Tom Petty grows with Wildflowers
By Shereen Kinney
The Racquette - March 23, 1995
You don't know how it feels to endure the success an artist like Tom Petty has, but you can experience a fine product of his which exemplifies his great talent and mastery of creativity.
Wildflowers, the latest from Petty, could be considered a 15-track signature of the singer's self and musical expertise. From ballads to hard hitting cuts, Tom Petty hides nothing on his latest Warner Brothers release.
Tom Petty Keeps on "Rolling"
By Richard Vergara
The Stony Brook Statesman - Thursday, March 23, 1995
Tom Petty has been putting out great songs since the mid-seventies. From his 1976 self-titled debut album that featured one of his biggest hits, "American Girl," to his Greatest Hits record in 1993 which produced another successful hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance" -- Petty has never let his fans or the public down.
I say this because you do not have to be a long-time fan of Tom Petty to enjoy much of his music. His singles are usually radio friendly enough for those people who enjoy listening to not only the pop radio stations, but the classic rock stations, easy listening stations, and of course MTV.
Petty and His Heartbreakers Deliver No-Frills Classic Rock
By Frank Scheck
The Christian Science Monitor - March 27, 1995
NEW YORK | TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS | At Madison Square Garden
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is one durable group: It released its first album nearly two decades ago (for a rock band, that's more like two centuries). Petty, with and without the Heartbreakers, is still making great music, as is evidenced by his recent album "Wildflowers." The record is officially a solo effort, but most of the band plays on it. The group is currently on a nationwide sold-out concert tour, which continues throughout the summer, playing in outdoor arenas and amphitheaters.
The musician began his New York show with "I'm Tom Petty, and these are the Heartbreakers" -- a standard introduction that seems unnecessary, but its modesty befits a performer who has been writing and recording great rock songs, without flashiness or scandal, for as long as he has.
Petty's Rocking The Joint (joint?)
By Roger Catlin
Hartford Courant - March 30, 1995
He's an elder statesman now, a revered figure in rock. Alternative rockers respect him; classic rockers are thankful he's still around.
So it's a little strange to see Tom Petty, at 44, in a little hubbub involving drug references and censorship.
Petty received a Video Vanguard award, recognizing lifetime achievement for his work in rock and video, at the MTV Video Music Awards last year. His hangdog mug is one of the most familiar on the music channel. His career predates MTV by a few years, yet he has been a constant on the network, boasting a longer staying power than other onetime video stars, like Ric Ocasek.
Tom Petty Reaffirms His Universal Appeal
By Roger Catlin
Hartford Courant - April 2, 1995
It may have been a tactical error to book Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in the modestly sized New Haven Coliseum Saturday night.
Sure, the band drew a smaller crowd last time it played the larger Hartford Civic Center, but Petty, at 44, is reaching a new creative and commercial peak in his long career.
Not only was the New Haven show sold out weeks in advance, young people at the show who were singing along to the new songs weren't as familiar with such workhorses as "Refugee," but appeared to like them all the same.
It was a strange and wonderful thing to behold, renewing one's confidence in the universal appeal of the music. Amid the scads of teenagers and rows of dedicated old fans were whole families: grandfathers, maybe, all the way down to grade-school kids.
As the poet Chuck Berry once proclaimed: "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' roll!"
Tom Petty flies high on 'Wildflowers' tour
By Jerry Lombardo
Meriden Record-Journal - April 4, 1995
NEW HAVEN -- It's been more than three years since the last Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tour.
A sellout crowd that varied widely in age from teens to people in their 40s, couldn't wait for Petty to take the stage Saturday at the New Haven Coliseum.
The staging for this tour contrasted starkly from the last. The gigantic gnarly-limbed tree and crystal chandeliers were replaced by a simple, satin curtain backdrop, and dozens of plain, lit candles.
He won't back down
By Dan Tobin
The Tufts Daily - Thursday, April 6, 1995
"Hello. My name's Tom Petty, and these are the Heartbreakers. We'll be providing the musical entertainment for the rest of the evening."
For a musical superstar to use such a minimal introduction for a concert demonstrates just how down-to-earth Tom Petty is. Dressed in back jeans, an untucked patterned shirt, and Chuck Taylors, Petty looked more like a college student than a 20-year veteran of the music business as he ripped through almost two hours of his greatest hits at Tuesday's Boston Garden show. The set list was mostly predictable, but to leave out any of the songs he played would have been a crime.
For Tom Petty, the music remains the message
By J.D. Considine
The Baltimore Sun - April 7, 1995
Say the phrase "rock star," and what comes to mind is fame and fortune, glamour and glitz, big egos and splashy behavior. Think of Tom Petty, however, and none of that seems to apply.
Where other rock stars are happy to contribute to the cult of personality, Petty seems almost a cipher. He doesn't court publicity, rarely gives interviews (he has declined all requests during his current tour) and is seldom seen hanging out at hip nightspots.
As a result, about the only thing most fans really know about him is his music -- and that's one reason fellow musicians admire him so. "I'm a big fan of his," Sheryl Crow said recently.
"For a lot of reasons. Certainly the music and the songwriting and stuff. But I've never seen anybody who can consistently put out good records, have success with them, and not be in the media eye all the time. There's never any big controversy or any big hype around him. He comes out, he puts out something good, he puts out a couple of good videos, and his career's consistent.
"I have a lot of respect for a career like that."
Tom Petty At The Spectrum With New Hits, Seasoned Gems
By Dan DeLuca
The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 10, 1995
With nearly two decades' worth of hits under his belt, Tom Petty has earned his place as the most prominent veteran male American rocker around. Compared to Bruce Springsteen or even John Mellencamp, Petty's work has often seemed slight and unwilling to risk seriousness. But while his contemporaries have dawdled, Petty keeps building rootsy, chiming tunes around sturdy choruses that are easy to sing along with, and scoring one MTV hit after the next.
At the Spectrum on Friday night, Petty pulled top-shelf hits off his current album, Wildflowers (American), and reached back to the late '70s for such still-fresh gems as "Listen to Her Heart" and the prototypically Byrdsian "American Girl." He's never been a dynamic live performer, but Petty's now able to galvanize an arena crowd with just the shouted chorus of ''Free Fallin' " or a solo version of "The Waiting."