Show me a man who doesn’t like Tom Petty and I’ll show you a man with no soul.
From Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to the all star band Traveling Wilburys, the earnest rock legend has amassed an impressive body of work spanning thirty years, in which tales of broken hearts, social injustice, and corporate greed have been wrapped in a melodic tapestry of traditional instruments and modern production.
Highway Companion is his third solo album and was produced by Jeff Lynne, Petty’s long term collaborator and former Wilburys bandmate.
“It’s just a really nice collection of songs”, Petty has said of the album. “I think it has an underlying theme of time and what it does to you.”
They say:
Tokyo Times: “A highly evocative album.”
CD News: “He’s at the top of his game.”
We say:
Highway Companion contains some of Petty’s finest work since his soundtrack for She’s the One, a wandering spirit yearning for higher ground in these soulless times while not neglecting its humble origins.
Highlights include the John Lee Hooker blues swagger and fairly skeletal production of ‘Saving Grace’ in which Petty races across a biblical wasteland; the acoustic rock of ‘Flirting with Time’, which finds the old school rocker in a place where coyotes can’t survive and his own mortality is staring right at him in the rear view mirror; and ‘Night Driver’, wherein a heavy eyed rhythm is revived with splashes of electric guitar and electric piano.
There have been whispers from Petty’s camp that Highway Companion may be his final album. If this turns out to be true, then ‘The Golden Gate’ is a fitting swan song to an album and calling crammed with lyrical insight, refreshing intimacy and remarkable melodic beauty. “Goodbye golden rose” indeed.
Like this? Try these:
Roger McGuinn – Peace on You
Bob Dylan – The Essential Bob Dylan
Frank Black – Fastman/Raiderman
RELEASED
24th July 2006
LABEL
Warner
POSTED...
Fri 21 Jul 2006 at 8:35am
