2000s
The Petty Archives

TOM PETTY: Saving Grace (3:46)
Review by SP
Billboard - July 15, 2006

Producers: Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Mike Campbell | Writer: T. Petty | Publisher: Wixen American Recordings/Warner Bros.
Currently on tour with the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty is finally ready to share some new material. "Saving Grace" begins with a spare, Bo Diddley-style blues that builds to a roadhouse shuffle. The guitars are kept deliciously gritty, giving the song a fresh garage-like feel, and Petty's stoner vocals are as laid-back and nostalgic as ever. A classic-sounding ode to restlessness, "Saving Grace" is the perfect prelude to "Highway Companion," Petty's first solo album since 1994's Rick Rubin-produced "Wildflowers," and his first for Rubin's American Recordings label. The cut is off to a kick-start at triple-A radio; more important, it proves that Petty still knows how to rock.