Music is a matter of taste, and this next album very much suited mine. So much so that I'd have a hard time understanding how anyone couldn't enjoy it.
Of course, you are free to disagree - there is no accounting for some tastes. How else can we explain that somewhere out there someone exists who believes that Nickelback is a talented rock band? After all, there are people who thinks Tim Tebow is a talented quarterback. Maybe there is even someone who thinks both things, although the mind recoils in horror at the possibility.
If you prefer your rock and roll to be good, then I invite you to read the following review, which is a discussion of one of the best. If you'd prefer to watch the best in quarterback play, then I applaud your interest in sports, but this isn't the blog for you - go to youtube and type in "Dan Marino."
Disc 385 is...Wildflowers
Artist: Tom Petty
Year of Release: 1994
What’s Up With The Cover?: A quartet of simple photos relating to the studio or the road, set tastefully in a light brown background. In the bottom left hand corner is some sort of ‘wildflower’ logo, I presume. The separate parts of this cover aren’t much to look at, but they work well together.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a Tom Petty fan for many years, but I bought this album after seeing that video for “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and wanting to hear that excellent song without the annoying censoring of the word ‘joint’ in the chorus.
Of note, I bought this album in A&B Sound’s satellite store for used CDs. A&B Sound used to be on Yates Street in downtown Victoria, and sold primarily new records. For a brief period they had a used section around the corner where the prices were super cheap, presumably to undercut resale rivals like Lyle’s Place. If this was the plan, it didn't work, as Lyle’s Place is still there and A&B Sound has disappeared – used section and main store alike.
How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen Tom Petty albums (11 with the Heartbreakers and three solo, including this one). I spent a bit of time before sitting down to write this looking for which of the other thirteen records were better than “Wildflowers” and came up empty. It is the best.
Rating: 5 stars.
On my way home from work today the sun was out, and the cherry trees along Broughton Street were in full bloom, I walked home, staring up at them, smiling widely and wondering what had made the moment so perfect. A big part of it was Tom Petty’s voice coming through the headphones:
“You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free.”
“Wildflowers” is a record that puts you in that thoughtful, relaxed head space. It is accessible music, while sounding fresh and it is insightful, but avoids being preachy. This is music for cherry blossoms and unhurried walks. It is a record that inspires you to tip your hat to strangers and mean it. I did it a couple of times before I reached my door.
The magic starts, as it usually does, with the songwriting. Most of the songs are Petty’s solo creations, although two (“You Wreck Me” and “Don’t Fade On Me”) are collaborations with longtime Heartbreaker and guitar master Mike Campbell.
The range of songs is exceptional, with gritty blues rock numbers like “Honey Bee,” and “Cabin Down Below,” atmospheric slower numbers like “It’s Good To Be King” and “Don’t Fade On Me” and up-tempo and thoughtful pop music like the title track and “You Don’t Know How It Feels.”
Sometimes a record can suffer from having all the songs sound too similar, with the result being that no single tracks stand out. Every song on “Wildflowers” is distinctive, yet the various styles all fit together seamlessly. These are fifteen great singles, but together they are more than that – they are a classic record.
At this point clever readers will note there are 15 songs on “Wildflowers,” breaking my cardinal rule that 14 songs should be the maximum for one record. In fact, on my first listen through I was convinced I’d find a song that stood out as a weak link, and was already pre-planning how I’d point to it as wrecking the perfect record experience, so I could knock this down to 4 stars.
My initial target: “Don’t Fade On Me” at Track 8, followed by “Hard On Me.” Similar titles, similar tempos, surely one of these songs could go. After a couple of listens, though, it couldn’t be done.
“Don’t Fade On Me” sounds like a song about saying goodbye to a sick friend, and its opening lines:
“I remember you so clearly
The first one through the door
I return to find you drifting
Too far from the shore.”
This had me thinking – of all things – of my sick cat, Inigo. I’d be very surprised if Petty was writing about his sick cat, but good art reaches across a divide, and finds shared emotional experiences in very different circumstances.
“Hard On Me” couldn’t be more different, an angry song lodged in a quiet tune, about someone not being there for you when you need them, with Petty half angry, half hurt, singing “you want to make it hard on me.”
And these two songs I targeted because they are the weaker songs on the record.
Most of the other songs are even better, with the first five tracks exceptional. The idyllic beauty evoked by “Wildflowers” is followed by the big hit, “You Don’t Know How It Feels” a song about alienation from one another that is so infectious it will have strangers singing out loud together when played. Piled on after these is a perfect road song (“Time To Move On”) a classic rock song (“You Wreck Me”) and a sly little number about the dangerous love of charismatic power (“It’s Good To Be King”).
Through it all, Petty’s voice has never sounded so good: clear and strong, and sweet in the higher register on the slower songs and rocking hard on the grittier tracks. The production is exceptional – another display of audio mastery by the great Rick Rubin.
“Wildflowers” is a modern classic, which consistently gets chosen for road trips, game nights and every other music-listening opportunity in my life. It is great stuff even if you’re not doing anything other than staring up at the cherry blossoms with a stupid grin on your face.
Best tracks: All tracks, but some of my personal favourites are: Wildflowers, You Don’t Know How It Feels, Time To Move On, A Higher Place and Crawling Back To You
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