Looking Back at ‘Full Moon Fever’

In theory, 1989’s Full Moon Fever, which was released 30 years ago today (April 24), was Tom Petty’s first solo release without the Heartbreakers, but this monster of an album was far from a solo venture.

Actually, when you look at the album’s credits, every member of the Heartbreakers (with the exception of drummer Stan Lynch) appears on the album. Around this time, Petty had also just joined a little supergroup called The Traveling Wilburys that featured the likes of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison.  Whether or not Petty had this planned, he also managed to get contributions from Harrison, Orbison and Lynne, who helped produce the album and has songwriting credits six of the 12 tracks that make up Full Moon Fever.

When you considering Full Moon Fever’s first three singles (“I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and “Free Fallin”), all three classic rock mainstays, then it’s no surprise that this album went on to sell five million copies in the U.S., making it Petty’s most commercially successful album in his entire catalog.

Oh…and then there were the videos! (Remember when videos really mattered?!)  Petty did, and these videos are still awesome!

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.