Cover illustration from Galaxy magazine by Virgil Finlay, October 1962
A while ago, I was getting into Tom Petty's back catalog, and I said that I'd write about Damn the Torpedoes next. And then I never wrote about Damn the Torpedoes. It's not that I didn't give the album a fair chance, but it never really clicked with me they way that Hard Promises and Long After Dark did.
I think the sticking point for me is that it's an album with three amazing songs, and they are tracks 1, 2, and 3. The fact that the album is on the short side (only nine songs!) and many of the tracks seem half-baked make it seem a filler-heavy vehicle for three singles. To me, "Shadow of a Doubt", "Century City", and "What Are You Doing in My Life?" are all variations of the same irritating tune - the first two are particularly bothersome because they placed back to back right in the middle of the album.
The only bright spots outside of the first three songs are "Don't Do Me Like That" and the album's languid closer, "Louisiana Rain". But I'm pretty surprised that Petty released the song as a single and "Even the Losers" wasn't - it's a pretty slight tune propped up by some great keyboard work by Benmont Tench. If Damn the Torpedoes was re-sequenced and had one or two of the decent b-sides from the album's singles added to the tracklist ("It's Rainin' Again" or "Casa Dega"), I think I'd hear it in a totally different way. As it is, though, Damn the Torpedoes is a too-front-loaded listening experience - when I'm in the mood to hear something by Petty, I'll probably reach for Hard Promises instead.
"Don't Do Me Like That" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
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