Artist: TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
Album: DAMN THE TORPEDOS (CD)

Release date: 1979
EAN/UPS: 0602527514161
Media type: CD

Damn the Torpedoes is the third album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released in 1979 by MCA Records. It was released to commercial success and critical acclaim becoming the band's breakthrough album. In 2003, the album was ranked number 313 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Damn the Torpedoes was the Heartbreakers first for MCA Records. Their old label, Shelter, had been sold to MCA. Petty struggled to legally detach himself from MCA, resulting in his bankruptcy. In the end he was forced to settle and negotiated a deal that allowed him to release his recordings on the new Backstreet Records label, manufactured and distributed by MCA. The album was recorded at Sound City in Van Nuys and Cherokee Studios in Hollywood. The title is a reference to a famous quote by Admiral David Farragut.

Damn the Torpedoes was released in November of 1979 to become a commercial success along with garnering critical praise. It became a #2 hit (for seven weeks and kept from #1 by Pink Floyd's The Wall) on the Billboard's Albums chart. It yielded two songs that made the top-fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, "Don't Do Me Like That" (#10) and "Refugee" (#15).

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

TRACKLIST:

1."Refugee" (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 3:22
2."Here Comes My Girl" (Petty, Campbell) – 4:27
3."Even the Losers" – 4:01
4."Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)" – 4:25
5."Century City" – 3:45

1."Don't Do Me Like That" – 2:44
2."You Tell Me" – 4:35
3."What Are You Doin' in My Life?" – 3:27
4."Louisiana Rain" – 5:54

LINE-UP:

Tom Petty - 6 & 12 string guitars, lead vocals and harmonica
Mike Campbell - 6 & 12 string guitars, slide guitar, keyboards, accordion, bass guitar
Benmont Tench - piano, organ, harmonium and vocals
Ron Blair - electric bass guitar
Stan Lynch - drums and vocals
Donald "Duck" Dunn - bass on "You Tell Me"