10 Perfect Rock Songs That Were Never Released As Singles

In the grand legacy of Tom Petty records, Hard Promises is kind of an outlier in his classic run. Though it did end up bringing us some amazing cuts like The Waiting, there's a much more dark atmosphere than the traditional heartland rock we were used to, probably influenced by the ongoing legal trouble he was having with his label. In between all of the depressing points on the record though, Kings Road is that one shining light of hope.

Being a pseudo story song about one of the first times that the band went to England, you can hear the excitement right from the opening notes, as Tom gets more and more into the performance as the song goes on. While the actual speed of the song is by no means punk, it still has an unstoppable momentum that only comes from the raw excitement coming from the players.

Though the specifics of the song tend to vary depending on who you talk to, you can feel the kind of youthful energy come off of this song, as the band stare wide eyed at the places they only dreamed about seeing as kids. After years in the game, this also gives us a glimpse into the kind of rocker that Tom Petty always was. With all the experience that he had under his belt, he was still the same starry eyed kid who dreamed of one day becoming a rock star.