It won't kill you to
watch our Flash movie.
{credits} |
|
TOM PETTY'S "HIGHWAY COMPANION" BURNS RUBBER WITH #4 DEBUT;
LEGENDARY ROCKER'S 18TH ALBUM WOWS CRITICS, AUDIENCES ALIKE
Rock icon Tom Petty's acclaimed new album, "Highway Companion," is celebrating a #4 chart debut as well as rapturous reviews. Meanwhile, Petty himself continues to celebrate 30 years as a recording artist with a massive, star-studded tour.
Produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO, The Traveling Wilburys), "Highway Companion" is the legendary singer-songwriter's third solo outing and 18th album overall. The disc's lead single, "Saving Grace" is currently #1 at Triple A and Top 30 at Mainstream Rock.
"Companion" has also won plaudits from critics, who have praised its "surefire hooks" (New York Times) and "instantly singable tracks" (Boston Globe) and deemed it "one of [his] finest albums" (Associated Press), "his most personal and heartfelt [work] to date" (Billboard), "a true return to form" (Entertainment Weekly, which awarded it an "A-") that "may be his best disc in years" (Washington Post).
In its four-star review, People singles out the album's "Square One" as "surely one of the most beautiful songs Petty has ever written." "Tom Petty has never made a bad album," opines Rolling Stone, adding, "'Highway Companion' is worth the trip."
It's been 30 years since Petty and his extraordinary band, The Heartbreakers, unleashed their debut disc, "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers." In the three decades since that auspicious arrival, Petty — both as a solo artist and as leader of the band — has sold 50 million records worldwide, earned 16 Grammy nods (and four trophies), been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, garnered multiple MTV Video Music Awards (including Video Vanguard honors), joined Hollywood's Walk of Fame and won countless other laurels. He has also sung and played beside his idols George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Lynne in the whimsical, chart-topping supergroup The Traveling Wilburys.
More importantly for posterity, however, Petty has bestowed upon the world such songs as "American Girl," "Refugee," "Breakdown," "The Waiting," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," "You Don't Know How It Feels," "Runnin' Down a Dream" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance," among countless others. Petty's musical integrity and craft, not to mention his seemingly effortless flair for rapturous hooks, have remained constant despite ever-shifting musical trends, and his multi-generational fan base continues to swell. In the words of Rolling Stone's Alan Light, "The man's consistency is pretty astounding."
Petty and The Heartbreakers will continue their phenomenally successful Highway Companion Tour through October, having already captivated sold-out houses at venues like Madison Square Garden and mesmerized a crowd of 80,000 at Bonnaroo. As part of its 30th anniversary celebration, the band has been joined by such luminaries as Stevie Nicks, the Allman Brothers, John Mayer, The Strokes, Pearl Jam and other guests. |
|
|
