Highway Companion (2006)
1. Saving Grace
2. Square One
3. Flirting With Time
4. Down South
5. Jack
6. Turn This Car Around
7. Big Weekend
8. Night Driver
9. Damaged By Love
10.This Old Town
11.Ankle Deep
12.The Golden Rose
By the turn of the century, Tom Petty had become something of a rock and roll institution—albeit an institution that still bristled with enough spirit to make the title honorary rather than honorary in name only. Having once declared that he couldn’t imagine playing rock music into his forties, he found himself well past that marker by the time Highway Companion arrived in 2006. At 55, Petty was not only still active—he was sounding as self-assured and creatively vital as ever.
There is, however, an unmistakable sense of reflection woven throughout the album. The motif of travel—specifically, the open road and the act of moving forward while looking back—pervades nearly every track. The car, in this case, is less a vehicle than a metaphor, and the journey is one that spans decades of living, loving, and losing. For the lyrically inclined, there’s plenty to unpack. For everyone else, it remains a Tom Petty album through and through—tuneful, concise, and curiously comforting.
Jeff Lynne returns as producer, but in a more restrained capacity. Gone are the baroque production layers, the meticulously stacked harmonies, and the shimmering studio gloss that defined Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open. Instead, Highway Companion leans toward a more organic, spacious sound—quietly assured and occasionally stark. Petty handles most of the instrumentation himself, and while the absence of the full Heartbreakers lineup is nominally significant, in practice it’s business as usual. Mike Campbell is present, as ever; Benmont Tench is not, though his absence is barely felt.
The highlights are immediate and plentiful. Big Weekend and Saving Grace (the latter with a distinct ZZ Top swagger) offer the album’s most accessible hooks, while quieter numbers such as Square One and The Golden Rose anchor the record’s more introspective undercurrent. If there are moments that feel less essential—Turn This Car Around and Night Driver lean perilously close to tedium—they’re tempered by the brevity of the album. Unlike some of Petty’s more expansive late-period releases, this one clocks in at a manageable length, and the restraint is welcome. There’s no bloat here—just a focused, road-worn meditation from an artist still in full command of his voice.
Not released under the Heartbreakers moniker, Highway Companion nonetheless continues the long tradition of blurred lines between Petty’s solo work and his collaborative output. If anything, the names on the sleeve matter less than the fingerprints on the fretboard. This is a mature, reflective, and ultimately rewarding addition to an already formidable body of work—proof, once again, that Petty’s musical compass remained pointed true, no matter the decade.
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