People & Places: In Concert
Malibu Surfside News - August 3, 2006
Rock legend and Malibuite Tom Petty recently recorded a live concert locally with his band the Heartbreakers. Pictured above are M. Cary O'Neal, Petty and Scott Wagenseller.
Tom Petty, "Highway Companion"
Review by Linda Gampert
Oregon Daily Emerald - Thursday, August 3, 2006
Grade: A
"Highway Companion" is just that. Put it in the CD player, kick back and drive on the open road. Petty's third solo album is a little less fantastic than the previous two, but don't be fooled. It's still a decent nod to bare-bones rock and roll. It's a simple album that does nothing new or daring but falls ack on what Petty does best and that's made great music.
Rolling Stone Magazine even admits, "In a career that has now reached its thirtieth year, Tom Petty has never made a bad album." And it's the truth. Unless one does not actually like Petty, then he has made a truckload of bad albums that just don't seem to stop.
One can easily picture Petty, guitar in hand, humming each one of these songs. Some things get better with age, some get worse, but Petty seems to stay about the same. "Highway Companion" is worth the drive to CD World.
CD Reviews: Petty CD is welcome 'Companion'
Review by PJ Levine
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - August 4, 2006
Tom Petty, "Highway Companion" (American): As an American boy raised on promises, Tom Petty has spent the last three decades on and off the road embodying the all-American search for a better life somewhere else.
As Petty and his band The Heartbreakers mark their 30th anniversary as recording artists, Gainesville's favorite son has released a new album of songs that both defy and acknowledge the passing of time. On the aptly-titled "Highway Companion," the head Heartbreaker is in a reflective mood, with mixed emotions about where he's been and what lies ahead.
Sounds: Tom Petty is showing his age on new disc
Review by Rod Lockwood
Toledo Blade - Sunday, August 6, 2006
Highway Companion | Tom Petty (American)
This isn't meant as an insult, just an observation that's relevant to Tom Petty's new solo disc:
He's getting old.
Perhaps it's stating the obvious, but there's a weariness to Petty's most recent solo album that creeps in between the lines, the sound of a 55-year-old man who's looking back rather than forward. With the Heartbreakers, Petty was always most comparable to Bruce Springsteen in terms of investing a jangly intensity to his work, but now he's a lot closer to Neil Young circa "Prairie Wind" -- a little creaky in the joints and tired around the eyes.
Tom Petty delivers the unexpected
By Michael D. Clark
Houston Chronicle - August 7, 2006
Stevie Nicks' guest appearance is just one of the night's many surprises
Long before Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers took the stage Saturday for a retrospective celebration of their 30 years together, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion had, for the first time this summer, that vibe that something special would happen.
Every beer run or bathroom break was made fast for fear of missing a great moment.
There were many of them.
The 20-song set list ran from 1977's American Girl to Petty's new single Saving Grace (from the just released solo album Highway Companion) and included an overflowing fountain of classic-rock covers, most rarely, if ever, played by Petty onstage.
In short: CD reviews in under 100 words
Review by Charley Reed
The Gateway - August 8, 2006
Tom Petty | Highway Companion | American
If Tom Petty's new album, Highway Companion, is any indication, he's not the kind of guy you'd want to ride with cross-country unless you plan on sleeping the entire way.
With tired lyrics and sluggish melodies, Petty's fifteenth full-length album is one that can only be recommended for longtime fans. Even though the name Tom Petty is close to many whose musical tastes were cultivated during 70s, 80s or 90s, Highway Companion leaves the question: why he's still making music? Oh, that's right... the money.
CD Reviews
Review by Sean Manning
The Daily Californian - Thursday, August 10, 2006
Tom Petty | HIGHWAY COMPANION | [American]
He may be a southern boy, but Tom Petty’s music has always been easy for Californians to call their own. From his instantly recognizable dude-drawl to his commanding yap, Petty’s voice is one for the beaches of Santa Monica, San Diego and anywhere else with a coast and a little golden sunshine. Now, with Highway Companion, Petty’s third solo album, the Gainseville, FL-born singer seems set to take his conquest of the Golden State inward—to the Interstate 5.
Tom Petty, Allman Brothers Band bring decades of music to live shows
By Regis Behe
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Thursday, August 10, 2006
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
When it comes time to discuss the best American musicians of the rock 'n' roll era, the usual -- and deserving -- suspects always come up. There are nods to Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash, the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen, and, of course, Elvis Presley.
Tom Petty's name is almost always conspicuous by its absence.
It's not that he's not appreciated or acknowledged -- you don't get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame merely because your band has been around for 30 years.
But Petty, who performs with his band the Heartbreakers on Wednesday at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, is never regarded as an innovator, someone who wrought a new sound or was responsible for a seismic change in the way music was made.
Perhaps that's a fair assessment; Petty's music is hardly ground-breaking, his sound an archetype of American rock 'n' roll. And that's the also the genius, the essential appeal of a body of work that has never strayed from its roots.
Tom Petty fans die hard: Star holds his musical edge over decades
By Isamu Jordan
The Spokesman-Review - Friday, August 11, 2006
Jeanette Ward, 43, had seen Tom Petty in concert once before.
It was in her hometown, Baton Rouge, La., when she was in high school. Petty was in his prime them, but Ward was blown away when she saw Petty at the Spokane Arena last week with her two teenagers.
Ward won a pair of front-row seats through a radio raffle (then bought a third seat). For her daughter, Alyssa, it made her first concert surreal.
"We were screaming at the top of our lungs," said Alyssa, 15. "I was so close my heart was racing."