''Full Moon Fever'' is the debut solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

, released on April 24, 1989, by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. It features contributions from members of his band the Heartbreakers, notably Mike Campbell, as well as

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

(who died prior to its release), and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, Petty's bandmates in the

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Originating from an idea discussed by Harrison and Lynne during the sessions for Harrison's 1987 album ' ...

. The record shows Petty exploring his musical roots with nods to his influences. The songwriting is mainly collaborations between Petty and Lynne, who was also a producer on the album. ''Full Moon Fever'' became a commercial and critical success, peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and being certified 5× platinum in the United States and 6× platinum in Canada. MCA Records under

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists. In the mid-1980s, he brought success to MCA Records. Since September 2013, he has been cha ...

originally refused to issue the album, believing it did not contain any hits. Azoff resigned within a few months, and new label management reviewed the album positively, and released it. In 2019, the album was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Background and recording

Having earlier in 1987 finished a Heartbreakers tour behind the album ''

Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) ''Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)'' (styled on the cover with quotation marks) is the seventh studio album by the American band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on 27 April 1987. It features the most songwriting collaborations between Petty a ...

'', Petty decided to record a solo album without the Heartbreakers (similar to the arrangement between

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

and

The E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing care ...

at the time). This stirred some controversy among members of the Heartbreakers, although all but drummer

Stan Lynch Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994. Early years Lynch was born in ...

contributed to the album.

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

and Howie Epstein initially were not happy about playing the ''Full Moon Fever'' songs live during Heartbreakers concerts. Lynch hated playing them right up until his departure from the band, saying it made him feel like he was in a cover band. The recording process in 1988 was a low-key affair, with many of Petty's friends contributing, including the members of the

, minus

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. Recorded mainly in the relaxed atmosphere of Mike Campbell's garage studio, Petty would later say it was the most enjoyable record of his career. Recording of ''Full Moon Fever'' was actually interrupted to allow time for recording of the first Wilburys' album. Two songs recorded during the sessions did not make the ''Full Moon Fever'' album. "Down the Line" and "Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger" were released as B-sides. During the sessions, Petty wrote "Indiana Girl", an early draft of what would eventually become " Mary Jane's Last Dance".

Musical style and themes

The album is noted for being heavily influenced by Jeff Lynne, resulting in a cleaner and glossier version of the Heartbreakers' roots rock from previous albums. Lynne incorporated layers of keyboards and backing vocals, giving it a

Beatlesque "Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists. Definitions To better explain what ...

feel. The songs show Petty paying dues to his influences with a

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

cover ("I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better") and a nod to

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit "Runaway". In 1999, he was induc ...

in " Runnin' Down a Dream". Other songs, such as "

Free Fallin' "Free Fallin'" is the opening track from American musician Tom Petty's debut solo album, '' Full Moon Fever'' (1989). The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne, and features Lynne on backing vocals and bass ...

", show Petty addressing nostalgia on his rise to fame. "A Mind With a Heart of Its Own" uses a Bo Diddley-style rhythm, while "The Apartment Song" features an instrumental break with

paradiddle In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associ ...

drumming reminiscent of

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

's " Peggy Sue".

Release and reception

The album, which became Petty's commercial peak as an artist, was helped by favorable critical reviews and three hit singles. The album was released on April24, 1989 and rose to eventually peak at No.3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and No.8 in the UK. Five singles were released from the album; two hit the top 20 of the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot100 and three topped the U.S.

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...

chart. The

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

certified ''Full Moon Fever'' 5× platinum on October5, 2000 in the US and the CRIA certified it 6× platinum on September18, 1991 in Canada. Critical praise was generally high, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

giving the album four and a half stars out of five in a retrospective review, admiring the craft of the album and rivaling it with the Heartbreakers' '' Damn the Torpedoes''. This review notes there are no weak tracks on the album, calling it a "minor masterpiece". The original ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' review compared the album favorably to the Traveling Wilburys' debut, '' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1'', saying it has the "same restless charm", but commenting that ''Full Moon Fever'' at times seems "sprawling". The review claims the album is "another rewarding, low-key side project for Petty", giving it three-and-a-half stars out of five. A later ''Rolling Stone'' biographer claims ''Full Moon Fever'' was a "masterful solo album". It was ranked number 92 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s, and was ranked number 298 in the 2020 update of the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2000 it was voted number534 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along w ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by t ...

''.

Track listing

"Hello, CD listeners ..."

The original compact-disc release of the album contains a

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as to ...

in the pregap of Track 6 ("Feel a Whole Lot Better"), at the point where cassette or LP listeners would have to flip sides to continue. The track consists of a brief tongue-in-cheek monologue by Petty, over a background of barnyard noises (credited to Del Shannon). The interlude is not included in other physical versions of the album, though it is mentioned (as "Attention CD Listeners") in the album credits in all versions.

Personnel

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, 6 and

12 string A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

acoustic and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s, keyboards,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), ...

* Mike Campbell –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos t ...

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson (guitar company), Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. ...

, keyboards *

– bass guitar,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, keyboards, backing vocals, handclaps * Phil Jones –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Additional musicians *

– acoustic guitar and backing vocals on "I Won't Back Down" *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums,

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

and tambourine on "Love Is a Long Road" *

– piano on "The Apartment Song" * Howie Epstein – backing vocals on "I Won't Back Down" and "Love Is a Long Road" *

– backing vocals on "Zombie Zoo" *Kelsey Campbell – scream on "Zombie Zoo" *Alan Weidel - handclaps on "Feel a Whole Lot Better" *

– barnyard noises in the "Hello, CD listeners ..." interlude Production *Produced by Jeff Lynne with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell *Engineers: Mike Campbell, Don Smith, and

Bill Bottrell William A. Bottrell (born October 27, 1952) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has collaborated with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Electric Light Orchestra and Sheryl Crow. Biography Between 1967 and 1970, Bottrell attended Cre ...

; Dennis Kirk on "Love Is a Long Road" *Assistant engineer: Alan "Bugs" Weidel *Mastered by Steve Hall

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums Tom Petty albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Albums produced by Tom Petty Albums produced by Jeff Lynne MCA Records albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders Albums recorded at Sound City Studios Albums produced by Mike Campbell (musician)