Tom Petty – Classic Rock Review

Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Into the Great Wide Open by
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

June 28, 2021

by Classic Rock Review with No Comment Album Reviews

Tom Petty continued his impressive commercial success as a new decade unfolded with Into the Great Wide Open, the eighth studio album by Petty and The Heartbreakers. This album combined the group’s traditional rock sensibilities, dating back to the mid 1970s, with the mainstream production techniques of his various projects of the late 1980s. With this combination, Into the Great Wide Open received various bits of warm critique to go along with its pop success in 1991.

Petty’s previous album with the Heartbreakers, 1987’s Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), received mixed reviews and was the first album by the group not to reach the Top 10 of the US album charts in nearly decade. The following year Petty formed the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys along with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne and their debut album, Volume One, had great success. Even greater success followed in 1989 when Petty released his debut solo album, Full Moon Fever, which was co-produced by Lynne and included four Top 40 singles. Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell was the only member of the backing group to play on Full Moon Fever.

With expectations very high, Petty once again enlisted Lynne as co-producer for Into the Great Wide Open and the pair employed a methodical, nearly formulaic approach to the compositions. Lynne also played various instruments throughout, which seemed to limit much of the Heartbreakers’ expressiveness and offered the group members sparse moments to shine musically and rhythmically.

Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Released: July 2, 1991 (MCA) Produced by: Tom Petty, Mike Campbell & Jeff Lynne Recorded: Rumbo Recorders, Studio C, Canoga Park, CA, 1990 – 1991
Track Listing	Group Musicians
Learning to Fly Kings Highway Into the Great Wide Open Two Gunslingers The Dark of the Sun All or Nothin’ All the Wrong Reasons Too Good to Be True Out in the Cold You and I Will Meet Again Makin’ Some Noise Built to Last	Tom Petty – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards Mike Campbell – Guitars, Vocals Benmont Tench – Piano, Keyboards, Accordion Howie Epstein – Bass, Vocals Stan Lynch – Drums, Percussion

Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Released: July 2, 1991 (MCA)
Produced by: Tom Petty, Mike Campbell & Jeff Lynne
Recorded: Rumbo Recorders, Studio C, Canoga Park, CA, 1990 – 1991

Track Listing

Group Musicians

Learning to Fly
Kings Highway
Into the Great Wide Open
Two Gunslingers
The Dark of the Sun
All or Nothin’
All the Wrong Reasons
Too Good to Be True
Out in the Cold
You and I Will Meet Again
Makin’ Some Noise
Built to Last

Tom Petty – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Mike Campbell – Guitars, Vocals
Benmont Tench – Piano, Keyboards, Accordion
Howie Epstein – Bass, Vocals
Stan Lynch – Drums, Percussion

The album’s first three tracks were the most radio-friendly. “Learning to Fly” features moderately picked harmonized chords to leave an indelible musical impression, along with with Campbell’s later slide guitar expertly cutting through the pristine soundscape. The song became one of the top hits for Petty and the Heartbreakers. “Kings Highway” follows as a crisp, driving rocker with subtle guitar layers and a simple hook and message with the promise of better days. The album’s title song is a slightly dark folk storyteller with more fine slide guitars and some memorable rudiments that drive the song along.

“Two Gunslingers” is actually a song of peace with much allegory and the lyrical epiphany of “taking control of one’s life”, while “The Dark of the Sun” has a quasi-pop-country feel which morphs into harder rocking later, making for a potent and diverse track. “All or Nothin'” is an intense, dark rocker with Campbell’s slide topping a steady thumping rhythm by bassist Howie Epstein, while “All the Wrong Reasons” leans towards more traditional folk lyrically with Benmont Tench adding some accordion for color and Byrds’ legend Roger McGuinn providing backing vocals.

After the forgettable track “Too Good to Be True”, the album’s second side becomes more interesting starting with the refreshing hard rocker, “Out in the Cold”, featuring Petty’s more expressive and strained vocals. “You and I Will Meet Again” is solo composition with a classic Petty feel that leaves plenty of room for musical chops by each lead player, while “Makin’ Some Noise” features interesting, rockabilly-style riffs that are later contrasted by a short but effective wah-wah fused lead by Campbell. The closer, “Built to Last” has an overall sound different than anything else on the album, rhythmically deadened but pleasant throughout.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Into the Great Wide Open would turn out to be the final studio release on the MCA label as well as the final with drummer Stan Lynch, who was replaced by Steve Ferrone in 1994. To wrap up their decade and a half with MCA, the group released a Greatest Hits album in 1993, which became their top seller over all and went platinum a dozen times over.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1991 albums.

Echo by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

May 12, 2019

by Classic Rock Review with No Comment Album Reviews

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Closing out the century with their tenth studio album, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers blended folk/rock arrangements with introspective lyrical themes on Echo. The album’s tracks were composed and produced in the wake of Tom Petty‘s divorce from his wife of two decades and his own subsequent bought of depression and the isolation of living alone in a cabin. Petty stated that in this era he didn’t see a lot of people because he wasn’t happy and “didn’t want to lay that on everybody”.

Prior to Echo, Petty had been on a decade-long streak of commercial and critical success. In 1988 he became a member of the impromptu super group The Traveling Wilburys, immediately followed by the phenomenal success of Petty’s 1989 debut solo record, Full Moon Fever. In the 1990s, Petty alternated albums between the Heartbreakers (Into the Great Wide Open in 1991 and She’s the One in 1996) and solo (Wildflowers in 1994), all of which achieved great success in charting and airplay. During this era, the group also released a 1993 Greatest Hits compilation, which reached number 1 on the album charts and went Platinum a dozen times over, as well as Playback, a 1995 six-disc box set.

Echo was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded over the span of 1997 and 1998. Rubin had previously produced Wildflowers and She’s the One and had enlisted the Heartbreakers in backing up the legendary Johnny Cash on his 1996 album , Unchained.

Echo by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Released: April 13, 1999 (Warner Bros.) Produced by: Tom Petty, Mike Campbell & Rick Rubin Recorded: 1997–1998
Track Listing	Primary Musicians
Room at the Top Counting on You Free Girl Now Lonesome Sundown Swingin’ Accused of Love Echo Won’t Last Long Billy the Kid I Don’t Wanna Fight This One’s for Me No More About to Give Out Rhino Skin One More Day, One More Night	Tom Petty – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica Mike Campbell – Guitars, Vocals Benmont Tench – Piano, Keyboards Howie Epstein – Bass, Vocals Steve Ferrone – Drums

At over an hour of running time, Echo is a 15-song album with the length of a traditional double LP. It is book-ended by tracks which share the common theme of isolation and observation. The opening “Room at the Top” is a melancholy lament of lost love which Petty later described as one of the most depressing songs in rock history”. The closing “One More Day, One More Night” is a bluesy ballad which concludes with Mike Campbell‘s understated blues rock guitar lead. In between these two tracks is an ebb-and-flow of songs of high and low moods and arrangements.

“Counting on You” is a crisp folk-rock track with a fine rotation of sonic ear candy including piercing guitar licks, electric piano and slight fiddle. Harkening back to the group’s late seventies post-punk era, “Free Girl Now” is an upbeat rocker which comes down for a cool third verse with picked electric guitar and choppy organ by Benmont Tench. This song was the lead single from the album and it reached the Top 10 the Mainstream Rock charts. Tench’s country-esque piano introduces the ballad “Lonesome Sundown” which hits some nice chords and features Petty’s vocals at top notch, hitting some of the higher notes in his range. The next track, “Swingin'” is a fine example of Petty’s interpretation of Bob Dylan’s style, while “Accused of Love” is a bright and upbeat acoustic pop song. The title track, “Echo” is a sad acoustic ballad driven by Petty’s melancholy lyrics.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The album’s latter half features some of its more interesting tunes, “Won’t Last Long” features a blend of driving, double strummed acoustic guitars in the verse and complex vocals patterns in the chorus along with a mid section where everything come down to reveal a subtle, penny-whistle organ. The acoustic “Billy the Kid” is topped off by tremolo guitar and backed with strong drum beat by Steve Ferrone, the newest member of the Heartbreakers. Campbell’s “I Don’t Wanna Fight” is a unique song in the Heartbreaker’s catalog, as this quasi-punk hard rocker is the only one to feature a lead vocal from someone other than Petty, while “This One’s for Me” is a bright and melodic ode to self interest. The sad but beautiful ballad “No More” features strings, percussion and other sweet instrumentation and effects in the arrangement, as the mood comes back up on “About to Give Out”, featuring a country-boogie piano lead by Tench. The album climaxes with the profound “Rhino Skin”, with the sharp lyrics accompanied by deadened guitar accompanied by a moody string arrangement and Howie Epstein‘s sharp bass rhythms.

Sadly, Echo would be the final album Heartbreakers’ album to feature Epstein,, who died in 2003 from a heroin overdose. Due to the painful memories associated with this album, Petty did not listen to this album for many years after its release, but was pleasantly surprised by its quality when his wife insisted they listen to during a long drive together.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1999 albums.

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3
by Traveling Wilburys

April 18, 2015

by Classic Rock Review with One Comment Album Reviews

Buy Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3

As heralded and popular as the Traveling Wilburys 1988 debut album was, the 1990 follow up Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 was relatively ignored. In part, this was the fault of the group members themselves who took their penchant for inside jokes a bit too far by naming this second Traveling Wiburys release “Volume 3”. Further confusing to fans was the adoption of completely new “Wilbury” pseudonyms by the four remaining group members. All this being said, the music on this album is excellent and entertaining.

The untimely death of Roy Orbison in December 1988 (while Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 was hitting its peak popularity) instantly reduced the super-group to a quartet. While the mainly spontaneous debut album was loose and fun, the vibe on this second album seems more business-like. Further, George Harrison, the originator and unofficial band leader, has a much lighter presence on Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.

Stepping in to fill the void are Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, who each have a much stronger presence up front than on the debut album. On a note of consistency, the album was once again produced by Harrison and Jeff Lynne, who offered up exquisite sonic quality throughout the album.

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 by Traveling Wilburys
Released: October 29, 1990 (Warner Bros.) Produced by: Clayton Wilbury & Spike Wilbury Recorded: April–May 1990
Track Listing	Primary Musicians
She’s My Baby Inside Out If You Belonged to Me The Devil’s Been Busy 7 Deadly Sins Poor House Where Were You Last Night? Cool Dry Place New Blue Moon You Took My Breath Away Wilbury Twist	Spike Wilbury (George Harrison) Guitars, Mandolin, Sitar, Vocals Boo Wilbury (Bob Dylan) Guitars, Harmonica, Vocals Clayton Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals Muddy Wilbury (Tom Petty) Bass, Guitars, Vocals Jim Keltner Drums, Percussion

The opener “She’s My Baby” is a harder rocker than practically anything on the previous album. A driving musical riff with booming drums by Jim Keltner and, most importantly, the blistering lead guitar of guest Gary Moore, all work to make this a totally unique Wilburys track. “Inside Out” reverts back to the group’s conventional acoustic driven folk style. The lead vocals are by Dylan during the verses with other Wilburys taking some sections and the lyrics offer a clever play on words. “If You Belonged to Me” is a bright, multi-acoustic track with intro harmonica (and later harmonica lead) by Dylan. Petty takes the vocal helm on “The Devil’s Been Busy”, with Harrison adding some sparse but strategically placed sitar in the verses, followed by a full-fledged, electrified sitar solo later in the song. The track also contains good melodies and harmonies to the profound lyrics,

“While you’re strolling down the fairway, showing no remorse / Glowing from the poisons they’ve sprayed on your golf course / While you’re busy sinking birdies and keeping your scorecard, the devil’s been busy in your back yard…”

“7 Deadly Sins” is a fifties style doo-wop with multi-vocal parts and a nice, growling saxophone by Jim Horn. Entertaining enough, but perhaps a bridge too far in the Wilburys penchant for retrospection. “Poor House” starts with Harrison’s signature, weeping guitar. Beyond that, the song sticks to basic blue grass arrangement with harmonized lead vocals and a nice lead guitar by Harrison. “Where Were You Last Night?” has a cool descending acoustic riff throughout and appears to be Dylan parodying his own caricature. With a plethora of acoustic instruments and phrases, “Cool Dry Place” is entertaining musically and classic Petty lyrically with his cool insider lines;

“We got solids and acoustics and some from plywood board, and some are trimmed in leather, and some are made with gourds / There’s organs and trombones and reverbs we can use, lots of DX-7s and old athletic shoes…”

“New Blue Moon” is not much lyrically, but fun, entertaining and sonically interesting nonetheless, while “You Took My Breath Away” is a moderate acoustic ballad where Lynne’s production does add some depth to the overall feel. It all concludes with the wild frenzied rocker of “Wilbury Twist”, which somewhat mocking, while at once a tribute of the dance crazes through the years. Each member takes a turn at lead vocals, making this a fitting end to the album and the Traveling Wilburys short career.

By the early 2000s, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 were out of print and did not resurface in any form until The Traveling Wilburys Collection, a box set including both studio albums with bonus tracks was released in 2007.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1990 albums.

Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty

April 29, 2014

by Classic Rock Review with No Comment Album Reviews

1989 Album of the Year

Buy Full Moon Fever

This week marked the 25^th anniversary of Full Moon Fever, which is listed the first official “solo” album by Tom Petty. However, the circumstances surrounding the production of this album are far too unique to really classify it as solo, especially when you consider the large contributions by members from both of Petty’s (then) current groups – The Heartbreakers and The Traveling Wilburys. From that latter group came Jeff Lynne, who co-wrote and co-produced the album, which became Petty’s greatest critical and commercial success of his career, spawning seven radio singles which kept material from the album on the airwaves for years to come. More impressively, the material from this album has stood the test of time. This was the major deciding factor in our naming Full Moon Fever as Classic Rock Review’s Album of the Year for 1989.

While Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had found top-level fame in the early 1980s, they began to stagnate a bit by the middle part of the decade. Their 1987 release Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) had crept towards the metallic eighties pop style, deviating from the Southern-flavored roots pop/rock which had forged the band’s earlier sound. Early in 1988, Petty decided to record a solo album in the vein of what Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins were doing outside of their respective groups. Petty brought in Lynne as a collaborator, but soon after they got started on this album, they were asked by George Harrison to help him record some B-side material for singles from his most recent album, Cloud Nine. This simple goal soon ballooned into the forming of the “super-group” Traveling Wilburys, to which Petty and Lynne dedicated much of the remainder of that year in producing the fantastic album, Volume One (which also happened to be our Album of the Year, from 1988). The experience of working with this group of legendary musicians had a profound effect on the direction of Petty’s solo album once work on that resumed.

The third producer and major contributor to Full Moon Fever was Mike Campbell, Petty’s guitarist from the Heartbreakers. Although Petty’s decision to do a solo album outside of the Heartbreakers was not received very well by the group members, all but one contributed in some way to this album. The recording process was reportedly laid back and low-key, with Petty finding contributing roles for many musician friends that stopped by Campbell’s garage studio where much of the recording took place. Like many great albums, there were some recorded tracks which did not make the final cut. These included the single b-sides “Down the Line” and “Don’t Treat Me Like A Stranger”, “Waiting for Tonight” featuring the female group The Bangles, and “Indiana Girl”, an early version of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, which became a hit five years later.

Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty
Released: April 24, 1989 (MCA) Produced by: Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, ↦ Mike Campbell Recorded: Various Studios, Los Angeles, 1988-1989
Track Listing	Primary Musicians
Free Fallin’ I Won’t Back Down Love Is a Long Road A Face in the Crowd Runnin’ Down a Dream I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better Yer So Bad Depending On You The Apartment Song Alright for Now A Mind with a Heart of Its Own Zombie Zoo	Tom Petty – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards Mike Campbell – Guitars, Mandolin, Keyboards Jeff Lynne – Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals Phil Jones – Drums, Percussion

The album commences with “Free Fallin'”, which would ultimately become the most popular song associated with Petty. With beautifully blended acoustic guitars and wistful, sarcastic lyrics. Using vivid scenery from California’s San Fernando Valley, Petty speaks of breaking free from a past love, but is freely falling a good thing or not? Although the song never leaves the core chord structure, there is much variety to vocal inflections and various guitar riff variations and arrangements.

Not far behind in popularity is “I Won’t Back Down”, a simple song about things worth fighting for with a syncopated bass line, vibrant guitar licks and good harmonies on the chorus. Harrison joins in along with Howie Epstein, making the lineup simultaneously three-fifths Wilburys and three-fifths Heartbreakers on the recording. The first single released from Full Moon Fever, the song reached the Top 20 on the charts. Co-written by Campbell, “Love Is a Long Road” employs classic Heartbreakers’ style rock and roll. With driving guitars backed with hard driving drum and bass and sharp production, the song continues the theme of salvation through fighting for things worthwhile.

After the calm and steady Americana of “A Face in the Crowd”, a song of anonymity with little variation, the album reaches its dynamic climax with “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. Frenzied rock compared to the rest of this album, this riff-driven tune sounds like a relentless car chase with some outstanding guitar solos and a signature reference to Del Shannon. The song reached the top of the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and has since found a residency on classic rock stations. Following “Running Down a Dream” on CD versions, Petty gives a tongue-in-cheek monologue about the marking of the end of the first side of the LP.

While not as punchy and driven as the original “Side 1”, the songs on the second side shift towards more personal themes. The cover “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” is a nod to one of Petty’s favorite bands, The Byrds, with doubled vocals and twangy guitars, its nothing new or different from the original, but it does introduce younger Petty fans to one of his influences. The Wilburys sound returns with “Yer So Bad”, an upbeat acoustic folk tune with layered guitars, harmonized vocals, some sarcastically cute lyrics and a catchy chorus. “Depending On You” is a bit Beatlesque, with its toe tapping beat and a chorus that sticks in your head, while “The Apartment Song” is a throwaway, but fun with an interesting ‘interlude’.

Tom Petty

“Alright for Now” may be the best forgotten gem on the album, as a short and sweet lullaby performed on acoustic. The song shows the true range of compositions Petty and Lynne utilized on this album. “A Mind With a Heart of It’s Own” is another highlight of side two, with a jangly Bo Diddley beat and an overall retro feel to the production and vocals. The lyrics on this song are glimpses of memories and connections tangentially strung together. The closer ,”Zombie Zoo” ,may be considered Tom Petty’s “Monster Mash”. Set in a nightclub with an overall theme of substance vs. style, with modern sock-hop rock, penny whistle organ, and rich sound and vocal arrangements. The late Roy Orbison even joined in on backing vocals on this song. This is the closest the production comes to having an ELO-type vibe, showing Lynn’s great restraint at refraining from past production practices.

Full Moon Fever peaked in the Top Ten on both sides af the Atlantic and has gone well past 5× platinum on both continents. The following year, Petty returned to the Wilburys, releasing their second album oddly titled ,a href=”/1990-traveling-wilburys-vol-3/”>Volume 3 (leaving many to call this album “Traveling wilburys, Volume 2”). In 1991, Petty reunited with the Heartbreakers and found renewed success with Into the Great Wide Open, as Petty’s success cascaded well into the next decade.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1989 albums and our Album of the Year.

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
by Traveling Wilburys

August 25, 2013

by Classic Rock Review with 5 Comments Album Reviews

1988 Album of the Year

Buy Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

“Super Groups” were commonplace during the seventies and eighties, often causing much hype which was rarely surpassed by the music itself. But in the case of the Traveling Wilburys, by far the most “super” of any super group, the resulting music was downright brilliant. Their debut Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 displays an incredible array of three decades of pop and rock elements wrapped in concise tunes penned and performed by some of the biggest legends in the business. The group and album were not initially planned and came together through a serendipitous series of coincidences and the fantastic music they produced together easily makes Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 Classic Rock Review’s Album of the Year for 1988.

It all started in Los Angeles in Spring 1988 when George Harrison was looking to record B-side material for a vinyl 12-inch European single. Jeff Lynne, who co-produced Harrison’s most recent album Cloud Nine was also in Los Angeles at the time. Lynne was producing some music for Roy Orbison as well as the debut solo album, Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty. Lynne was able to enlist both artists to help out Harrison, who was in a huge hurry to record his material. The final piece of the Traveling Wilbury puzzle was Bob Dylan, who had built a home studio in nearby Malibu and agreed to let the makeshift group record the very next day. On that day, the legendary musicians wrote and recorded the song “Handle with Care” in about five hours. The experience was so positive that all five agreed to form a group and reconvened a month later to record the other nine tracks on what would become Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Here the magic continued as the group wrote and recorded on acoustic guitars. With a limited amount of time before Dylan headed out on a scheduled tour, the five singers in the group often took turns at songs until Harrison (as group arbiter) selected the best “lead” voice for each part. The final phase was Harrison and Lynne returning to England for final overdubs and production. Here Harrison added some electric and lead guitars, Lynne added keyboards and bass, Jim Keltner was brought in on drums.

Although it is generally agreed that Harrison was the group’s leader, they did work hard to maintain a collective image and even set up fictional names for each member masquerading as the “Wilbury” brothers – Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lucky (Dylan), Lefty (Orbison), and Charlie T. Jr. (Petty) with Keltner given the humorous “outsider” name “Buster Sidebury”. All group members also got songwriting credits on the album, although the publishing credits were disbursed according to the actual songwriter. The Wilbury name originated from Harrison and Lynne previously working together as a pseudonym for slight recording errors (“we’ll bury ’em in the mix”).

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 by Traveling Wilburys
Released: October 18, 1988 (Warner Brothers) Produced by: Jeff Lynne and George Harrison Recorded: Lucky Studios and Dave Stewart Studios, Los Angeles and FPSHOT, London, April–May 1988
Side One	Side Two
Handle with Care Dirty World Rattled Last Night Not Alone Anymore	Congratulations Heading for the Light Margarita Tweeter and the Monkey Man End of the Line
Band Musicians
George Harrison – Guitars, Vocals Bob Dylan – Guitars, Harmonica, Vocals Jeff Lynne – Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals Roy Orbison – Guitars, Vocals Tom Petty – Guitars, Vocals Jim Keltner – Drums

The ringing guitars of “Handle with Care”, the original Wilbury song, starts things off. Harrison, the primary composer, delivers deliberate vocalizing during the verses which gives way to Orbison’s smooth crooning during the choruses. Dylan and Petty deliver a chanting post-chorus and two instances of Harrison’s classic guitar along with a short Dylan harmonica lead make the song a true classic in just about every way. Within its brief three and a half minutes the song is dotted with decades of rock history, making this the perfect track to introduce the album. While not every song on the album wraps itself so well as “Handle with Care”, there is not a truly weak moment on the album.

On “Dirty World” Dylan’s rough lead vocals are complimented by smooth backing vocals and a bright acoustic arrangement. The song also contains some horns and an interesting arrangement all around. This song was a particularly enjoyable one for the band to record as each member took a turn singing in the “round” during the extended outro. Jeff Lynne’s “Rattled” is pure rockabilly led by Orbinson on vocals, almost like a lost early Elvis song. Lynne’s bass and Harrison’s lead guitar shine musically and the actual “rattle” in the song is drummer Keltner tapping the refrigerator grill with his drum sticks.

“Last Night” contains Caribbean elements with some percussion and horns and Petty singing during verse and Orbinson during the bridges. The whimsical, storytelling song has a great aura and feel throughout. Petty did the core composing with each group member contributing to the songwriting approach. The verses has an upbeat folk/Latin feel with the bridge being a bit more dramatic. The first side completes with “Not Alone Any More”, a vocal centerpiece for Orbison. His vocals smoothly lead a modern version of early sixties rock and Lynne’s keyboards add more decoration than any other song on the first side. If “Not Alone Anymore” is in the clouds, the second side opener “Congratulations” is right down at ground level. This tavern style ballad with Dylan on lead vocals sounds much like his late 70s / early 80s era material, with blues-like reverences to broken relationships, and includes a very short but great lead guitar by Harrison right at the end.

The up-tempo “Heading for the Light” is a quintessential Harrison/Lynne production, with the former Beatle composing and singing and the former ELO front man providing the lush production and orchestration. The song contains great picked guitar fills as well as a saxophone solo by Jim Horn. “Margarita” may be the oddest song on the album but is still a great sonic pleasure. It begins with a programmed eighties synth line then the long intro slowly works its way into a Latin acoustic section topped by horns, lead guitar, and rich vocal harmonies. It is not until a minute and a half in that Petty’s lead vocals come in for a single verse then the song works its ways through various short sections towards an encapsulated synth ending. This spontaneous composition with free-association lyrics showed with a group of this talent could do on the spot.

“Tweeter and the Monkey Man” is Bob Dylan channeling Bruce Springsteen and coming out with what may have been one of the best Springsteen songs ever (even though he had nothing to do with it). This extended song with the traditional Dylan style of oodles of verses and a theatrical chorus includes several references to Springsteen songs throughout and is in Springsteen’s home state of New Jersey. It may have been Dylan’s delayed response to the press repeatedly coining Bruce “the next Dylan”. No matter what the case, the result is an excellent tune with lyrics rich enough to base a book or movie.

The most perfect album closer to any album – ever, “End of the Line” contains a Johnny Cash-like train rhythm beneathe deeply philosophical lyrics, delivered in a light and upbeat fashion. Harrison, Lynne, Orbinson, and Harrison again provide the lead vocals during the chorus hooks while Petty does the intervening verses. The song revisits the classic music themes of survival and return with the universal message that, in the big picture, it all ends someday. The feeling of band unity is also strongest here with the folksy pop/rock chords and great harmonies. The music video for “End of the Line” was filmed after Roy Orbison’s death in December 1988, mere weeks after the album’s release, and paid tasteful respect with a shot of a guitar sitting in a rocking chair during the verse which Orbison sang.

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 sold over two million copies within its first six months, a figure which made this album a higher seller than any of Bob Dylan’s albums to that date. The album was critically favored and won a Grammy award in 1990. The surviving members of the group reconvened for a second album, which fell far short of capturing the magic of this debut and a long-planned tour by the group never materialized, although members continued to collaborate on each other’s albums for years to come. The incredible magic that came together in 1988 is yet to repeated anywhere in the rock universe.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1988 albums and our album of the year.

Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks

March 18, 2011

by Classic Rock Review with 4 Comments Album Reviews

Buy Bella Donna

After three albums with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks was doubtlessly the most recognizable figure in that popular and talented band. However, her actual participation as far as songwriting and lead vocals had never eclipsed 50% on any of those albums. So prior to her debut solo effort in 1981, there was uncertainty about how a full album of her music would pan out. One serious listen to Bella Donna would set all doubt aside. This debut solo album went on to achieve critical and commercial success, topping the U.S. album charts and spawning four Top 40 hit singles, while reaching the Top 20 in six other nations.

The album contains ten songs composed by Nicks on piano over several years while on tour with Fleetwood Mac in the late seventies. These songs were then enhanced by producer Jimmy Iovine and a posse of talent, ranging from headline acts like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Don Henley, formerly of The Eagles, to top-notch session musicians such as Donald “Duck” Dunn from the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. The result is an interesting and pleasant listen which contains some timeless works that flirt with pop, country, and folk while remaining distinctive and original.

Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks
Released: July 27, 1981 (Atlantic) Produced by: Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty Recorded: Studio 55, Los Angeles, Autumn 1980 – Spring 1981
Side One	Side Two
Bella Donna Kind of Woman Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around Think About It After the Glitter Fades	Edge of Seventeen How Still My Love Leather and Lace Outside the Rain The Highwayman
Primary Musicians
Stevie Nicks – Lead Vocals, Piano Tom Petty – Guitars, Vocals Don Henley – Drums, Vocals Lori Perry & Sharon Celani – Backing Vocals Waddy Wachtel – Guitars Roy Bittan – Piano Dan Dugmore – Pedal Steel Bob Glaub – Bass Russ Kunkel – Drums

…and we fight for the northern star”

While Bella Donna‘s opening title song is definitely Fleetwood Mac-esque in it’s calm approach and long sustained guitar drones, it also contains a more ceremonious or ritualistic feel, like some kind of mass, as it vacillates between beatless sound scape and rhythmic drive. It is followed by “Kind of Woman”, another very calm, almost melancholy song, with a waltz-like beat an excellent guitar lead.

The album then abruptly takes a radical turn with “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”, one of two songs by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on the album, along with the entertaining “Outside the Rain” on the second side. That band didn’t use these songs for themselves (and their current album, Hard Promises really could’ve used these), and the resultant Nicks-led recordings add a completely new dimension to Bella Donna.

“Leather and Lace” is a true duet with Henley, resulting in a moody and romantic ballad which has a sparse acoustic arrangement that really showcases the vocal talents of both. On the other end of the pop spectrum, “Edge of Seventeen” offered a rhythmic dance beat with a near rap in between the oft-repeated chorus about the “white winged dove”. Rumor has it that the title was coined by Tom Petty’s wife, who replied “age of seventeen” when asked by Nicks how old they were when they first met. But Stevie mis-heard this as “edge of seventeen” and was instantly taken by the concept.

Perhaps the most enjoyable song on the album, “After the Glitter Fades” is a pure country song, reminiscent to some of Olivia Newton John’s early stuff, with dynamic vocals nicely complimenting to rich arrangement, which contains virtuoso piano by Roy Bittan and masterful pedal steel by Dan Dugmore.

Stevie Nicks would continue on with Fleetwood Mac as well as produce more solo albums with much success in both throughout the rest of the 1980s and well into the 1990s. But artistically, she would not again reach the heights of Bella Donna in either side of her musical career.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1981 albums.