Wildflowers [CD]

This 1994 album is packed with 15 quality tracks, totaling almost 63 minutes, showering Petty fans with an abundance of blessings. I believe You Don't Know How It Feels was the first single, but in my opinion this song pales in comparison to most of the other tracks collected here. Rocking tracks include You Wreck Me, the almost whimsical but undeniably fun Honey Bee, Cabin Down Below (espousing a driving beat with a slight country feel to it), and House in the Woods (get your Petty twang right here).

Time to Move On is, by lyrics and rhythm, a traveling song that hearkens to the ever-present open road to new experiences. To Find a Friend reminds me of Into the Great Wide Open from the album of the same name, but this song has a softer beat and a more emotional focus on the life-change being described; the chorus is as catchy as it is meaningful. Don't Fade On Me relies on minimalist guitar accompaniment to produce a song with many of the hallmarks of folk music, one with periodic touches of bluegrass-tinged twang. A Higher Place has the most foot-stomping energy of any song on the album, making it a song you will want to listen to over and over.

Some quite impressive tracks, such as the title track, feature a laid-back, soft style that contrasts significantly with earlier incarnations of Petty. It's Only a Broken Heart is a beautiful slow song that has Petty singing in a noticeably high register, one that does not allow for any of the nasal sounds Petty is known for. I've never heard another Petty song which compares to this one. Hard On Me is another slow, moving song with great lyrics and a wonderful sense of freely open vulnerability on Petty's part. Wake Up Time closes the album out in fine fashion. The piano plays a large part in this meaningful song about getting on with life after you realize your dreams are not going to come true. This song serves, to my mind, as a musical counterpoint to the maturity with which Petty has embraced his music and career at this point in his life.

I've saved the best for last, as two tracks on this album stand among the best of Petty's career. It's Good to be King is just a stellar track that describes life as it would be in a perfect world. Crawling Back to You is a song I love more each time I hear it; I think the lyrics to this song could have been better, yet it's one of those songs that have found a permanent slot in the CD player of my mind. Overall, despite a few weak lines scattered here and there, I can't help but believe that Wildflowers is Tom Petty's most impressive album by far.

What totally gobsmacked me was that it was released in 1994. It just doesn't feel eight years old.

Tom Petty has been around for a long time, and has come a long way from his origins as some sort of Floridan Suzi Quattro. This record came maybe five years after he hit the commercial stratosphere with Learning To Fly and Into The Great Wide Open, and clearly the Petty no longer feels the need to prove anything to anyone. This is a record for Tom Petty.

And it's a cracker: it's by turns gentle and pretty (Wildflowers), melodious (It's Good To Be King), an all-out rocker (Honey-bee), and a fine impression of Dylan (Don't Fade On Me). And these are just random highlights. The whole disc is strong, and its execution is flawless. Production is very natural indeed: hi-fi buffs will auto-excite at the tinkling acoustic guitars and warm snares - no hint of digital manipulation (which probably means its drenched in the stuff!); musos will delight in the subtle, simple clean lines of Mike Campbell, surely one of the most underrated guitar players around.

Nowadays Petty is an elder statesman of country rock, providing backing for Johnny Cash, and on the strength of this recording, it isn't hard to see why.