The Sound Page: Room to groove
Review by R.S. Murthi
New Strait Times - Sunday, July 9, 1989

Cassettes: Rock/Pop
TOM PETTY -- Full Moon Fever (MCA): Petty's debut solo album is as evocative and engaging as his early work with the Heartbreakers.

The song structures are basic and bareboned and producer Jeff Lynne's sympathetic support brings out the best in the archetypal American rocker, both as a songwriter and singer.
Love is the main theme here but Petty's handling of it is intelligent and heartfelt.

There are times when the hokey, guitar-driven music sounds simplistic and spineless but Petty's singing is almost always impassioned and inspired.

The most effective cuts, pieces like the defiance anthem I Won't Back Down and Gene Clark's cheery chestnut Feel A Whole Lot Better, give Petty a great deal of room to groove.

The rhythm team, which inclides fellow Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench and Wilbury associates George Harrison, the late Roy Orbison and Lynne himself, is unflagging in its propulsive charge.

Music: ★★★ Sound: ★★★