Hear Tom Petty’s Old-School Rocker ‘American Dream Plan B’ – Premiere

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. | Photo: Warner Bros Records

After nearly three years of work, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are finally ready to unleash their new album, Hypnotic Eye, which hits shelves on July 29th. The disc is an old-school rock record, closer in style to Petty’s first couple of records than the blues rock sound of 2010’s Mojo. “I knew I wanted to do a rock & roll record,” Petty told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “We hadn’t made a straight hard-rockin’ record, from beginning to end, in a long time.” Here is an exclusive preview of the track “American Dream Plan B”:

Petty launched an American theater tour with the Heartbreakers last year and played a few festivals, but he wanted to be sure the record was 100 percent ready before playing any of the new tracks. “You must get the songs,” he said. “It takes time to write 10 or 11 really good songs.”

He even told us specifically about debuting “American Dream Plan B” for the rest of the band when their initial reaction was silence. “I said, ‘Listen, I think we have something here, but we’re going to have to get excited about it.’”‰” In fact, Petty explained, laughing, the Heartbreakers loved the song ”“ he just had to drag the affirmation out of them.

The group kicks off a 30-date American arena tour August 3rd in San Diego. “I never thought I’d be this busy at this point in my life,” Petty said. “I never expected to be at this point, doing stuff and figuring out how to get it to people. This band just grows and grows, and that’s an incredible gift.”