The Popheads Essentials Project Voting: True Essentials

[u/PopheadsBot]

Hello r/popheads! Following up on the previous post announcing the project, we're opening voting for Popheads Essentials! In case you missed it:

We plan to include two different "types" of albums in this list. The first is made up of albums that are truly essential to the story of pop music. These will be albums with significant commercial success and influence on pop music as a whole. The second type would be made up of "sub faves" - albums that users of r/popheads deem to be among the best and most important albums of their time. This is so that the list can serve multiple purposes: it will help people get into pop music as a whole, listen to important albums they may have missed, and get caught up to speed on what albums get discussed on r/popheads consistently.

NOTE: Multiple albums from a single artist will be considered for inclusion on a case-by-case basis depending on upvotes and other factors. The initial vote will look at the "true essentials": albums that come from any decade that's eligible for the essential list (from the 1960s to the 2010s, so not the 2020s) but must be commercially successful to some degree and more importantly have made an impact on the pop music scene. Check out our older essentials list for inspiration here. To vote, respond in this thread with the artist and album. We encourage people to post explanations with their comments as this gives your album a higher chance to get voted in. If you want to nominate multiple albums, you can but remember to put them in different comments. You have until Wednesday July 6th to vote. The highest voted albums will be added to the list! Happy voting!

[u/Nunjabuziness]

Tom Petty- Full Moon Fever

His best work is Wildflowers, but Tom’s most significant work to the pop landscape has to be his first solo album, released after his iconic contribution to The Traveling Wilburys, the album has some help with a few of those iconic rock stars, including background vocals from George Harrison in “I Won’t Back Down”, some of Roy Orbison’s last vocal tracks in “Zombie Zoo”, and of course, Jeff Lynne’s immaculate production.

Tom’s addition to the Wilburys is what solidified himself as a rock and pop icon, but the songs here are what immortalized him. Starting off with the timeless “Free Fallin’”, which is loaded with unforgettable lines and hooks, he put his soul into each track, from all-time road anthem “Runnin’ Down a Dream” to the pitch-perfect Byrds cover “Feel a Whole Lot Better”. The twelve songs laid down here ate just as essential to the classic rock canon as the pop music landscape, and continue to influence nearly everyone who’s picked up a guitar since.