Greatest Hits (Tom Petty album)
1993 greatest hits album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
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Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on November 16, 1993. It is Petty's best-selling album to date and was certified 12× Platinum by the RIAA on April 28, 2015. The single "Mary Jane's Last Dance", one of two previously unreleased tracks on the album, became one of Petty's most popular songs, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The other new song on the album is a cover of the Thunderclap Newman hit "Something in the Air", which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album contains no songs from 1987's Let Me Up (I've Had Enough). However, three songs from Petty's 1989 solo album Full Moon Fever were included.
| Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Original album cover | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | November 16, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1976–1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 65:44 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Greatest Hits | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| Blender | [2] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | A−[3] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [4] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A+[5] |
| The Essential Rock Discography | 9/10[6] |
| MusicHound Rock |  [7] |
| Q | [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
On its original release in November 1993, the album debuted at No. 8 on Billboard 200,[10] and first peaked at No. 5 on the chart in February 1994.[11] It reached a new peak of No. 2 following Petty's death in 2017.[12]
The new tracks "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "Something in the Air" were the band's last recordings with drummer Stan Lynch.
Reissues
In 2008, Greatest Hits was reissued by Geffen Records. This edition replaced "Something in the Air" with "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", Petty's duet with Stevie Nicks from her 1981 album Bella Donna. The album's photos and artwork replaced the Wildflowers and Into the Great Wide Open session photos with outtakes from You're Gonna Get It!. In 2010 the album was once again reissued, this time reverting to the original 1993 track listing but keeping the artwork from the 2008 edition. In 2016 the album was made available on vinyl for the first time since 1993.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album/notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "American Girl" | Tom Petty | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976) | 3:33 |
| 2. | "Breakdown" | Petty | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | 2:44 |
| 3. | "Listen to Her Heart" | Petty | You're Gonna Get It!, 1978 | 3:03 |
| 4. | "I Need to Know" | Petty | You're Gonna Get It! | 2:24 |
| 5. | "Refugee" |
| Damn the Torpedoes (1979) | 3:21 |
| 6. | "Don't Do Me Like That" | Petty | Damn the Torpedoes | 2:42 |
| 7. | "Even the Losers" | Petty | Damn the Torpedoes | 3:38 |
| 8. | "Here Comes My Girl" |
| Damn the Torpedoes | 4:25 |
| 9. | "The Waiting" | Petty | Hard Promises (1981) | 4:00 |
| 10. | "You Got Lucky" |
| Long After Dark, 1982 | 3:36 |
| 11. | "Don't Come Around Here No More" |
| Southern Accents (1985) | 5:04 |
| 12. | "I Won't Back Down" |
| Full Moon Fever (1989) | 2:57 |
| 13. | "Runnin' Down a Dream" |
| Full Moon Fever | 4:23 |
| 14. | "Free Fallin'" |
| Full Moon Fever | 4:15 |
| 15. | "Learning to Fly" |
| Into the Great Wide Open (1991) | 4:01 |
| 16. | "Into the Great Wide Open" |
| Into the Great Wide Open | 3:44 |
| 17. | "Mary Jane's Last Dance" | Petty | New song | 4:33 |
| 18. | "Something in the Air" | Speedy Keen | Thunderclap Newman cover | 3:21 |
| Total length: | 65:44 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album/notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. | "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" | Petty | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | 2:24 |
| Total length: | 68:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album/notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18. | "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" |
| Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna (1981) | 4:03 |
| Total length: | 66:26 | |||
Personnel
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- Tom Petty – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, percussion (all tracks)
- Mike Campbell – lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, squeeze box (all tracks)
- Benmont Tench – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (tracks 1–11, 15–18)
- Ron Blair – bass guitar (tracks 1–8)
- Howie Epstein – bass guitar, backing vocals (tracks 10–12, 15–18)
- Stan Lynch – drums, percussion, backing vocals (tracks 1–11, 15–18)
Additional musicians
- George Harrison – acoustic guitar, backing vocals (track 12)
- Jeff Lynne – bass guitar, guitar, guitar synthesizer, piano, keyboards, backing vocals (tracks 12–16)
- David A. Stewart – sitar, keyboards, backing vocals (track 11)
Uncredited musicians
- Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass guitar (track 18, 2008 release)
- Dean Garcia – intro bass guitar (track 11)
- Phil Jones – percussion, drums (tracks 9–10, 12–14)
- Jeff Jourard, Mike Slee – guitar (track 2)
- Jim Keltner – percussion (track 5)
- Stevie Nicks – co-lead vocals (track 18, 2008 release)
- Lori Perry, Sharon Celani – backing vocals (track 18, 2008 release)
- Daniel Rothmuller – cello (track 11)
- Phil Seymour – backing vocals (tracks 1–2)
- Chris Trujillo – percussion (tracks 17–18)
- Alan "Bugs" Weidel – "wild dog" piano (track 11)
- Sharon Celani, Marilyn Martin, Stephanie Sprull – backing vocals (track 11)
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[49] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Germany (BVMI)[50] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[51] | 4× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[52] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
| Sweden (GLF)[53] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[54] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[55] | 12× Platinum | 12,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | October 30, 1993 | MCA Records | double LP | MCA 10964 |
| Cassette | MCC 10964 | |||
| CD | MCD 10964 | |||
| North America | November 16, 1993 | Cassette | MCAC 10813 | |
| CD | MCAD 10813 | |||
| May 20, 2008 | Geffen Records | B0010327-02 | ||
| Europe | 1774395 |