More Music Vids 'Scream' For Attention
By David Bianculli
New York Daily News - Tuesday, June 20, 1995
Tom Petty, "You Don't Know How It Feels." Director Phil Joanou has come up with an ambitious yet understated video classic here. The entire video is one unbroken camera shot, with Petty singing in the foreground as a variety of actions and backgrounds float in and out of the frame behind him.
(Imagine Petty and the camera on a rotating pedestal, in front of a full circle of sets and activities, and you get the idea.)
In the background, we see a city skyline and a shooting range, circus performers and bank robbers, a belly dancer and human flowers. In the foreground, we see only Petty, Petty and, for one verse, a strikingly beautiful woman who steps up, commandeers the microphone from Petty and lip-synchs a verse before leaving again.
This cutting-edge concept is dulled, though, by MTV's aural editing. The line "let's roll another joint" is changed to something totally inaudible something like, "Let's roll another noin."
Music Review
By Regan Moran
The Klondike Sun - Thursday, July 13, 1995
Tom Petty | "Wild Flowers"
This CD woke me up out of a deep sleep and helped put me on the long open road to the land of the Midnight Sun.
So yeah, I do like it.
Get in your car, truck, D7 caterpillar, backhoe loader, canoe, dog sled, let the wind take your hair back (if you have any), throw in this tape with your free hand -- and crank those tunes!
It will help you get to where you have to be. You can say what you want about Tom Petty, but you have to agree this guy has staying power; he has consistently put out catchy hits for over a decade and "Wildflowers" is an album that will more than satisfy his loyal fans. Oh sure, there will be those discontented souls out there whining about how this release is just commercial rock, candy-coated tunes and it is true that some tracks like "You Don't Know How It Feels" have been flogged dead over the airwaves; but as usual the stations don't play all the songs and the best of the album remain unplayed on the big airwaves.
Petty Saunters Into S.L. For a Nostalgic Party
By Scott Iwasaki
The Deseret News - Friday, August 11, 1995
Celebrating his first bona fide appearance in Salt Lake City, Tom Petty had a party.
The near-capacity crowd sang and danced along to songs taken from a dynamic 20-year career. Petty, dressed in his trademark black-velvet jersey coat, slung his guitar low and sauntered across the stage while the rest of the Heartbreakers - drummer Steve Ferrone, bassist Howie Epstein, keyboardist Benmont Tench, harmonica huffer Scott Thurston and guitarist Mike Campbell - backed him up during an exciting 2½-hour set.
The stage was a shrine as candles flickered their illuminating rays during song-gap blackouts between hits such as "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "You Wreck Me."
The psychedelic southern twang of the older "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "I Won't Back Down" drew screams of approval while kids and parents chanted along to the nostalgic works.
Campbell was at his best, though he did look like a harried Bob Geldoff, and molded solo after solo during the songs' sharp mixes. Some reverb did bounce off the steel ceiling grids and the mix slopped up at first, but fans took no heed and focused on the stage.
Concert Review: Tom Petty's old tunes still dazzle
By Charlotte Latvala
Beaver County Times - August 27, 1995
BURGETTSTOWN -- After making rock 'n' roll records for nearly 20 years, Tom Petty is still something of an anomaly -- a performer who has enjoyed both consistent chart success and the good will of critics; a '70s favorite who is still making ever-evolving music instead of doing oldies tours; a star who seems completely oblivious to the trappings of stardom.
All of which makes for an interesting, if uneven, night of live music.
Petty and his longtime bandmates, The Heartbreakers, played for well over two hours Saturday night to a sold-out crowd of 23,183 at Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre.
Petty took the stage (nearly bare except for a few lighted candles -- he doesn't go in for flashy theatrics) with "Long Is a Long, Long Road" and swiftly segued into "You Don't Know How It Feels." With its sing-along chorus of "Let's get to the point, let's roll another joint," the latter had the audience hooting and waving its arms in the air.
Concert Review: Tom Petty shows Star Lake crowd it's good to be 'king of the road'
By Jeff Yoders
Observer-Reporter - August 28, 1995
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers matched Van Halen's feat of a month ago, with a sellout crowd of 23,183 at Star Lake Amphitheater. I guess it's "Good to Be King."
This was the first stop on the second leg of the band's Wildflowers tour, with the success of the 52-city first leg under their belts.
Pete Droge and the Perpetual Sinners opened up for Petty. Their folk and country blues sound complemented the headliner well. Droge had a Top 10 hit last year, everyone's favorite obsessive-compulsive melody from the "Dumb and Dumber" soundtrack, "If You Don't Love Me, I'll Kill Myself." Droge's best other songs were the similar "Too Good For You," and "Jerk Like You." Are you starting to see a pattern develop here? Poor Pete is just a sucker for unrequited love.
The band played most of the songs from Droge's first album, "Necktie Second," but they did show a few tracks from the not-yet-released second album. He played "Straylin Street" which mentions Pittsburgh in it. According to Droge, the song actually has these lyrics in it and he doesn't just insert the name of the town he's playing at every show. ("I wish they all could be...Pittsburgh...girls.")
Tom Petty set on way
Winnipeg Free Press - Saturday, September 2, 1995
TORONTO -- A five-CD Tom Petty box set is being finalized for release in Canada on Nov. 8 that includes 102 songs and six hours of music.
Featured are all of Petty's hits on MCA, from Breakdown to Mary Jane's Last Dance, plus 80 minutes of unreleased material that includes 34 songs, six of which were from his pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch.
The final hour on the set consists of various B-sides and rarities.
Timed to coincide with the CD set is the release of a home-video companion to Petty's 1994 five-million-selling Greatest Hits album.
Petty was king at Alpine Valley
By Andy Angeli
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - September 21, 1995
About halfway through Tom Petty's concert at Alpine Valley Saturday, he sauntered towards the mike and in a Southern accent playfully said, "I'll be thing when dogs fly." Needless to say, all dogs were flying high.
Alpine Valley in mid-September doesn't get much better.
A light chill blew from the crimson sky, casting one's attention to Alpine's beautiful surroundings. The sound quality at Alpine is phenomenal. All wood structures and Mother Nature's placement of the countless rolling hills are just a sampling of the many attributes that make Alpine the best concert facility in the area, not to mention one of the best in the nation.
Right from the night's first chord, Petty and the well-organized Heartbreakers played with the fun and freedom that the band has had for years.
Tom Petty pounds the Creek tonight!
By James Bass
The Robesonian - Wednesday, September 27, 1995
RALEIGH -- Tom Petty, the artist who started the 1995 Hardee's Walnut Creek season with a sold-out performance, will return Wednesday at 7:30, with special guest Peter Droge.
"Twenty thousand fans can't be wrong -- Tom Petty is hot," says spokespeople at Walnut Creek.
Petty's April 12 performance has prompted popular demand to bring the artist back for another show in support of his "Wildflowers" tour.
The singer's last performance was a success say Walnut Creek officials. Despite rain and adverse weather, Petty left the audience wanting more.
Although Petty is on his solo tour, he will be backed up by his long-time band The Heartbreakers, and special guest Peter Droge.
Still riding high on his latest release "Wildflowers," and its singles "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "It's Good To Be King," Petty will also perform such distinguished top ten hits as, "Don't Do Me Like That," "Refugee," "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' On A Dream."
For more information, call the MCI Concert Line at 1-800-48-CREEK.
Tom Petty's career continues to flower
By Prentiss Findlay
Charleston Post & Courier - Thursday, September 28, 1995
Tom Petty brings his music to a new generation on the tour for his critically acclaimed 1995 album, "Wildflowers," which comes to North Charleston Coliseum tonight.
Thew new album, the 11th of his career, is also a commercial success, selling more than 3 million copies in nine months.
Petty is at a mid-life crossroads these days, a 44-year-old singer and songwriter who has sold more than 40 million record worldwide.
Not bad for a kid from Gainesville, Fla., who grew up poor in a cinderblock house without air conditioning. There, he and his friends entertained themselves with bamboo spears they used to hunt crawfish in the sewer.