114. Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
a thing that was cool about vinyl records and cassette tapes was that you had a few seconds of white noise or tape hiss and then something like “Refugee” would start playing. and then you’d listen to all of side one of this album you just bought and you’d flip it over to side two and the few seconds of pause would happen and you’d think to yourself “wonder what the opening track of this side is going to be?” and it winds up being “Don’t Do Me Like That.” it was a bit primitive but there were a couple of instances in which it seemed more like a virtue than technology. this was Tom Petty’s full-throated introduction; he wasn’t going away after this. “Century City” still kills, and “Here Comes My Girl” is canonically on the top shelf of greatest power pop tracks of all time.
Top 150 Albums, 1970-2010 