Home
Wildflowers & All the Rest
Wildflowers & All the Rest in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $17.59
Loading Inventory...
Size: CD
Following a half-decade of collaborations with the ornate
Jeff Lynne
,
Tom Petty
decided it was time to strip things back for 1994's
Wildflowers
. He swapped
Lynne
for
Rick Rubin
, the
Def Jam
founder who started cultivating a production career outside of hip-hop and metal in the early 1990s, then hunkered down with a team of musicians anchored by his longtime lieutenants
Mike Campbell
and
Benmont Tench
. Together, they achieved a sound that was lean and sinewy, fulfilling the goal of getting
Petty
back to the basics, but the singer/songwriter wrote too much material for a single album. After toying with the idea of releasing a double CD,
whittled
down to a single disc that ran the length of a double album, a considerable indulgence for a rocker who usually restrained himself to a tight 40 minutes (or, on the case of the first two
Heartbreakers
albums, a quick half hour). The extra space allows
to stretch out and breathe, to spend as much time strumming sun-kissed folk tunes as he does rambling through ramshackle rockers and heavy-footed blues.
The Heartbreakers
specialized in clean, efficient rock & roll, and while this solo project echoes their sound -- how could it not with
Campbell
Tench
aboard --
is distinguished by its casual gait. Whether it's the highway anthem "You Wreck Me" or the stoner shrug of "You Don't Know How It Feels," the performances benefit from this space to breathe, while the larger canvass helps steer attention to the character sketch of "To Find a Friend," the sardonic wit of "It's Good to Be King," and the bittersweet undercurrent of "Crawling Back to You." Other, earlier albums provide a greater rock & roll wallop, but thanks to its extra space,
captures the full range of
as a singer, songwriter, and rocker. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Jeff Lynne
,
Tom Petty
decided it was time to strip things back for 1994's
Wildflowers
. He swapped
Lynne
for
Rick Rubin
, the
Def Jam
founder who started cultivating a production career outside of hip-hop and metal in the early 1990s, then hunkered down with a team of musicians anchored by his longtime lieutenants
Mike Campbell
and
Benmont Tench
. Together, they achieved a sound that was lean and sinewy, fulfilling the goal of getting
Petty
back to the basics, but the singer/songwriter wrote too much material for a single album. After toying with the idea of releasing a double CD,
whittled
down to a single disc that ran the length of a double album, a considerable indulgence for a rocker who usually restrained himself to a tight 40 minutes (or, on the case of the first two
Heartbreakers
albums, a quick half hour). The extra space allows
to stretch out and breathe, to spend as much time strumming sun-kissed folk tunes as he does rambling through ramshackle rockers and heavy-footed blues.
The Heartbreakers
specialized in clean, efficient rock & roll, and while this solo project echoes their sound -- how could it not with
Campbell
Tench
aboard --
is distinguished by its casual gait. Whether it's the highway anthem "You Wreck Me" or the stoner shrug of "You Don't Know How It Feels," the performances benefit from this space to breathe, while the larger canvass helps steer attention to the character sketch of "To Find a Friend," the sardonic wit of "It's Good to Be King," and the bittersweet undercurrent of "Crawling Back to You." Other, earlier albums provide a greater rock & roll wallop, but thanks to its extra space,
captures the full range of
as a singer, songwriter, and rocker. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Shop Similar Products
