Wildflowers

Tom Petty

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 1994)
• Original Release Date: November 1, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002MUN
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,702 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As you listen to Wildflowers, Tom Petty's first new album in three years and his first ever for Warner Bros., you may be struck by a certain quality, new for Petty but nonetheless familiar. The predominance of the twangy rhythm guitar; the high-pitched, nasal singing; the irresistibly catchy pop hooks; and the melancholy lyrics straining for a spiritual significance just beyond their grasp--all these elements make Petty sound as if he were a Beatle imitating Bob Dylan. Then you may realize that Wildflowers resembles nothing so much as a George Harrison solo album. That's not such a bad thing; Harrison (Petty's old bandmate in the Traveling Wilburys) has a knack for giving moody spiritualism a pop tunefulness. It's just that Harrison on his own is a second-tier rock & roll figure whose best work is long behind him, and that's pretty much the case with Petty as well. Only with appropriately reduced expectations can one enjoy Wildflowers for what it is. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's His Best, Folks, October 20, 2001

By	Ben C-F (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This is Tom Petty's finest album. He made it at a time when he realized he wasn't getting any younger, his midlife crisis work with Jeff Lynne past him, battling the end of his marriage; all those strange feelings were condensed and channeled through his songwriting, and the result was the magnificent WILDFLOWERS. It's Petty's first album produced by Rick Rubin (who had already lent his talents to the Heartbreakers' teriffic "Mary Jane's Last Dance" the previous year), and the earthy, crisp sound is a perfect compliment to both Petty's voice and his songs. The beauty of Tom Petty's music is both the casual ease he seems to effortlessly slip into, and the way his songs just manage to stick in your head. At first listen, you'll always find one or two songs that stand out, and certainly the others are good, but not necessarily great. But then, they get stuck. Try as you might, you simply can't get them out of your head. And it's at this point that you realize, all these other songs are just as great. And by that time, you realize just how beautiful the album is. WILDFLOWERS is no exception. The simple instrumentation (powered by Steve Ferrone's minimal drumming) hides the complexity of the work.

Lyrically, this is also Petty's strongest album to date. "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Hard On Me" deal with the pain of isolation, the fear of loneliness. Songs like "Only A Broken Heart" and the title track are almost reassurances, like he's saying it's okay to feel this pain, you're headed somewhere better. "A Higher Place" and "It's Good To Be King" have a twinge of cynicism beneath their ideologies, while "To Find A Friend" and "Crawling Back To You" are about the pain of a relationship (the latter especially touching). And in "Wake Up Time," a very fitting coda, Petty especially confronts his age, with wisdom, reflection, even a little pessimism and wonder ("You were so cool, back in high school, What happened?").

Musically, while most of the Heartbreakers did end up contributing a lot towards the album (certainly much more than on FULL MOON FEVER), this is a Tom Petty solo album, so it allows for more creative arrangements, and plenty of guest stars. Ringo Starr plays drums on "To Find A Friend," the wonderful slide guitarist Marty Rifkin is buried deep in the mix on "House In The Woods," and Petty himself even takes his hand at lead guitar on a couple of numbers. There are a few absolute get-yer-yayas-out jam tunes, "You Wreck Me" and especially "Honey Bee," sort of the sweatier, swampier second-cousin to "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Petty would continue to record teriffic music, more or less with his fellow Heartbreakers, but he'd never quite reach this level of sophistication and artistry again. A must-own.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who the F*** is Geoffrey Himes?!, February 2, 2005

By	Robert Workman (Saint Paul, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"It's just that Harrison on his own is a second-tier rock & roll figure whose best work is long behind him, and that's pretty much the case with Petty as well."

George's best work came out not too long before this and was succeeded by an equally towering achievement after he died. As for Petty, he's far shy from having one foot in the grave as a creative artist. Criticism is subjective, to be sure, but these comments are not only way off base they're offensive.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tom Petty - 'Wildflowers' (Warner Brothers), February 28, 2005

By	Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Tom Petty had apparenty put out a second solo effort,the follow-up to his honey of an lp 'Full Moon Fever'.'Wildflowers' has fifteen cuts,most of which carry their weight on the disc rather well.Tunes I found myself sort of tapping my toes to were the Petty-esque "You Don't Know How It Feels","Time To Move On",the Dylan-like "Honey Bee","To Find A Friend" and "Wake Up Time".Don't just assume this CD isn't going to be any good beacause the Heartbreakers aren't mentioned in the artist's name;this release rocks!In fact,I could see Petty including several of these songs in his live sets.Ever see Tom Petty&The Heartbreakers play live?They're not to be missed.Old fashioned well-written rock&roll,as with most Petty albums.A nice find.