1980s
The Petty Archives
  • 1987-07-15_Utica-Observer-Dispatch

Download the PDF!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have another big-time rock album
Utica Observer-Dispatch - Saturday, July 15, 1987

"Let Me Up (I've Had Enough" Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (MCA)
If you ever have to pick one band to explain rock 'n' roll to aliens from outer space, pick Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

"Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" is their eighth album -- their first since the 1986 tour with Bob Dylan -- and these dedicated rockers are stronger than ever.

"Let Me Up" is an exercise in cool basics. Put it in the front of the stack, ahead of all those LPs that have only one or two good songs.

First, there's an anthem for sensible cynics, "Jammin' Me" (co-written by Dylan). It's followed by the lovely, lyrical pondering of the upbeat "Runaway Trains."

"It'll All Work Out" is a folksy departure to the accompaniment of ringing mandolins; "Still I think of her when the song goes down. It never goes away, but it all works out."

And it's back to hard rock with "Think About Me," a pulsing tune reminiscent of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," which was a hit for the Rolling Stones.

"Let Me Up" is an ornery record without a weak track. If you like big-time rock 'n' roll, you won't ever cry for mercy.