Tom Petty hard Promises

Damn the Torpedoes wasn't simply a culmination of Tom Petty's art; it happened to be a huge success, enabling him to call the shots on its successor, Hard Promises. Infamously, he used his first album as a star to challenge the record industry's practice of charging more for A-list artists, demanding that Hard Promises should be listed for less than most records by an artist of his stature, but if that was the only thing notable about the album, it would have disappeared like Long After Dark. Instead, it offered a reaffirmation that Damn the Torpedoes wasn't a fluke. There's not much new on the surface, since it continues the sound of its predecessor, but it's filled with great songwriting, something that's as difficult to achieve as a distinctive sound…

Damn the Torpedoes wasn't simply a culmination of Tom Petty's art; it happened to be a huge success, enabling him to call the shots on its successor, Hard Promises. Infamously, he used his first album as a star to challenge the record industry's practice of charging more for A-list artists, demanding that Hard Promises should be listed for less than most records by an artist of his stature, but if that was the only thing notable about the album, it would have disappeared like Long After Dark…

Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch. He was also a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys…

Riding high on the back-to-back Top Five, platinum hits Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, Tom Petty quickly returned to the studio to record the Heartbreakers' fifth album, Long After Dark. Truth be told, there was about as long a gap between Dark and Promises as there was between Promises and Torpedoes, but there was a difference this time around – Petty & the Heartbreakers sounded tired…

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers spent much of 1986 on the road as Bob Dylan's backing band. Dylan's presence proved to be a huge influence on the Heartbreakers, turning them away from the well-intentioned but slick pretensions of Southern Accents and toward a loose, charmingly ramshackle roots rock that harked back to their roots yet exhibited the professional eclecticism they developed during the mid-'80s…

Tom Petty reunited his original Gainesville band Mudcrutch for a lark in 2008. Their eponymous album and short accompanying tour didn't carry the feeling of unfinished business so much as a good-natured ramble through the past. Some old originals were excavated, new songs written, and old favorites covered, all wrapped up in a charmingly ragged little record that gave Petty a bit of a creative jolt. Afterward, he led the Heartbreakers through excursions in blues and garage rock, but that relaxed country-rock vibe proved irresistible, so he reconvened Mudcrutch for a second record in 2016. Titled 2, this second Mudcrutch LP isn't quite a straight sequel. Any of the loose ends left hanging from 2008 have been tied: 2 is streamlined and tight, the cover songs excised in favor of brand-new compositions from every member of Mudcrutch…