As Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ third compilation, Anthology – Through The Years seems to have received a little more personalized handling and care in its assemblage. Its place in Petty’s catalog is akin to the classic fairytale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears: 1993’s Greatest Hits may have given the listener too little while 1995’s Playback may have been too much. Anthology – Through The Years seems to settle in between the two with just the right amount of Petty’s contagious batch of tunes.
We start off, appropriately enough, with Petty and the Heartbreakers’ breakout hit, “Breakdown.” Also included from the self-titled debut album is the other hit, “American Girl” along with “Hometown Blues” and “The Wild One, Forever.” Then it’s onto the band’s second album, You’re Gonna Get It, with the faithful rocker, “I Need To Know,” the jangling, Byrds-like “Listen To Her Heart,” and the steam-train shuffler, “Too Much Ain’t Enough” — all distinguishable songs that demonstrate Petty’s flair for up-tempo, economical songwriting and arrangement.
As Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers became more of a staple on the FM circuit in the late 70s and early 80s, their penchant for churning out hits seemed relentless. Anthology offers up a huge slice of the pie from Damn The Torpedoes, Hard Promises and Long After Dark, including “Refugee,” The Waiting” “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)” and “Change Of Heart.” Thrown in for prosperity is the duet that Petty performed with Stevie Nicks, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
From there, we move to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in their most daring and creative phase. Starting off with “Rebels” from 1985’s Southern Accents produced by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (who could forget the Alice In Wonderland video that song spawned) follows along with the more obscure “The Best Of Everything.” Petty’s take of the Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star” is never tiring while “Jammin” Me” and “It’ll All Work Out” from the under-rated Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough fill in the collection nicely.
At this point, Petty went solo, although his solo career and his work with the Heartbreakers seem interchangeable. There’s a heavy dosage from the bountiful, Jeff Lynne-produced Full Moon Fever, including “Love Is A Long Road,” “Free Fallin,’” “Yer So Bad,” “I Won’t Back Down” and “Runnin’ Down A Dream.” Back in the saddle with the Heartbreakers, 1991’s Into The Great Wide Open (also produced by Lynne) is represented by the title track, “Learning To Fly” and “Two Gunslingers.”
For whatever reason, Petty’s previous compilations also receive some coverage on Anthology — the infectious “May Jane’s Last Dance” from Greatest Hits and Playback’s “Waiting For Tonight,” originally recorded in 1988. Of course, Petty and the Heartbreakers wanted to make sure that this set had something the others don’t. In this case, we get “Surrender,” an oldie from the late 70s that the band recorded in the summer of 2000 specifically for Anthology. Despite the absence of anything that Petty and the Heartbreakers have done since 1993, Anthology – Through The Years is a sure-fire winner that will titillate the ears of anyone who hasn’t picked up all of the band’s records, but has always appreciated the classics. Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear never had it so good.
~ Shawn Perry
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