Tom Petty: Highway Companion | American/Warner Bros | 2/5
By Dan Cairns
London Times - July 23, 2006

A musician with classics such as American Girl and Refugee to his name commands respect. But he also creates a level of expectation he has his work cut out to meet. And it’s a fact as unavoidable as it is sad that Tom Petty, who has penned some of the greatest yearning, jingle-jangle songs in the American rock canon, hasn’t rescaled the peaks of his early years, seeming instead to set up base camp in the foothills, where he’s churned out pale imitations. Nothing here disgraces his justifiably high reputation (Jack and Turn This Car Around are both lovely), but nor do any of the 12 Jeff Lynne-produced tracks come close to touching the TP spots of old.