Highway Companion

Highway Companion
Studio album by Tom Petty
Released July 25, 2006
Recorded Bungalow Palace and Shoreline Recorders, Los Angeles 2005-2006
Genre Rock
Length 43:56
Label Warner Bros., American
Producer Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Mike Campbell
Tom Petty chronology
The Last DJ
(2002)		 Highway Companion
(2006)		 Mudcrutch
(2008)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
The A.V. Club (B+)[2]
guardian.co.uk [3]
Jam! [4]
The Music Box [5]
Rolling Stone [6]

Highway Companion is the third solo album, and 14th overall, by American musician Tom Petty. It was first released in late July 2006 (see 2006 in music), and charted at #4 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was produced by former Traveling Wilburys bandmate Jeff Lynne, who also produced Petty’s highly-acclaimed first solo album, Full Moon Fever, as well as the Heartbreakers' next album Into the Great Wide Open. Petty released the album through Rick Rubin's American Recordings label and Warner Bros. Records, where Petty has had a record contract since his second solo album, Wildflowers (which was produced by Rubin). The tracks "Saving Grace" and "Big Weekend" were released July 4, 2006 on the iTunes Music Store. It ended up being Petty's only album for American Recordings, as that label moved to Columbia Records distribution in 2007; Warner Bros. retained the rights to Petty.

A streaming version of the album was available on numerous websites before its release. The iTunes release of the album contained extras: a live version of "Saving Grace", the video for "Saving Grace" and an interactive media booklet.

Contents

Special Edition

An expanded Special Edition of Highway Companion was released on June 5, 2007. This expanded edition included the original album unchanged, but added two new tracks and demos of "This Old Town" and "Big Weekend." The new tracks, "Home" and "Around the Roses," were recorded for the album in 2005, and were mentioned in Tom Petty's 2005 biography Conversations With Tom Petty, but remained unreleased before this edition. The leatherette board packaging also includes two postcards.

Critical reception

Although Highway Companion did not receive rave reviews upon its release, it was warmly received by critics with the average star rating for the album being 3.5 out of 5. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine does not like that some songs on the album seem to be made for the road while others are not, but he feels that Jeff Lynne's production on this album is different than on Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open, which appeals to him. Erlewine also feels that the album is darker than Petty's previous work, but it is still a "reliable" album.[1] Noel Murray of the A.V. Club thinks that it is Petty's fourth best album that he's made and that the album's title is appropriate.[2] Dave Simpson, in his review for guardian.co.uk, feels that the album is a good way to say goodbye from music,[3] although Petty did not go through with his retirement plans. Jam!'s Darryl Sterdan feels that Petty was taking his music "down a peg" and feels that the album shows Petty "aging graciously".[4] John Metzger's Music Box review of the album feels that the complaints that Petty sings about come across better on Companion than The Last DJ and that the album is no less powerful than his previous albums.[5] Alan Light of Rolling Stone says that although Highway Companion is not as good as Petty's two previous solo efforts, the album successfully combines the previous albums' styles and that the album is worth listening to.[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Tom Petty.

No. Title Length
1. "Saving Grace"   3:48
2. "Square One"   3:26
3. "Flirting with Time"   3:16
4. "Down South"   3:27
5. "Jack"   2:29
6. "Turn This Car Around"   3:59
7. "Big Weekend"   3:16
8. "Night Driver"   4:28
9. "Damaged by Love"   3:23
10. "This Old Town"   4:17
11. "Ankle Deep"   3:24
12. "The Golden Rose"   4:43
Total length:
 43:56
Special Edition bonus tracks
No. Title Length
13. "Home"   3:11
14. "Around the Roses"   2:58
15. "Big Weekend" (demo version) 3:04
16. "This Old Town" (demo version) 4:24
Total length:
 13:37

Musicians

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Austrian Top 75 Albums[7] 60
Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums[8] 72
Belgium (Wallonia) 100 Albums[9] 58
Canadian Albums Chart[10] 5
Finnish Top 50 Albums[11] 22
French Top 200 Albums[12] 155
German Albums[13] 12
Netherlands Top 100 Albums[14] 55
New Zealand Top 40 Albums[15] 13
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[16] 15
Swedish Top 60 Albums[17] 3
Swiss Top 100 Albums[18] 44
UK Albums Chart[19] 56
US Billboard 200[10] 4
US Rock Albums[10] 1

References

  1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Highway Companion by Tom Petty". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r843295/review. Retrieved July 12,2011. 
  2. ^ a b Murray, Noel (July 26, 2006). "Music Review: Highway Companion by Tom Petty". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/tom-petty-highway-companion,8844/. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (July 21, 2006). "Review: Tom Petty, Highway Companion". guardian.co.uk. Manchester, England: Guardian Media Group. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/jul/21/popandrock.shopping2. 
  4. ^ a b Sterdan, Darryl (July 28, 2006). "Album Review: Highway Companion by Tom Petty". Jam!. Canadian Online Explorer. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/P/Petty_Tom/AlbumReviews/2006/07/27/1705505-sun.html. 
  5. ^ a b Metzger, John (July 2006). "Review: Highway Companion by Tom Petty". The Music Box Vol. 13 (No. 7). http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2006/tompetty-highwaycompanion.html. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
  6. ^ a b Light, Alan (July 20, 2006). "Review: Highway Companion by Tom Petty". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/highway-companion-20060720. 
  7. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts. Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  10. ^ a b c "Highway Companion – Tom Petty". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/album/tom-petty/highway-companion/783195. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  11. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Finnish Charts. Hung Medien. http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  12. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Les Charts. Hung Medien. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Petty, Tom / Longplay" (in German). Music Line. Media Control Charts. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Petty%2CTom/?type=longplay. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  14. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  16. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  17. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  18. ^ "Tom Petty – Highway Companion (Album)" (ASP). Schweizer Hitparade. Hung Medien. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Tom+Petty&titel=Highway+Companion&cat=a. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 
  19. ^ "Artist Chart History: Tom Petty & Heartbreakers". The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/tom%20petty%20%26%20heartbreakers/. Retrieved July 2, 2011. 

External links

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Studio albums
Tom Petty solo
Mudcrutch
Live albums
Compilations
Videography
Production
Related articles