Consistency stood out as one of the defining characteristics of Tom Petty’s career. You could count on Petty delivering the goods whenever he came out with a new release. That continued even into the new millennium.
Videos by American Songwriter
Petty released six albums after 2000. That includes three with the Heartbreakers, one as a solo act, and two with Mudcrutch. Here’s one slow song from each that displays his immense talent as a writer and performer!
“Like A Diamond” from ‘The Last DJ’ (2002)
Fed up with generic radio formats and the impact of big business in general on independent entities, Tom Petty came out firing with The Last DJ in 2002. Some of the songs about the industry come off as scolding. But he balanced those out with some nice mid-tempo and slow songs on the album. “Like A Diamond” emerges as the best of the ballads on the album. It features a stately melody and evocative lyrics about a rare girl.
“Damaged By Love” from ‘Highway Companion’ (2006)
After Tom Petty worked pretty heavily with Jeff Lynne in a stretch of about five years in the late 80s and early 90s, including a solo album, a Heartbreakers’ album, and two LPs with The Traveling Wilburys, the two took a hiatus from working together. Once reunited on Highway Companion, they picked up where they left off. Lynne’s harmony vocals add a nice touch to “Damaged By Love”, a short, somber track about a girl let down by relationships of all kinds.
“House of Stone” by ‘Mudcrutch’ (2008)
Tom Petty’s decision to reunite Mudcrutch allowed him to blend in as a band member a bit more than he ever could with the Heartbreakers. Even so, he still ended up doing the bulk of the writing and singing. The songs he delivered on their comeback album tended to be a bit looser and more ramshackle than what many were accustomed to hearing from him. “House Of Stone”, a funny track about a ne’er-do-well narrator trying to win over a chaste woman, is emblematic of that.
“Something Good Coming” from ‘Mojo’ (2010)
Mojo let Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show off their chops on a batch of songs that mostly stuck to the heavier side of the blues. It’s doubtful that the band ever rocked harder in their career. But they also eased back on the throttle occasionally to allow Petty’s lyrics to shine. “Something Good Coming”, the penultimate track on the record, lets him get inside the skin of a character trying to stay optimistic in the face of mounting problems.
“Shadow People” from ‘Hypnotic Eye’ (2014)
Tom Petty’s final album with The Heartbreakers mostly stuck to the vein of Mojo, with moody, bluesy rockers dominating the proceedings. The final track, “Shadow People”, lets the music breathe over more than six minutes. In the lyrics, Petty tries to make sense of the way that people get unmoored from society. He doesn’t pretend to know the answers, but his exploration is quite powerful just the same.
“I Forgive It All” from ‘2’ (2016)
As it turned out, Tom Petty’s final album would be one more with Mudcrutch. He was even more generous on their second LP in terms of divvying up the songwriting and singing duties. But he takes center stage on “I Forgive It All”, the album’s most moving song. The beautiful ballad could only have come from someone who’d lived through a lot of pain, realizing that holding grudges isn’t worth it in the end.
Photo By Rick Diamond/Getty Images
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