10 Rock Albums That Were A Nightmare To Make

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers always seemed to thrive on living the rock star lifestyle. There was rarely ever time to slow down, and the rest of the band were more than happy to live their life on the road until the end of time, only stepping off for a few weeks at a time to put out an album. When they finally did come off the road though, that's where the drugs really started to take hold.

Originally crafting Southern Accents to be a double album celebrating the American South, the sessions started to grind to a halt as soon as they started, with the band indulging in too much cocaine and getting more and more sloppy as the sessions went along. The tension became so heated in the studio that Tom ended up hitting the wall in a fit of frustration, only to find out that he completely pulverized his hand in the process. Needing some more guidance from outside, producer Jimmy Iovine was brought in, convincing the band to focus on making a great single album instead of the gigantic double album experience.

While there are some inklings of the concept album that Petty had in mind here, there's a lot more eclectic songs on here than before, like the wild sitar sounds on the single Don't Come Around Here No More or the straight up soul of Make It Better. Years after the fact, Petty has said that while Southern Accents wasn't exactly the album he heard in his head, he was more proud of the album that it eventually became.