Into The Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1991)
90s Intermezzo - some 90s albums I loved in the 90s
Lots of music is tied to specific memories in my head, as I’m sure it is for you. After spending my first 17 years rarely being far from my house, I went on a student trip to Germany in the summer of 91. Got to see what was left of the Berlin wall (It had come down the previous year, and everyone who had access to some concrete chunks was blessed to be selling “Mauerstücke” souvenirs), Neuschwanstein Castle, the Black Forest, the Rhine, etc.
So my first contact with this album was a large launch day display in a record store in Munich.
Maybe because of this memory, or maybe because it was in the prime of my music curiosity and my classic rock fixation, or maybe because I was able to see the tour in Omaha that fall, This is probably my favorite Petty & The Heartbreakers record (the non-Heartbreaker-credited Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers notwithstanding)
Not all the songs are top notch classics, but it’s a record that easy to listen to end-to-end. There are plenty of standout deep cuts in addition to the big hits. There’s a typical level of Tom Petty’s pathos hidden under the hummable tunes, where you get some glimpses into both the dark side and the hopeful side of the human condition.
Tracks I Liked
Two Gunslingers - an ode to peace and understanding
All The Wrong Reasons - a great lyric, a jangle-rock anthem
Too Good To Be True - a callback to the group’s more tense and nervous early days
Out In The Cold - a hard-rocking heater
