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Hard Promises (Remastered)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

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iTunes Review

For the follow-up to the multiplatinum Damn the Torpedoes, Tom Petty reconvened his band and production team and returned with Hard Promises, an album even tighter and more triumphant than its predecessor. The opening cut, “The Waiting,” is one of Petty’s definitive performances. The song updates the Byrds’ classic California jangle by injecting it with the bar-band edge of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. It’s impossible to overrate the contributions of Petty’s faithful backing band. “Nightwatchman” and “The Criminal” conjure subtle funk grooves that grow into rollicking choruses akin to Highway 61 Revisited. The indispensable organ work on “Something Big” and “Letting You Go” proves that Benmont Tench was the Al Kooper to Petty’s Dylan. (The working title of Hard Promises was Benmont’s Revenge.) Among the guest musicians, Stevie Nicks brings a feminine to touch to Petty’s vagabond anthems. Their rock ballad “Insider” is the lesser-known sibling of Petty’s “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” which he wrote and sung for Nicks’ Bella Donna album.

Customer Reviews

The Definitive Petty Sound

You can have your Beatles and your Stones, for this child of the 70s, Petty is the center of my rock and roll sensabilities, and this album is simply his finest. Sure Damn the Torpedoes gets lots of praise, and rightly so, but there is a tightness to the sound here that Torpedoes doesn't offer. If I had to place a single song into a time capsule to try and capture American rock and roll for future generations, I would pass on Elvis, I would pass on Dylan. I would simply deposit a pristine copy of "The Waiting." It still sounds as good today as when I first heard it in the early 80s.

Wow.

This album is amazing, even for Tom, who's one the most consistently rock solidly awesome music artists out there. Although "The Waiting" was arguably the biggest hit spawned off this album, other excellent tracks are "Letting You Go," "Something Big," "The Criminal Kind,"You Can Still Change Your Mind," "Kings Road," "Nightwatchman," "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)," "A Thing About You," and "Insider." I may have just listed every track on the album. Nonetheless, all are deserving of the adjective 'excellent.' Particularly "Insider," which is so moving/heartbreaking/passionate that it puts Petty's and Stevie Nicks' other iconic duet ("Stop Draggin' My Heart Around") to shame.

One of the best...

...of this period! Petty and band hit their stride with this blend of pop & rock. 'The Waiting' is still one of the best Petty songs for my money (all 99 cents!).

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