Into the Great Wide Open

For the Cougar Town episode, see Into the Great Wide Open (Cougar Town).
Into the Great Wide Open
Studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Released July 2, 1991
Recorded 1990-91 at Rumbo Recorders, Studio C, Canoga Park, California and M.C. Studios
Genre Heartland rock
Length 43:55
Label MCA
Producer Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Mike Campbell
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
Full Moon Fever
(1989)		 Into the Great Wide Open
(1991)		 Greatest Hits
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[2]
Rolling Stone [3]

Into the Great Wide Open is the eighth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, first released in July 1991 (see 1991 in music). The album was the band's last with MCA Records. The album was the second Petty produced with Jeff Lynne after the success of 1989's Full Moon Fever.

The first single, "Learning to Fly", became his joint longest-running number one single (along with "The Waiting" from 1981's Hard Promises) on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, spending six weeks at the top spot. The second single, "Out in the Cold", also made #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, albeit only for two weeks.

The music video for the title song starred Johnny Depp, who had moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to seek rock stardom, along with Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, and Matt LeBlanc.

Contents

Critical reception

For the most part, Into the Great Wide Open was warmly received by critics. Dave DiMartino, reviewing the album for Entertainment Weekly said that the album was the closest "classic" album Tom and the band have made in fifteen years, saying that the album was a return to their first two albums. He feels that this is due largely to Jeff Lynne and that the songs are better than the ones on Full Moon Fever.[2] Rolling Stone critic Parke Puterbaugh called the album a cross between Full Moon Fever and Damn the Torpedoes, said that it features Petty's best lyrics and that it is much better than Let Me Up (I've Had Enough).[3] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt less of the album, saying that it sounds too much like Full Moon Fever, which he thinks should not have been as successful as it was. He said that the album was "pleasant" but was not his best.[1]

Track listing

All songs were written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, except where noted.

  1. "Learning to Fly" – 4:02
  2. "Kings Highway" (Petty) – 3:08
  3. "Into the Great Wide Open" – 3:43
  4. "Two Gunslingers" (Petty) – 3:09
  5. "The Dark of the Sun" – 3:23
  6. "All or Nothin'" (Petty, Mike Campbell, Lynne) – 4:07
  7. "All the Wrong Reasons" – 3:46
  8. "Too Good to Be True" (Petty) – 3:59
  9. "Out in the Cold" – 3:40
  10. "You and I Will Meet Again" (Petty) – 3:42
  11. "Makin' Some Noise" (Petty, Campbell, Lynne) – 3:27
  12. "Built to Last" – 4:00

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Top 50 Albums[4] 28
Austrian Top 75 Albums[5] 7
Canadian Top Albums[6] 4
German Albums[7] 8
Netherlands Top 100 Albums[8] 53
New Zealand Top 50 Albums[9] 12
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[10] 5
Swedish Top 60 Albums[11] 2
Swiss Top 100 Albums[12] 12
UK Albums Chart[13] 3
US Billboard 200[14] 13

Certifications

Country Provider Certification
(sales thresholds)
Canada[15] Music Canada 2x Multi-Platinum
(200,000 units)
Germany[16] BVMI Gold
(250,000 units)
Sweden[17] IFPI Platinum
(100,000 units)
Switzerland[18] IFPI Gold
(25,000 units)
United Kingdom[19] BPI Platinum
(300,000 units)
United States[20] RIAA 2x Multi-Platinum
(2,000,000 units)

References

  1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r15156/review. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b DiMartino, Dave (July 19, 1991). "Music Review: Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers". Entertainment Weekly (No. 75). ISSN 1049-0434. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314892,00.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Puterbaugh, Parke (July 11, 1991). "Review: Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty". Rolling Stone (Jann S. Wenner). http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/into-the-great-wide-open-19910711. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts. Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  6. ^ "100 Albums (CDs & Cassettes)" (PHP). RPM Vol. 54 (No. 12). August 24, 1991. ISSN 0315-5994. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.1605&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Album – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Into the Great Wide Open" (in German) (ASP). Media Control Charts. http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&title=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  10. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  11. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  12. ^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open (Album)" (ASP). Schweizer Hitparade. Hung Medien. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty+%26+The+Heartbreakers&titel=Into+The+Great+Wide+Open&cat=a. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Chart Archive: Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive – 20th July 1991". The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/3/1991-07-20/. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  14. ^ "Into the Great Wide Open – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/album/tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers/into-the-great-wide-open/13289. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Gold & Platinum Database Results" (ASPX). Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Abracadabra&ica=False&sa=&sl=&smt=0&sat=-1&ssb=Artist. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
  16. ^ "Gold- /Platin-Datenbank [Gold- /Platinum-Database]" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/.  Type "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers" under Interpret to see search results.
  17. ^ "Guld & Platina 1987–1998" (in Swedish) (PDF). IFPI – Sweden. p. 8. http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  18. ^ "Awards 1992". Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. http://swisscharts.com/awards.asp?year=1992. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
  19. ^ "Certified Awards Search" (ASPX). British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. 
  20. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database" (PHP). Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database. 
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Studio albums
Tom Petty solo
Mudcrutch
Live albums
Compilations
Videography
Production
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