Consumer Guide Album

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Hard Promises [Backstreet, 1981]
Hard to gainsay the class solidarity of a rich rock star who sues his record company to keep his list price down to $8.98. And glancing at the lyric sheet, I was pleased to note that the antiboho number--"Kings Road," in which a Pakistani tries to sell Tom funny-looking English underwear--had a lighter touch than usual. The reason I hadn't noticed, unfortunately, is that Petty clobbers the thing like he's singing about how much he hates the road. Elsewhere he's more understated, fortunately, but it just goes to show you--no matter how much they respect the working fan, rich rock stars do tend to fill up on themselves. B