''Hypnotic Eye'' is the thirteenth and final studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock band

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer ...

, released in the UK on July 28, 2014 and in the United States on July 29, by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming the only Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album ever to top the chart. ''Hypnotic Eye'' was nominated for the 2015

Grammy Award for Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...

. It would also be the Heartbreakers' final studio album before disbanding in 2017, following Petty's death in October of that same year.

Background

The first sessions for the album occurred in August 2011 at the band's

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

-based rehearsal space, the "Clubhouse," where the song "Burnt-Out Town" was recorded. The album marks a stylistic return to the band's first two albums, ''

'' (1976) and '' You're Gonna Get It!'' (1978).

Promotion

On June 10, 2014, the song "American Dream Plan B" was released as the lead single from the album, along with two additional tracks, "Red River" and "U Get Me High," from the band's website and digital stores. A month later, a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

with "American Dream Plan B" and "U Get Me High" and a coupon for $2 off the price of the album were released. "Forgotten Man" and "Fault Lines" were released for streaming on the band's website in early July 2014. Additionally, all five tracks released in promotion of ''Hypnotic Eye'' were released on an "interactive radio" with a tuning dial that finds the tracks for listeners.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 131,000 copies in the United States; to date, it is the only Tom Petty (solo or with the Heartbreakers) album to reach the top spot on the chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers *

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(all tracks),

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(all tracks but 10), lead guitar (right channel on track 9, track 10, track 11 outro), fuzz bass (track 3), high bass (track 7), bass (track 9) * Mike Campbell –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

(tracks 1-8, left channel on track 9, 11), rhythm guitar (track 10, 12) *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(tracks 1-7, 10-12),

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

(track 1, 6, 11)

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

(1-3, 5-9, 11-12),

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

(tracks 4, 8, 11),

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

(track 5) *

Scott Thurston Scott Troy Thurston (born January 10, 1952) is an American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and session musician. He was a member of the Stooges, and of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, in which he sang harmony vocals and played guitar, bass, ...

– rhythm guitar (tracks 1, 3, 5-8, 11), 12-string guitar (track 4),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

(track 2, 10, 12) tambourine (track 9), lead guitar (track 12) * Ron Blair –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(all tracks but 9) * Steve Ferrone –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(all tracks),

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(track 6, 7, 12) Additional musicians *Josh Jové – fuzz guitar (track 7) *Ryan Ulyate – background vocals (track 8) Production *Chris Bellman – mastering *Mike Campbell – producer *Jeri Heiden – art direction *Josh Jové – assistant engineer *Greg Looper – engineer *Tom Petty – producer *Chase Simpson – assistant engineer *Nick Steinhardt – design, art direction *Ryan Ulyate – producer, mixer, recorder *Alan "Bugs" Weidel – crew chief, back-line technician, equipment manager

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Tom Petty albums 2014 albums Albums produced by Tom Petty Reprise Records albums Blues rock albums by American artists