Record Review
By Paul Kowtiuk
The Leamington Post - Wednesday, February 27, 1980

Tom Petty and the Heartbreaks, "Damn the Torpedoes," (Backstreet)
This gentleman stands at the front of the new wave. And yes, this album is everything everyone says it is. (But they said that about the first Dire Straits and the first Cars album, didn't they?) Petty is to new wave what Donna Summer was for disco, a representative; perhaps more importantly, a charismatic representative. Having popularized the music a great deal, there's a lot of pressure on Petty to continue to produce. Summer has, but it's still too early to tell whether Petty can produce more tracks like "Don't Do Me Like That" or "Refugee." I think he can.