Sorry for being so late reviewing this, of course it was always going to be a good one so no surprises here.
Free Fallin' - Moody and a bit different, the middle part with Jeff's backing vocals is my favourite section.
I Won't Back Down - theme tune for anyone being subjected to unwanted presssure, it would go a long way to bolstering your resistance. Ridiculously catchy and anthemic despite it's relatively low-key sound.
Love Is A Long Road - not heard this before, nice intro reminiscent of The Who before settling into a solid groove. I like it a lot.
A Face In The Crowd - Echoey guitar reminds me of something from Secret Messages, it might be Take Me On And On. Nice but not outstanding for me.
Runnin Down A Dream - Wake up! Love this song, it has an irresistible beat you can't stop tapping along to. I've not see it live but I can imagine a long extended outro with lots of guitar noodling.
Cute little message about turning over, wonder where that idea came from?
Feel A Whole Lot Better - Byrds and Beatles mashup, also reminds me of Needes and Pins (forgotten who by) not sure if I've actually heard it before or if it's just so classically '60's sounding it's fooled me into thinking so. Neat.
Yer So Bad - Wilbury City here, quirky little song which puts a smile on your face. Do I detect Jeff's ukelele in there too?
Depending On You - Sounds like a filler after what's gone before, but still a boppy little tune.
The Apartment Song - Again this is Wilbury territory, can imagine it being composed around the table using their proven strumming technique. Nice bit of Buddy Holly drumming in there.
Alright For Now - First proper slowie of the album, some pretty guitar work here and a nice lullaby tune.
A Mind With A Heart Of Its Own - Then up we jump and it's off again, I've not heard it before but it sounds like it should have been a single. Lots going on and it's another foot-tapper.
Zombie Zoo - The title piques the interest straight away, this is the song which sounds most like Jeff was involved, the drums are thumpier and the backing vocals very ELO. Love the lyrics, it's almost Alice Cooper (in fact I've often thought Tom and Alice look a bit like negatives of each other, one blond, one brunette). Ended up liking this a lot more than I thought, one of my favourites.
Tom Petty was already very well respected for his previous work when this came out, but it does seem that his partnership with Jeff was made in heaven despite it not going down that well with some of the Heartbreakers. It did a lot to bring him to the attention of the wider public due to the catchy songs and polished sound, which I'm sure pleased his bank manager.
One of the aspects I like best is that although you can tell Jeff was involved he hasn't been allowed to completely take over in the way he sometimes does when producing other artists. The drum sound is lively, Jeff's backing vocal is used quite sparingly and Tom is allowed to shine through.
No proper ELO fan could give this album a bad score, I'd give it a solid 8 and a half out of 10.
Thanks for sharing
88keys