Hard Promises (1981)

Hard Promises (1981)

Mike Campbell has said that one of the Heartbreakers’ favorite slogans is “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.” Listening to albums like 1981’s Hard Promises, one is tempted to ask “which chorus?” Indeed, these pop songs are so securely constructed, they are airtight. By now, Petty could write lean, strident power pop confections like “King’s Road’ and “A Thing About You” in his sleep, but it’s only when the band lets its collective hair down a bit, as on the loose and smoky noir rock of “Nightwatchman,” that Hard Promises truly distinguishes itself. The album orbits around “The Waiting,” its explosive hit single, which provides a showcase for drummer Stan Lynch; there are few better examples of dynamic, sophisticated-but-unflashy rock drumming anywhere. If only the rest of the album fared as well: “Insider,” written for Stevie Nicks until Petty took a liking to it and snatched it back (he gave her “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” instead) is dreamy but dull, while not even the return of the legendary bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn of the MGs and a great whinnying guitar performance by Campbell can redeem the vaguely cock-rocky “Woman In Love,” one of the band’s poorest-performing singles for good reason: it sounds a little like Dokken.