In the 1970s and '80s, amid the rise of New Wave and synth pop, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers almost single-handedly brought old-school power-pop and garage-rock musical values into the mainstream. The roots-conscious Floridians are often regarded as "heartland rockers," and tunes like the jangling, Byrds-like "American Girl" certainly make a case for that appellation. At the same time, "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "You Got Lucky" eagerly expand that stylistic template with haunting atmospherics and neo-psychedelic touches. GREATEST HITS offers a handy, hook-laden, single-disc summary of this great American band. It traverses the Heartbreakers' journey from raw, lean '70s enfants terribles to elder rock-&-roll statesmen. Conveniently, it also includes the two best Heartbreakers tunes never to grace one of their studio albums--"Mary Jane's Last Dance" and the Petty/Stevie Nicks duet, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."
Track Listing:
DISC 1:
American Girl
You Got Lucky
Breakdown
Listen to Her Heart
I Need to Know
Refugee
Don't Do Me Like That
Even the Losers
Here Comes My Girl
Waiting, The
DISC 2:
Don't Come Around Here No More
I Won't Back Down
Runnin' Down s Dream
Free Fallin'
Learning to Fly
Into the Great Wide Open
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Something in the Air