Reviews
Rolling Stone
Full Moon Fever was Petty's solo album -- and the pop influence of ex-E.L.O. leader
(and Beatle fanatic) Jeff Lynne was apparent. A year before its release, Petty and
Lynne had banded together with Dylan, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison in the
ad hoc supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys -- and Petty/Lynne became a songwriting
team. Petty's best single, "Free Fallin'" kicks off the record, and while its spare beauty
recalls vintage Heartbreakers, much of the rest of the material has a lightness their
work does not possess. "Zombie Zoo" is downright whimsical, and the lullaby
"Alright for Now" just misses sounding cute, but overall Moon sounds both fresh
and commanding.
CMJ New Music Report
Tom Petty's "solo" debut is hardly a major departure, as many of his Heartbreakers
appear on this album, as do all his fellow Wilburys save Bob Dylan. By making this a
solo album maybe Petty is simply drawing a dividing line in his career, and these are his
"solo" songs. Frankly, it's hard to detect the difference, but these tracks do have a more
personable (not personal) feel than his recent efforts, certainly inspired by the wonderful
casualness of the Wilburys album. Some of these songs are downright silly
("Zombie Zoo"?), but when he hits the mark, these tracks are among his best:
"I Won't Back Down," "Depending On You," "Yer So Bad" (which includes the lines
"My sister got lucky/Married a yuppie/Took him for all he was worth") and "Love
Is A Long Road."
Nothing Petty
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