Aug 13 AOTD: Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

Aug 13 AOTD: Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

As the 80s were coming to a close (it was 1989), Tom Petty took a look back at Americana (horses, Elvis, L.A., romance, the spirit of individualism, and perseverance) gave it all one big wink and then proceeded to gift to the ensuing decades yet another iconic piece of the American pie. You will be familiar with "Free Fallin'," but listen again to see just how clever the lyrics are with double meaning.  Freefalling can be a liberating feeling or scary as hell, same as breaking up with a lover. He says he's a "bad boy for breaking her heart" and that he "doesn't" even miss her, but he also describes long days and shadows and that he wants to "write her name in the sky." Is he free, or does this bad boy regret his loss and find his life going nowhere?

Side A is stacked with hits, especially "Free Fallin," "I Won't Back Down," and "Runnin' Down a Dream," which is one of the greatest songs to EVER play in a car, zippin' down highway with windows rolled down, wind in your face, and volume blasting!  Especially heed Mike Campbell's asphalt-melting solo between the 3 and 4-minute mark.

The latter half of the album reveals more of Petty's wit (songs like "Mind with a Heart of its Own") and his appreciation of The Byrds on jangly songs like "Yer So Bad" and the their original from '64, "Feel a Whole Lot Better."

What also is abundantly clear is that his fellow producer and musician Jeff Lynne deserves a lot of credit for keeping Petty to sparser arrangements than the Traveling Wilbury album (featuring Lynne, Petty Orbison, Harrison and Dylan) he had produced a year before. This does not sound like a Lynne or ELO album, and it does sound like a true solo album as good any in the Heartbreaker cannon, just listing a little to the pop side of Petty's brand of pop rock.

What a way to cap off the 80s!