Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - She's the One (movie soundtrack) (Warner Brothers) After last year's rather disappointing solo effort Wildflowers, the king of twangy, countrified rock has returned with his band and a stronger work, the soundtrack for She's the One, another Generation-X angst movie.
Not that there is anything about the music to identify it as a movie score: it sounds simply like another Tom Petty record. Opening track Walls immediately confirms that he has not deviated from his usual sound - jangly guitars and pretty melodies are again the order of the day.
Zero from Outer Space sees him do his usual take on Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home-era sound - complete with Petty on harmonica - and the Heartbreakers carry it off with aplomb.
A straight cover of Beck's Asshole highlights what a great song it is, but also what shortcomings Petty's own lyric writing can have. On this album he too often resorts to predictable couplets, such as 'Oh darling too many words have been spoken/I don't want to get my heart broken', from Supernatural Radio.
Rick Rubin's co-production effort (along with Petty and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell) must have helped this album's polished sound, though it has just enough edge to appeal to those who like their middle-of-the-road rock to have a few potholes.
