Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

I once met Tom Petty (without The Heartbreakers) in a greasey spoon just off Camden highstreet. He was tucking into a full English and unbeknown to him got a bit of egg was stuck on his face for about 35 mins. I smugly waited until I had finished my mug of coffee, stood up and announced to everyone in earshot that Tom Petty was an egg-faced sausage-lover and ran out. I watched from the window as he wiped the egg from his embarrassed red face and as he did I banged on the window and let out a fart so thunderous that the single glazed window shuddered. He looked on in horror. What a fuckin' loser Tom Petty was that day.

Not particularly exciting. Definitely listenable, but pretty forgettable rock that doesn't feel like it pushes the boundaries of what I'm now used to.

Surprisingly average. The known songs are absolute classics but the remainder of the album is just filler. Would never put on to listen to full album. 3/5

Sometimes a debut sounds like a debut. Full of promise with flashes of genius. Whilst there are quite a few tracks on here that are forgettable run of the mill rock n roll songs, the great tracks (Breakdown, Strangered in the Night, and American girl elevate this to well above average album. 4/5

One of the most unhateable figures of classic rock and I love him. The only good thing to come out of Gainesville FL

Tom Petty is a legend. His songs are either outstanding, or pretty crappy.

I am very familiar with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, as well as Tom's solo stuff. This is his only album included on this list. That's crazy, Full Moon Fever is his best album. Free Fallin', I Won't Back Down, Yer So Bad, Love Is a Long Road, Runnin' Down a Dream, The Apartment Song, Zombie Zoo..... That album is a fuckin hit machine. I don't understand this generator sometimes. Utter trash like Pere Ubu or The Jesus and Mary Chain get a couple albums, but someone as huge and influential as Tom Petty only gets one, and one of his weaker albums at that. Don't get me wrong, this album is fantastic (Breakdown, and American Girl are huge hits), but it just goes to show how hard this generator is skewed to obscure British garbage. Favourite songs: American Girl, Breakdown, Strangered In The Night, Hometown Blues, Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll Least favourite songs: Rockin' Around (With You) 5/5

It’s one of those LPs that just seems pure and uncomplicated. Really loved this record. (8/10) Favourite Tracks: Breakdown, Hometown Blues, American Girl

Pretty good, little blah through the middle. Like Breakdown.

For a debut, it's not bad but there sure is a whole lot of Springsteen-esque garbage in here. Not enough to tank the album but enough to take the score down significantly. I'm really glad Petty and his boys figured out their own thing and got better from here. "Breakdown" and "American Girl" are both great tracks, though.

Ah. A classic. And I know it's basic to say American Girl is my favorite track, but it is. My only gripe is that the album is so short. Easily could have listened to Tom Petty for another half hour.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers I don’t really like saying why is X on the list and not Y, and obviously I’m a fan so I would say this but I do think it’s odd that this is the only Tom Petty album on the list, when Sonic Youth have 5 and Elvis Costello has 6 and considering how good Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises are. I do love this album, despite some roughness around the edges and some patchiness in song quality. There are some excellent songs; Breakdown, The Wild One, Forever, Anything That’s Rock’n’Roll, Fooled Again, Luna and Last Nite, I mean American Girl, but it definitely sounds like a debut album. You can hear elements and signals of the future in those songs, but even the patchier tracks have moments and ideas that make them interesting, the rhythm on Rockin’ Around, the Springsteen pastiche of Hometown Blues, the backing vocals on Strangered in the Night, the doo-wop groove of Luna. It also feels a bit inconsistent in production and sound in places, particularly Mike Campbell's guitar, the sense he’s searching for a sound, eg the tone on Strangered in the Night just doesn’t quite sound right. Musically this is easily a high 4, and any album that has Breakdown, The Wild One, Forever and American Girl is a banger, but as this is their only album on here and I want to acknowledge how great they are as a band, it's a 5. And if you don’t like that you can tongue kiss my shithole. 💘💘💘💘💘 Playlist submission: Breakdown

Steady from beginning to end, definitely loved the back half of the album with Mystery man and Luna being favorites.

Nearly perfect, and breakdown and American girl are huge. American girl is one of the best songs of all time. But the rest of the album hasn’t lasted in perpetuity in the same way.

Qui aurait cru que Mickaël Vendetta avait sorti des albums de rock avec les Heartbreakers ? Certainement pas moi. Et pourtant j'ai beaucoup apprécié, tout au long de l'album, les nombreux moments où David Charvet lui demande d'arrêter de l'importuner ainsi que ceux au cours desquels Francky Vincent tente de le canaliser sous l'œil attentif de Greg le Millionnaire.

Cet album V pour Vendetta ne m'a fait ni chaud ni froid. Je trouve neammoins très sympa l'annonce d'une nouvelle saison de la Ferme Célébrité en fin d'album.

On 'Fooled Again', Petty sounds like he's doing an impression of Keith Richards doing an impression of Mick Jagger. The rest of the album is similarly ersatz, or nostalgic, depending on how amenable you are to watered down r'n'r.

Not terrible, I just don’t think I’m ever gonna be a Tom Petty fan. 4/10

Breakdown and American Girl on your first record, eh Tom? Not too shabby. The silence and space between the notes in Breakdown are striking. A lot of bands are afraid of the silence and Tom and the HBs use it to their advantage. Everything on this record sounds great. Most of the songs could have been hits and nothing is a "skip." Tom Petty is one of the best and this is such a great debut. The instruments all sound great. His voice is so unique and expertly produced. I really can't say enough. Oh, the Heartbreakers logo with the Flying V is also great. RIP Tom.

I'm now listening to the debut album of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from the year 1976. All I can think is how much I miss Tom Petty and everything about him. I'm not sure I can ever get tired of listening to Tom Petty. The songs sound fresh and it's a joy to hear these legendary hit songs within the context of the album as a whole. Listening to his voice, it's unique and I'm wondering how in the world it should work. I don't know what I'm trying to say. Sometimes you can look at something on paper and wonder how it could possibly work in real life. If I was building a rock star out of clay, I feel like I would end up with something very far away from Tom Petty. It doesn't make any sense the more I think about it. But it's all here to start in the first album. I'm enjoying this immensely. As we all know Tom became a legend, and one of the greatest rock musicians ever, he looms large even though he has passed. It's very simple and awesome. I'm very fucking excited to hear American Girl in it's original context at the end of the album.

Good, catchy, classic rock. Also I like the old style of albums which are like half an hour. Favorites: Breakdown

My awareness of Tom Petty is mostly from the most popular answer to the cruel question “who was the ugliest Traveling Wilbury?” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ mission statement could well have been that evinced by Adhewood’s Nice Pete: “It will just be good music, played well by men.” The choruses, apart from “American Girl”, are polite and colloquial rather than compulsive and rapturous - and this is not a criticism. I can’t explain why “Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll” made me weep a little as I drove across Burrard St Bridge in the rain tonight, but it did. This is music made for bars, American bars, played well by men, American men. Unisex in appeal, possibly sexless. Sometimes comfort is the most one is ready to accept from art. Nice Pete is a serial killer, I must add.

I’ve heard these songs 100 times but they are still fun. I love the riff in breakdown, and of course American Girl is a classic. Short but sweet at 30 minutes. 7/10

OK so under no pretences, this is a very straightforward rock and roll album. Petty and his band aren't aiming to re-invent the wheel here, but try and escape the positive energy, the enjoyment and enthusiasm that seems to spill over from these songs. One of the records greatest strengths is its pacing- none of it outstays its welcome. The songs are incredibly lean, straight to the point and the whole thing is over in 30 minutes. Finishing with "American Girl" is a masterstroke, because it immediately redeems the record's most forgettable tracks ("Mystery Man", "Luna") which come directly before it. It meant that when the album ended, all it left in its wake was me still tapping along, humming that irresistible refrain, salivating over playing it again. Of course that's the highlight, but I also found a lot to love in the forward propulsion of "Rockin' Around (With You)", those harmonies in "Hometown Blues", and the chugging guitars and chorus melody in "Anything That's Rock n Roll." An immensely enjoyable, tight album.

Tom finding his own voice. Great heartland album, closer to Springsteen than what Tom was to later become. Great rock album.

It's fine, but it's not Damn the Torpedoes.

Hahaha he looks like such a dickhead. If it was a snooker player, it'd be Paul Hunter (RIP).

Not really my cup of tea

Sensational 70’s guitar rock. 5 stars

Saw the Heartbreakers at Leeds University - touring this album. Fan ever since.

This album was pretty mid in all respects. Never offensive, but often just there. The singles are quality: Breakdown with its layering, keys, and slinky guitar riff is top-notch dad rock. American Girl is fantastic anthemic outro track. High points outside of the singles were Mystery Man and Luna. First is a bit southern rock with the twang; the latter sounding more like a Talking Heads spinoff. This is firm low 3 territory.

I’m not disappointed, but I expected more.

American Girl

best album of all time in the category of length. breakdown, american girl

I'm a fan of Tom Petty's brand of no-frills heartland rockers, but there aren't too many bangers on here, except for the grand daddy of all Petty bangers at the end. And maybe Breakdown.

Some real basic shit on here. You know where to go if you want some Tom Petty and it ain't this.

First track very Byrdsy, decent, not what I expected. 2nd track onwards, very bar-room Americana, exactly what I expected. Not my thing.

Smack dap in the middle of the disco/Elton John era comes a back to basics roll and roll record. Springsteen, Tom Petty and others revitalized roots rock, looked disco in the face and said f’off. It’s a fantastic record but what it signified to me was the struggle of that era in keeping classic rock and roll alive.

why do all of the top reviews say this is forgettable this is iconic

Just completely great

Had heard some Tom Petty songs. I had no clue they sounded so different to all the rock that was coming out in the 70s. Definitely a must listen.

One of the best debut albums!!

Cor - this went by in a flash. A year or so after this album came out we found it cheap in either a car boot sale or jumble sale. Someone had lovingly stuck articles in the gatefold and it seemed to make it a bit more special. This seemed so accomplished for a debut album and got played a lot in our house. Singing along to American Girl at top volume with the folks is a joyful memory. I would rather have this on repeat than a lot of so-called iconic albums and even though a couple of the songs are a bit filler-y, if this is Tom Petty‘s only album on here, then he deserves top marks.

Oh man do I love Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers but I wouldn't say this is the best selection to represent an album of theirs to listen to before you die. That would be Damn The Torpedoes. But when American Girl hits you definitely want more than the 30 minutes they gave us. A great foreshadow of what's to come. And this is Tom Petty and indeed I want to hear his work over and over before I die. Hence, 5+ (I'm still so sad about how he died. Andre wrote a great piece about Petty's death: https://blog.discmakers.com/2017/04/musicians-who-died-in-2017/)

Can't go wrong with Tom Petty. Fantastic album

Holds up great

Good ol' Rock and Roll. As simple as can get, but still a hell of a good time. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Excellent. Tom!

Breakin’ it down

Great album, I love Tom Petty, and will keep coming back.

One of my favorite all time albums.

GREAT album. Maybe a perfect one. When it rocks it REALLY rocks. Even when it slows down and introduces a country twang it's still great. Love Petty's whole career, but this debut is probably the greatest.

What a great debut album. Any album with Breakdown and American Girl is going to be tops for me. The rest was still solid, if not hits.

Amazing, great find

Unexpected big like

After listening to this short but sweet debut album it is easy to see how this group had a long successful career

Wonderful stuff here, gets a bit safe at times but still tremendous

TPATH's debut, huh? What can I say? 30 minutes of top-notch rock n roll. Very good for a debut. I'm definitely not the best person to review an album that goes well with road trips and motorcycles. For me, it's just 5 stars, automatically! Bonus: I became very happy with the new wave of fans that Tom has been gaining since "Love is a Long Road" was used in the GTA VI trailer, precisely because I also became a Tom Petty fan thanks to a GTA game, in this case, San Andreas, with the song "Runnin' Down a Dream"! LONG LIVE TOM PETTY! You'll never gonna be forgotten!

Great album

Despite hearing his music from the time he started, I didn't become a Tom Petty fan until decades after his debut. I was missing out because I think that he and the Heartbreakers are one of the greatest American bands of all time! This was an excellent debut with multiple great songs right off the bat. They were strong signs of the greatness yet to come. 4.5/5

5/5 great album

Good

Awesome debut

What's not to like about Tom Petty

топ

Whst it is album. Great album. Starter band full of promise. Charismatic front man. Solid backing band.

Das Debütalbum Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers von 1976 zeigt die Band in ihrer rohen, energiegeladenen Anfangsphase. Mit Hits wie "Breakdown" und "American Girl" liefert es zeitlosen Rock, der sowohl eingängig als auch authentisch ist. Ein starker Start für eine legendäre Karriere!

Hell yes Tom Petty is atop Rock Royalty. Effortlessly poured out important music his entire life.

Gainsvillian legends!

Tom Petty looks kind of like my mom circa 1983, but my mom never put out a banger like this.

I’ve been waiting for good ol’ Tom to pop up! Love it. Such a perfect album.

Very good debut album. Third album “Damn the Torpedoes” was my intro & cemented Petty and the Heartbreakers as one of the favorites in my pantheon. Then I got to go back to this & the 2nd album to discover what I had been missing. This album had the sounds of a band that was going all the way.

The beginning of a masterclass in Rock & Roll. The first line of 'American Girl' defines the U.S.A.

6-10 один трек додав в плейлист

2 good songs. The rest..... not great.

Good stuff. 'Anything that's rock and roll' has been in my top five since 1978, and shows no sign of slipping. 'American girl' is up there too. Never played the whole album before, and it's all pretty good - it probably only deserves 4 stars, but the rest of this list has been so poor, it's easily 5 stars by comparison.

This album is fucking great! Half an hour of really fun rock. There are no duds here, it's all killer, no filler. 'Rockin' Around (With You)' is a catchy upbeat opener. Before slowing things down a bit with 'Breakdown' with an equally catchy chorus. 'Hometown Blues' turns things a bit more country. It's a real toe tapper. A great opening three. 'The Wild One, Forver' is an almost ballad. 'Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)' shows off Tom Petty's harsher vocals. The whole album just oozes classic rock. The reason I started this list was to be able to have more music to listen to and this album is definitely going to be listened to a lot from me.

Brutal

Fab

Tp does it like no other and a lot of good ones on here.

classic rock! a lot of songs I’ve heard before so I can now put a name to the songs. very nostalgic

Can’t believe I’ve never heard this.

The only album of his?!!!!

Great

Perfect!

As he will forever be remembered as a Classic-Dad-Rock god, Tom Petty doesn't get enough credit for being a fresh sound in his early years. Incorporating some New Wave flourishes to the tried-and-true Southern Blues Rock formula, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were ahead of the curve on a sound that wouldn't fully bloom until the 1980's. He delivered the cheeky sneer of Punk Rock from the North to the swamps of Florida. Add a some New-Wavey hand claps, Poppy vocal accents from the band, and shimmering, heavily chorused guitar licks, and there ya go.

Tom Petty is one of those artists whose music has stood the test of time and aged incredibly well. Rooted deeply in rock traditions, he’s hands down the best artist within the heartland rock genre. His music is evenly balanced and fits perfectly with just about any mood and any time.

Had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tom Petty live at the original Pemberton Music Festival in 2008 and he was absolutely phenomenal. This album is such a raw, beautiful example of one of the greatest songwriters of all time balanced beautifully by the heartbreakers backing him up. Can't like this one enough.

Just bangers. Straight kooky bangers. Early TP is inspiring.

Obviously one of the greatest albums of all time.

Excellent! Has left me wondering why I've never listened to Tom Petty before!

Amazing band, album, and songs!

banger after banger

Pleasantly surprised. Only knew one song. This would be great record if you are chilling outside by a fireplace. Good album.

Love Tom Petty. Just a great talent and a group that I have come to really like. Sad that he passed away. 5 stars because it's a great album.

Un excelente álbum de rock de los '70s. Sumamente pegajoso, Petty toma las tradiciones más clásicas de la producción de los 60s que dejaron como legado The Beatles, sumado por un claro aprecio y cariño por las tradiciones americanas de composición. Podría llegar hasta considerarse como un disco de "Power Pop". Lo escucharía de nuevo.

Legendary

The beginning of some fantastic albums.

So damn good. 5 stars.

A pretty impressive outing for the group! I only knew 2 songs going in, but the whole album rocked! Great guitars and a positive vibe. Definitely will stay in my collection. A solid 5