a rock and roll that sounds good in bars/pubs. The arena rock distraction to sound as polished as punk sounded ragged left a void into which this album nicely fit.

As you can see below, I like a lot of the songs on the album. The only real complaint I have about the album is that it sounds a little too polished. The band is casual. The drummer has a slack sense of rhythm. Jimmy Iovine whipped the boys into the same type of recording style as those arena rock bands I mentioned already. But there is a difference to how one expects Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to sound and how Boston sounds. The album would have benefited from a little grit and "realism" in capturing the band's performances in the studio.

Songs I knew I liked: "Refugee," "Here Comes My Girl," "Even the Losers," and "Don't Do Me Like That"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "You Tell Me"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Century City" and "What Are You Doin' in My Life"