Released July 2, 1991 Length 43:55 Release date 2 July 1991 | Recorded 1991 | |
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Studio Rumbo Recorders, Studio C, Canoga Park, California and M.C. Studios Similar Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers albums, Rock music albums | ||
Tom petty and the heartbreakers into the great wide open
Into the Great Wide Open is the eighth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, first released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). The album was the band's last with MCA Records. The album was the second Petty produced with Jeff Lynne after the success of Full Moon Fever.
Contents
- Tom petty and the heartbreakers into the great wide open
- Tom petty learning to fly
- Critical reception
- Track listing
- Hello Cassette listeners
- Whats in Here
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- Additional personnel
- Songs
- References
The first single, "Learning to Fly", became his joint longest-running number one single (along with "The Waiting" from 1981's Hard Promises) on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, spending six weeks at the top spot. The second single, "Out in the Cold", also made number 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, albeit only for two weeks.
The music video for the title song starred Johnny Depp, who had moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to seek rock stardom, along with Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, Matt LeBlanc, Terence Trent D'Arby and Chynna Phillips.
Tom petty learning to fly
Critical reception
For the most part, Into the Great Wide Open was warmly received by critics. Dave DiMartino, reviewing the album for Entertainment Weekly said that the album was the closest "classic" album Petty and the band had made in fifteen years, saying that the album was a return to their first two albums. He feels that this is due largely to Jeff Lynne and that the songs are better than the ones on Full Moon Fever. Rolling Stone critic Parke Puterbaugh called the album a cross between Full Moon Fever and Damn the Torpedoes, said that it features Petty's best lyrics and that it is much better than Let Me Up (I've Had Enough). Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was less impressed, saying that Into the Great Wide Open sounds too much like Full Moon Fever. He said that the album was "pleasant" but was not his best. In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like".
Track listing
All songs were written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, except where noted.
- "Learning to Fly" – 4:02
- "Kings Highway" (Petty) – 3:08
- "Into the Great Wide Open" – 3:43
- "Two Gunslingers" (Petty) – 3:09
- "The Dark of the Sun" – 3:23
- "All or Nothin'" (Petty, Mike Campbell, Lynne) – 4:07
- "All the Wrong Reasons" – 3:46
- "Too Good to Be True" (Petty) – 3:59
- "Out in the Cold" – 3:40
- "You and I Will Meet Again" (Petty) – 3:42
- "Makin' Some Noise" (Petty, Campbell, Lynne) – 3:27
- "Built to Last" – 4:00
"Hello, Cassette listeners ..."
On the Cassette Tape release of the album, just after "All or Nothin'" and before side 1 runs out, there is a brief spoken interlude by Petty. It is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the "Hello CD Listeners" interlude from Full Moon Fever, this time instructing cassette listeners on how to properly flip over their tape and prepare it for side 2.
"What's in Here?"
"What's in Here?" is played immediately after "Out in the Cold." Tom Petty asks, "What's in here?," followed by the sound of a cupboard opening along with ambient noise from a sea dock. Petty says "Oh," and the cupboard closes.
The first lyrics for "Into the great wide open" named the girl he met "chatty, too" ... the final lyrics changed her to a "girl with a tattoo, too". Also the lyrics for "Learning to fly" were modified and changed "falling down is ..." in "Coming down ..."
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Additional personnel
Songs
1Learning to Fly4:03
2Kings Highway3:08
3Into the Great Wide Open3:43