(* This is a slightly altered post from a few years ago.  The sentiment remains the same)

An American icon cannot be narrowed down to eleven songs. Petty belongs with the greats. Time and time again he has stood up to the record companies and won. Not just once…but many times. He is everything that rock n roll was and everything it should be. He has stood for artists’ rights…he has stood against over-production. He blasted the radio industry, American Idol, and everything that is wrong with music today. He made a 4-hour music documentary against all common sense…and in turn made one of the greatest music documentaries of all time. And at the end of the day…no matter how much stands up for or stands against…he backs it up making good honest music…that has only gotten better with time.

Rock on, Tom Petty.  RIP

The 111 Best Tom Petty Songs:

1. American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
2. A Woman In Love (Hard Promises)
3. Runnin’ Down A Dream (Full Moon Fever)
4. Shadow of A Doubt (A Complex Kid) (Damn The Torpedoes)
5. Zombie Zoo (Full Moon Fever)
6. Refugee (Damn The Torpedoes)
7. Learning To Fly (Into The Great Wide Open)
8. Crawling Back To You (Wildflowers)
9. Rebels (Southern Accents)
10. Free Fallin’ (Full Moon Fever)
11. King’s Highway (Into The Great Wide Open)
12. Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Greatest Hits)
13. Walls (Circus) – (She’s The One)
14. Waiting For Tonight (Playback)
15. The Last DJ (The Last DJ)
16. I Won’t Back Down (Full Moon Fever)
17. Wildflowers (Wildflowers)
18. Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
19. I Need To Know (You’re Gonna Get It)
20. Out In The Cold (Into The Great Wide Open)
21. You Got Lucky (Long After Dark)
22. The Waiting (Hard Promises)
23. Don’t Do Me Like That – Mudcrutch Version (Playback)
24. Finding Out (Long After Dark)
25. Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys Volume 1)
26. Love Is Long Road (Full Moon Fever)
27. A Thing About You (Hard Promises)
28. Time To Move On (Wildflowers)
29. Two Gunslingers (Into The Great Wide Open)
30. Ways To Be Wicked (Playback)
31. Counting On You (Echo)
32. Dark of the Sun (Into The Great Wide Open)
33. I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Full Moon Fever)
34. Magnolia (You’re Gonna Get It)
35. Lover of the Bayou (Mudcrutch)
36. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (Bella Donna)
37. Dreams of Flying (2)
38. Square One (Highway Companion)
39. Yer So Bad (Full Moon Fever)
40. Even The Losers (Damn The Torpedoes)
41. Trailer (2)
42. Runaway Trains (Let Me Up)
43. Into The Great Wide Open (Into The Great Wide Open)
44. End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys – Volume 1)
45. Hope You Never (She’s The One)
46. Flirting With Time (Highway Companion)
47. You and Me (The Last DJ)
48. You Wreck Me (Wildflowers)
49. Ankle Deep (Highway Companion)
50. Depending On You (Full Moon Fever)
51. A One Story Town (Long After Dark)
52. Here Comes My Girl (Damn The Torpedoes)
53. King’s Road (Hard Promises)
54. So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star (Pack Up The Plantation)
55. Dreamville (The Last DJ)
56. Saving Grace (Highway Companion)
57. We Stand A Chance (Long After Dark)
58. The Apartment Song (Full Moon Fever)
59. Deliver Me (Long After Dark)
60. Restless (You’re Gonna Get It)
61. Won’t Last Long (Echo)
62. To Find A Friend (Wildflowers)
63. Don’t Come Around Here No More (Southern Accents)
64. The Trip To Pirate’s Cove (Mojo)
65. Forgotten Man (Hypnotic Eye)
66. Century City (Damn The Torpedoes)
67. Dogs On The Run (Southern Accents)
68. Needles and Pins (Pack Up The Plantation)
69. Angel Dream (No. 4) – (She’s The One)
70. Insider (Hard Promises)
71. A Mind With A Heart of Its Own (Full Moon Fever)
72. Listen To Her Heart (You’re Gonna Get It)
73. All You Can Carry (Hypnotic Eye)
74. Save Your Water (2)
75. A Higher Place (Wildflowers)
76. Hope (2)
77. It’s Good To Be King (Wildflowers)
78. Louisiana Rain (Damn The Torpedoes)
79. Sea of Heartbreak (Unchained)
80. I Will Run To You (Wild At Heart)
81. Grew Up Fast (She’s The One)
82. Southern Accents (Southern Accents)
83. Big Weekend (Highway Companion)
84. You’re Gonna Get It (You’re Gonna Get It)
85. Something Good Coming (Mojo)
86. Down South (Highway Companion)
87. One More Day, One More Night (Echo)
88. Night Driver (Highway Companion)
89. Running Man’s Bible (Mojo)
90. Poor House (Traveling Wilburys – Volume 3)
91. Since You Said You Loved Me (Playback)
92. Letting You Go (Hard Promises)
93. Jammin’ Me (Let Me Up)
94. Lover’s Touch (Mojo)
95. Hurt (You’re Gonna Get It)
96. Fooled Again (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
97. Let Me Up (Let Me Up)
98. A Self-Made Man (Let Me Up)
99. Makin’ Some Noise (Into The Great Wide Open)
100. All Or Nothin’ (Into The Great Wide Open)
101. How Many More Days (Let Me Up)
102. Fault Lines (Hypnotic Eye)
103. The Wrong Thing To Do (Mudcrutch)
104. Asshole (She’s The One)
105. Anything’s That Rock N Roll (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
106. Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea (Unchained)
107. Red River (Hypnotic Eye)
108. Damaged By Love (Highway Companion)
109. Scare Easy (Mudcrutch)
110. High In The Morning (Mojo)
111. Money Becomes King (The Last DJ)

Tom Petty rules.

Petty owned the 70s.  It was this decade when Petty crawled out of the Florida swamps and kicked us in the ear drums with jangle-rific rock n’ roll that infected us with push play, rewind, repeat.  “American Girl” & ” Refugee” will out live us all.  In the 90s, Petty had a massive rebirth ignited by the late 80s iconic solo album, Full Moon Fever.  “Learning To Fly” had us strumming along as they went to the top of the rock charts, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway were making video cameos, and indie filmmakers were hiring the band to score soundtracks.  Like the decade did for other 70s icon, John Travolta, the 90s reminded us why we loved them in the first place.

Twenty years down the road, TP & the HBs were as dominant as ever.  But in between the 70s and the 90s, Petty took the road less traveled.  The 80s may be Petty’s most subversive decade.  The 80s were owned by MTV.  Petty couldn’t dance like Michael Jackson, and he couldn’t wear a dress (or not wear) like Madonna.  He couldn’t rap like LL Cool J and claymation just wasn’t his thing.  But that didn’t mean Petty and the boys weren’t churning out music that stood on par with the best of their career.

Here are the 11 Best Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Songs of the 80s:

1. Rebels (Southern Accents)
2. A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me) (Hard Promises)
3. Insider (Hard Promises)
4. Change Of Heart (Long After Dark)
5. The Waiting (Hard Promises)
6. Deliver Me (Long After Dark)
7. It Ain’t Nothing To Me (Southern Accents)
8. Runaway Trains (Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough)
9. You Got Lucky (Long After Dark)
10. We Stand A Chance (Long After Dark)
11. Jammin’ Me (Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough)

Buy Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers new album, Hypnotic Eye…now!!!

Don’t forget to check out our blog’s awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now!  (featuring Tom Petty’s best of the 00s)