Tom Petty & Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.79 You Save: $3.19 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.78 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Hard Promises
Free Music Review: Worth the wait
Hit: 5 Stars
This is without a doubt Tom Petty's finest recording. From the opening Byrds riff of "The Waiting", every song is a winner, and several are absolutely breathtaking. Two years after coming into their prime with what many would say is their best album, "Damn the Torpedoes", Petty and the Heartbreakers raised the bar lyrically while remaining at their musical peak. The worst songs were as good as their earlier material, while the best transcended anything done previously or since.Some of the songs would have fit well on "Damn the Torpedoes" - the same sound, great performances, fine lyrics, and simply more of what TP fans loved 20-some years ago. Others went in new musical or lyrical directions and succeeded well, from the lighter pop sounds of "Letting You Go" and "You Can Still Change Your Mind" to the Dylanesque storyline in "Something Big". The icing on the cake, though, are the heartfelt and increasingly sophisticated lyrics that range from moving to passionate and even sublime on "The Waiting", "A Woman In Love", "Letting You Go", "You Can Still Change Your Mind", and especially the glorious "Insider".
"Insider", a duet with Stevie Nicks, is a quiet song that builds to a passionate, gutwrenching climax of understated but profoundly moving bitterness. I consider it the best song here (actually I consider it the best song ever written by Tom Petty), and the album title was taken from its lyrics. I can't imagine a better song about the pain of a relationship gone sour or lost.
"Hard Promises" was the last of 4 nearly-perfect albums of increasing quality between 1976 and 1981. This is Tom Petty grown up, but not old. After "Hard Promises" the band began a slow decline, producing 4 inconsistent and even bad albums before Petty's comeback with the Traveling Wilburys and Full Moon Fever. There were some really good songs even in that period of decline, and I respect the way TP tried going in new directions and took chances. But if you like the early sound of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it simply doesn't get any better than this.
Free Music Review: A Strong Tom Petty Release
Hit: 5 Stars
Somewhere during the punk era it seemed as if rock n roll suddenly became more about making nothing but endless noise,even if the movement itself moved beyond that. But people like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty here were shaking the landscape a bit differently and when Tom & The Heartbreakers released their album Damn the Torpedoes it was sort of difficult to figure out if this was the ending or just the beginning of a great career for Petty. It turned out to be the latter as Petty's ultra melodic and well produced varient of 60's pop/rock really caught on in a huge way and this follow up did indicate that he was not just another one trick pony who'd only have a few popular albums under his belt and than disappear.
Now that's not to say this album took too many chances that he didn't on the follow up."The Waiting" is yet another excellent hook-n-riff filled pop/rocker in Petty's classic style and a most of the other songs on this album are very much of a piece:if you like the hit,the rest of the album pretty much follows suit. So it's an easy ride all the way through even if the style of the music isn't that variable. There are of course several exceptions. "Nightwatchman" and "The Criminal Kind" both have a strong bluesy grind to them and the slick production winds up transforming it all into a funk-rock style that works well for Petty's drawling style. The album concludes with the delicately crafted piano based pop ballad "You Can Still Change Your Mind",a strong highlite.
This is one of those pop/rock albums of the early 80's that's aged very gracefully,mainly because he produced the album with a strong sense of songcraft and a fluid instrumental style that while not always heavily innovative was very dependable and certainly more than enduringly radio friendly. And this actually turned out to be the beginning of an even more consistant string of albums,hits,videos and concerts that would endure not only throughout the 80's but all the way up into the 90's as well.
Free Music Review: My favorite TPHB album
Hit: 5 Stars
Many folks cite "Damn the Torpedoes" as the best album Petty and his band have ever made, but for my money, it's this disc instead.Why? I think it has more texture and a little more sophistication - plus the smart, tuneful hard rock songs Petty fans know and love. For every hard rocking "Woman In Love" - which moves in crescendos and fits and starts -there's also "Something Big," a moody, enigmatic tale fueled by Benmont Tench's organ. Other highlights include "The Insider," featuring Stevie Nicks, "A Thing About You" which barrels ahead and goes straight for the throat, and, of course, "The Waiting," which mixes the rock n roll with a little folk-rock sensibility.
If you love that last song, I'd suggest the live compilation, "Pack Up The Plantation," which contains a wonderful live version.
Song for song, I think this is the best of the "old" Petty albums - the ones that range from the group's debut to "Long After Dark." After that, the group - now with bassist Howie Epstein in tow - charged off in different musical directions, like the concept album "Southern Accents" or Petty's Wilburyish solo album, "Full Moon Fever." "Hard Promises" is the best of the old guard.
Free Music Review: 10 best albums ever
Hit: 5 Stars
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been at the center of American Rock And Roll since the release of their self titled first album. Damn The Torpedoes saw them reach huge commercial and critical success, and their follow-up album established them as legends. Tom Petty has always looked out for his fans and in 1981, he threatened to withhold and rename (to "The $8.98 Album") Hard Promises if MCA didn't back down on their proposed price hike to $9.98. The fact is, Hard Promises is essential listening - regardless of the price. Classics like "Woman In Love", "Nightwatchman", and "Letting You Go" showcase Petty's diverse writing skills. Petty wrote his duet "Insider" for Stevie Nicks to include on her first solo album, but ended up loving it so much that he wouldn't let her have it. Once you hear this beautiful duet, you will understand why. "The Waiting" is quite possibly Petty's best song and is deservedly Hard Promises' crown. The Heartbreakers have an extensive catalog of 5 star albums - many themselves worthy of top 10 lists, and Hard Promises is the best of them all. Thank you Mr. Petty and the Heartbreakers for being the cornerstone of American Rock and for giving us Hard Promises at any price.Free Music Review: Second Peak Album
Hit: 5 Stars
"Hard Promises," in my opinion, refers to the tough task TP&HBs had in following the greatness (artistic and commercial) of "Damn The Torpedoes." They completely made good on that "promise" with this record. I personally like "Hard" more than "Damn," which may only be because it received slightly less overkill/exposure when it was released. Both are absolutely outstanding. Back in the day when bands were allowed (by their record companies) to develop their sound over the course of a few albums, greatness was often born. That is the case here. "Damn" marked the beginning of their peak creativity, and "Hard" found them calmly enjoying the view from the top. Most bands quickly slide downhill after they peak, but TP&HBs mananged to remain there for this album and then slowly (very slowly) "descended." Over the years they've managed to hit other career peaks as well but never as naturally and confidently as on "Hard Promises."