Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits (1993)

Reason for Listening:
#82 on the Billboard 200 (Week of 20201010). Weeks on Chart greater than 2x the rank.
Last Week: 71 | Peak: 2 | Weeks on Chart: 377
Billboard Listing: Greatest Hits - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - [original album cover]

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were one of the two headliners at Firefly 2013 and long story short I recall sitting very far away and not being too interested. I would first add that by now (2020) I barely remember attending the festival. I would then also add that I didn't prepare for that festival by listening to tracks the way I did for Firefly 2014 and Firefly 2015. In any case, I suppose that besides Petty's "Free Fallin'," I was neither deeply familiar with music by the band nor Petty's solo work.

2008 reissue album cover.

Released 19931116.
18 songs. 65:17. Greatest Hits (1993)
18-1+1 songs. 65:17-03:21+04:03. Greatest Hits (2008 reissue*)
Wikipedia

*Contrary to what's stated on the Wikipedia page, it appears as if some versions of the reissue have the original track listing. In particular, the current version of the album on Spotify reads "(C) 2008 UMG Recordings, Inc. | (P) A Geffen Records release; This Compilation (P) 2008 UMG Recordings, Inc." with the original track listing (i.e., "Something in the Air" and not "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

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Notes:
--20201010--
First listen.
I'm not sure whether or not I like "Don't Come Around Here No More" enough to give it a "1."
I'm not sure whether or not I like "Runnin' Down a dream" enough to give it a "2."

3: "I Won't Back Down" (Tom Petty); "Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty); "Mary Jane's Last Dance";
2: "Don't Do Me Like That"; "Runnin' Down a Dream" (Tom Petty); "Learning to Fly"; "Into the Great Wide Open"; "Something in the Air";
1: "Here Comes My Girl"; "The Waitin"; "Don't Come Around Here No More";
0: "American Girl"; "Listen to Her Heart"; "I Need to Know"; "Refugee"; "Even the Losers"; "You Got Lucky";
-1: "Breakdown";

Summary:
This compilation album is ordered by album release and I like the second half of the album starting with track 12, "I Won't Back Down," i.e., from 1989 and on. All those songs received above a "1." In contrast, the only song released prior to 1989 which I rated above a "1" was "Don't Do Me Like That." If the two halves were different albums I'd guess I'd give a 2.0 to the first half and a 5.0 to the second half. Being that they form a single compilation album, I'd guess I'd have to rate the album a 2.8 out of 5.

My instinct was to automatically hand over favorite song to "Free Fallin'" but then I stopped and considered whether "I Won't Back Down" or "Mary Jane's Last Dance" should receive it instead. While there are parts of "Mary Jane's Last Dance" which I find too mellow, I like the track as a whole. The three tracks peaked at #7 ("Free Fallin'"), #14 ("Mary Jane's Last Dance"), and #12 ("I Won't Back Down") on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 21, 20, and 15 weeks on the chart, respectively. Ultimately, I decided perhaps "Free Fallin'" was either overplayed or overrated (so I moved it from a "4" to a "3" and went with "I Won't Back Down" as my overall favorite.

Overall Rating: 2.8/5
Favorite Song (overall): "I Won't Back Down"
Favorite Song (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers): "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

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Original album cover.

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Remark: I was surprised to learn while writing this post that Tom Petty passed away in 2017. My condolences to his family and friends.