“Full Moon Fever” by Tom Petty

It’s the 35th anniversary of Tom Petty’s late-80s smash.

Despite being a classic rock radio mainstay during my childhood, I never became a full-blown Tom Petty fan. It’s not because his songs were subpar—far from it—but, at least in my circle of friends, he didn’t possess the same rock star mystique that followed acts like the Stones or the Beatles into every corner of the pop culture firmament. It wasn’t until he passed away in 2017 at the age of 66 that I and many other casual admirers zeroed in on just how influential his music had become, on top of how exceptional a songwriter he was.

Both aspects of his legacy intersect on Full Moon Fever, his first album billed as a solo entity without the Heartbreakers. That distinction may be a bit of a misnomer, as band members Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Howie Epstein all play on multiple songs off this record, lending a familiar sound to Petty’s efficient lyricism that plays like a collection of MTV-ready hooks. From rollicking tracks like “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and the seriously underrated “Love is a Long Road” to singalong staples “Free Fallin’” and “I Won’t Back Down,” this LP sees Petty doing everything in his power to craft hits. The restrained production work from ELO’s Jeff Lynne, no stranger to the glossy, layered sound of the era, frames the rock legend’s assured crooning with arguably the brightest, most approachable instrumentals he ever got to work with.

But, upon closer inspection, there’s a creeping uneasiness in Petty’s writing that makes for an even more arresting listen now in retrospect. Along with “Fallin’,” cuts like “Yer So Bad” and “The Apartment Song” prove that no one did sunny-sounding disillusionment like the Florida native. It’s one of several reasons why Full Moon Fever is a showcase for Petty at his most introspective, if not his absolute best, period.