Wildflowers

Tom Petty’s second solo album features Rick Rubin's modest production style. Coming after Petty's animated and densely harmonic work with Jeff Lynne, Wildflowers has a distinct sound of its own that works well with another strong batch of Petty tunes. All Heartbreakers except drummer Stan Lynch appear on the album, with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Campbell coproducing and cowriting the essential “You Wreck Me” and “Don’t Fade on Me.” Petty uses the solo route this time to strip down the sound in places where a full band would be overkill. The title track is a brilliant exercise in economics and further evidence of Petty’s ingenious vocal phrasings. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” became the album’s key single, and its arrangement is as smart as the song itself. In fact, much of Petty’s songwriting has benefitted over the years from a solid backing band and producers (including himself) who have best understood how to turn his simple, effective rock ’n’ roll songs into pop singles that are as exciting in their era as the heroes Petty looked up to were in their eras.