Damn The Torpedoes

Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A mus-have...This is Petty at the height of his powers and slowly on the turn..." CMJ - Ranked #4 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1980". Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t starts with the Heartbreakers' defining track, 'Refugee' - the closest thing to an anthem they'd yet recorded - and doesn't lose its stride after that." Rolling Stone - 5 stars out of 5 - "...Ineluctable roots rock that's built for the modern world..." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he playing is raw, the emotion likewise, Petty's first person songs starting to take on a classic universality....While Springsteen conjures the details of heartland America via an extensive libretto, Petty unshowily puts you right there." Pitchfork - "DAMN THE TORPEDOES is the peak of Tom Petty's songwriting with the Heartbreakers. Slick, big, and immutably classic, the album is a front-to-back feat of production and songwriting."

Not long after You're Gonna Get It, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' label, Shelter, was sold to MCA Records. Petty struggled to free himself from the major label, eventually sending himself into bankruptcy. He settled with MCA and set to work on his third album, digging out some old Mudcrutch numbers and quickly writing new songs. Amazingly, through all the frustration and anguish, Petty & the Heartbreakers delivered their breakthrough and arguably their masterpiece with Damn the Torpedoes. Musically, it follows through on the promise of their first two albums, offering a tough, streamlined fusion of the Stones and Byrds that, thanks to Jimmy Iovine's clean production, sounded utterly modern yet timeless. It helped that the Heartbreakers had turned into a tighter, muscular outfit, reminiscent of, well, the Stones in their prime -- all of the parts combine into a powerful, distinctive sound capable of all sorts of subtle variations. Their musical suppleness helps bring out the soul in Petty's impressive set of songs. He had written a few classics before -- "American Girl," "Listen to Her Heart" -- but here his songwriting truly blossoms. Most of the songs have a deep melancholy undercurrent -- the tough "Here Comes My Girl" and "Even the Losers" have tender hearts; the infectious "Don't Do Me Like That" masks a painful relationship; "Refugee" is a scornful, blistering rocker; "Louisiana Rain" is a tear-jerking ballad. Yet there are purpose and passion behind the performances that makes Damn the Torpedoes an invigorating listen all the same. Few mainstream rock albums of the late '70s and early '80s were quite as strong as this, and it still stands as one of the great records of the album rock era. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine|