Album I'm really digging right now

Echo by Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers: Petty cut these moody tracks during the organic Rick Rubin-produced Wildflowers era. These albums are the most personal statements of Petty's incredible career. Highlights from Echo include "Swingin," where he compares his marriage to a losing boxer. The melancholy "Accused of Love" and "This One's For Me" are propelled by that classic jangle. Even the handful of rockers like "About to Give Out" rollick with a degree of despair. Guitarist Mike Campbell always finds the right embellishments and never wastes a note - he also takes a guest vocal turn with garage rocker "I Don't Wanna Fight." In interviews, Petty said he left the songs on the album behind and didn't remember writing some of them. He was in a dark place at the time and had fallen prey to addiction. The darkness is palpable when laced with Petty's ear-friendly tendencies. "Rhino Skin" is one of the darkest tracks on a Petty album full of them: "You need rhino skin if you're gonna pretend you're not hurt by this world," he sings. If there's one thing Petty was doing at the time, it was hurting.