On this day (July 29) in 2014, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released Hypnotic Eye. The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart. While the band had seen chart success over the years, this was their first album to reach the top of the chart. It was also the band’s last album before Petty’s death in October 2017.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album in 1976. It peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 and was their only full-length to miss the top 40. The band came close to topping the charts twice. First, their 1979 album, Damn the Torpedoes, peaked at No. 2. Later, their 2010 album, Mojo, also landed at No. 2. Hypnotic Eye allowed Petty to go out with a bang.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Went Out on a High Note

Hypnotic Eye captured what made Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers one of the best rock bands in the world for decades. The songs contain commentary on larger social issues. However, all of that commentary comes through the lens of personal narratives. The 11 songs on the album were both timely and timeless. At the same time, it was a return ot form for the band.

“I knew I wanted to do a rock and roll record. We hadn’t made a straight hard-rockin’ record, from beginning to end, in a long time,” Petty told Rolling Stone. The album took the band years to record. They held the first recording sessions for Hypnotic Eye in 2011, three years before its release. “You must get the songs. It takes time to write 10 or 11 really good songs,” Petty explained.

“The band just grows and grows, and that’s an incredible gift. I can’t see us calling it off,” he said. “They’re still the guys I want to play with–and the guys who understand my songs the best,” he added. That’s why, he revealed, that while he was the band’s leader and songwriter, if the band didn’t like a song, they would scrap or rework it until they did. “They can’t hide it. If they’re not lighting up, something’s wrong. It would be very hard to make this record without a band that has been together this long, with those kinds of instincts. I’m relieved to have that,” Petty said.

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