Tom Petty would begin an interesting three-pronged career resurgence not long after the 21st Century got underway. He was also incredibly prolific: When he died in 2017, he’d already released three albums with the Heartbreakers, a solo album and two albums with his early band Mudcrutch.It was a time of reunion, but not necessarily retrenchment. He’d worked with members of Mudcrutch before launching the Heartbreakers, but didn’t release any studio recordings with them until 2008’s Mudcrutch and 2016’s Mudcrutch 2. Both reached the Top 10.By then, he’d already recorded 2006’s gold-selling Highway Companion with Jeff Lynne, who co-produced two Petty albums at the turn of the ’90s. In between, Petty and the Heartbreakers dug more deeply into their bluesy roots with 2010’s No. 2 smash Mojo.READ MORE: Things Tom Petty HatedHe started the century with 2002’s Top 10 hit The Last DJ, probably the closest he got to nostalgia – even if much of it was bitter nostalgia. But none of the look-back projects that followed were stuck in the past. Petty moved well outside of expectations at every turn – even on Mojo, which thankfully didn’t get stuck in shotgun-shack tropes.Then came his third 21st Century album with the Heartbreakers, 2014’s first-ever chart-topping Hypnotic Eye, and a complete return to form. Coupled with the subsequent Mudcrutch 2, the era represented some of the most vital music of Petty’s entire career.As always, the albums were only as good as their songs. Here’s a look back at the 10 best:No. 10. “Night Driver”From: Highway Companion (2006)Any Tom Petty album is ripe for a great car song – but “Night Driver” couldn’t be more different from the pedal-mashing charge of “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” It’s not just that this unfolds while hurtling down a dreamscape-like highway. It’s not just that Petty (not Benmont Tench) takes a deeply resonant turn on electric piano. It’s not just that Petty’s relationship with the road itself seems to have changed so much. (Instead of a pathway to escape, to finding your self, driving seemed to be an opportunity now for introspection, to ruminate more deeply on things.) Really, it’s all of those things – and one of Petty’s coolest turns of phrase: “I speed dial the judgment call.”No. 9. “American Dream Plan B”From: Hypnotic Eye (2014)Prior to releasing Hypnotic Eye, Petty said he wanted to return to the straight-ahead rock of his earliest albums. “American Dream Plan B” certainly gave shape to that goal. It’s a foundation-cracking bruiser of a song, with a processed vocal that takes roundhouse swings at life, at love and — most particularly — at everything else that makes getting to Friday night so difficult most work weeks. Eventually, as the debts mount, mom turns sad and Daddy’s just pissed. Even the little things start to fail us: Our protagonist, for instance, can’t dance for s—. His existence is a jumble of uncertainty. Yet, somewhere deep inside, the flicker of optimism still burns. “Like a fool,” Petty barks, “I’m betting on happiness.”No. 8. “Crystal River”From: Mudcrutch (2008)Petty floats down a seven-mile Citrus County tributary into Florida’s western Gulf coast on the longest song from Mudcrutch’s long-awaited debut. It’s fitting, since the group traces back to his pre-Heartbreakers days in Gainsville, about an hour and a half away. Like Petty’s early heroes in the Byrds, who used to take “Eight Miles High” on an extended psychedelic journey in concert, Mudcrutch eventually turned this nine-minute, vaguely Grateful Dead-ish song into a 15-minute Mike Campbell-fired jam. That gave them time to actually learn the song. The studio recording of “Crystal River” represents the first and only time that Mudcrutch had ever played the track.No. 7. “High in the Morning”From: Mojo (2010)Time away, not to mention the critical success of the revived Mudcrutch, could very well have taken the wind out of the Heartbreakers’ sails. Instead, the band returned for the first time since 2002’s The Last DJ with a vengeance. They got there by trying to stay more true to what they actually sounded like at this point: a flinty group of blues-rocking vets. (“Every rehearsal started with the blues,” Petty admitted back then. “I thought we should stay where we naturally play.”) Still, Mojo was more than roadhouse stuff, as illustrated by the plucky throwback “High in the Morning.” They were recording in the band’s Los Angeles rehearsal space, typically in one or two takes, but this song boasted the spacious, polished feel of the Heartbreakers’ earliest sides. In other words, the happiest of homecomings.No. 6. “U Get Me High”From: Hypnotic Eye (2014)There was something visceral, something of tangible release, in this blast of knuckle-dragging rock. At the same time, note the contemplative nature of “U Get Me High.” The guitar solo is a thrillingly smeared emotional outburst, but what stands out the most is what’s not there. This isn’t Tom Petty wearing the pissed-off old-man persona that perhaps he had every right to claim. Instead, Petty makes a series of whispered entreaties, running his imagination’s fingers down the shape of a lover. This kind of classically sharp wordplay can’t really be part of a cathartic tantrum like “American Dream Plan B.” There may be those who wondered if Petty could still summon this kind of moment, one that works in such smart juxtaposition between grinding groove and open-hearted reminiscence. “U Get Me High” answered that, and definitively.No. 5. “Beautiful Blue”From: Mudcrutch 2 (2016)After reuniting for an upbeat, but occasionally lightweight 2008 debut, Mudcrutch took on more consequential subjects – and deeper musical complexity – with the follow-up. Songs like “Beautiful Blue,” so full of wistful longing, provided the emotional gravitas required of a studio project focused on coming to terms with life’s passages. “Beautiful Blue” is the romantic centerpiece of an LP that offered keen insights into how the choices we make turn into the lives we ultimately lead. All of Petty’s bandmates get a chance to shine, too.No. 4. “Down South”From: Highway Companion (2006)This song feels more personal than it really is. Petty took an imaginary trip back home, but this time stayed in the character of his father, who Petty once described to NPR’s Terry Gross as a “cad” who “had many mistresses.” In a twist, Petty carefully wrote the lyrics out before creating the music. Marrying the two wasn’t easy, and “Down South” became one of the songs that took him the longest to complete. The laconic, smartly detailed result was more than the highlight on one of Petty’s most overlooked albums. It debunked, once again, the wrongheaded caricature of Petty – this decidedly literate writer of pinpoint narrative accuracy – as another in the long line of common-folk rockers.No. 3. “Fault Lines”From: Hypnotic Eye (2014)A hard-charging Ron Blair-driven groover featuring one of Petty’s weariest vocals, “Fault Lines” smartly employed the imagery of fractured landmasses spidering across his adopted home state of California to craft a personal tale of overcoming past hurts. “Fault Lines” was finalized by a squalling harmonica, some greasy keyboard work and relentless stick work – to say nothing of Mike Campbell’s devastatingly cathartic solo. The second consecutive full-length project to feature Blair, who left as the Heartbreakers’ founding bassist following 1981’s Hard Promises, hailed a complete return to straight-ahead rock after a detour toward more blues-based sounds on 2010’s Mojo.No. 2. “Dreamville”From: The Last DJ (2002)The Last DJ sometimes used nostalgia as a weapon – in particular on its title track – as Petty lashed out at the changing times. “Dreamville” was different. A song that could have easily fit among the more personal moments on 1985’s Southern Accents, “Dreamville” traces back to a simpler time when a youthful Petty – found here buying guitar strings and listening intently to early rock ‘n’ roll – could focus on music, rather than the music business. He began this life of wonder at the Glen Springs city pool in his hometown of Gainesville. The goal was to tap into a sense of lost idealism that everyone could share, regardless of their backstories. Introducing “Dreamville” during a 2002 concert in Los Angeles, Petty said it took place “back when times were good – whenever that was.”No. 1. “Hungry No More”From: Mudcrutch 2 (2016)If Mudcrutch’s surprise 2008 debut seemed like the joyous first moments that surround a reunion, Mudcrutch 2 was the sound of perspective setting in. Their subject matter delved ever more deeply into roads not taken, coming to terms with life’s passages and the sweet reverie of memory. “Hungry No More,” the album’s soaring final number, puts period to a very grown-up record. Petty took chances here with the kind of mature subject matter that likely escaped the members of Mudcrutch as rough-housing youngsters – then wisely sat back as Campbell summed up his thoughts on an extended coda. It’s a richly rewarding experience, and final proof that Petty still had plenty to say.Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers: Where Are They Now?The surviving members continue to forge new paths. Gallery Credit: Allison RappRemembering Tom Petty