Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits

Originally released in 1993, this is the compilation that turned a beloved American rock band into a permanent fixture. It has been certified diamond in the United States, making it one of the best-selling greatest hits collections ever assembled, and there is not a weak sequence anywhere on it.

The first half traces the Heartbreakers from the ragged Byrds-and-Stones jangle of "American Girl" and "Breakdown" through the tighter, angrier run of "Refugee," "Even The Losers," and "The Waiting." Mike Campbell's guitar work across these tracks is a masterclass in saying exactly enough. The second half picks up with the Jeff Lynne era, where "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," and "Learning To Fly" gave Petty the biggest commercial run of his career without ever sounding like he had chased it. "Mary Jane's Last Dance," recorded new for this collection, became one of his signature songs on arrival.

Petty spent forty years writing plainspoken songs about people who refuse to be pushed around, and this is the most efficient argument for why that mattered.

Double LP remastered and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Geffen Records and UMe.