Echo

Tom Petty & Heartbreakers - Echo

Echo
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Music CD Cover

Artist: Tom Petty & Heartbreakers
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1999-04-13
Music Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Soundtracks:
  1. Room at the Top
  2. Counting on You
  3. Free Girl Now
  4. Lonesome Sundown
  5. Swingin'
  6. Accused of Love
  7. Echo
  8. Won't Last Long
  9. Billy the Kid
  10. I Don't Wanna Fight
  11. This One's for Me
  12. No More
  13. About to Give Out
  14. Rhino Skin
  15. One More Day, One More Night

Free Music Notes for Echo

Free Music Review: Dark and Quiet, This is Petty at His Best
Hit: 5 Stars

I was very disappointed to read some of these reviews to find fans expressing distress over the album. I've grown up on Petty, and associate practically my whole childhood with "Wildflowers", which I considered to be his best album along with "Full Moon Fever". However, as I've gotten older, "Echo", a dark, distressing album that stems from Petty's divorce, has increasingly become my favorite Petty album. The lyrics continue to get better, whether deeper and more introspective ("Room at the Top") or just good old-fashioned storytelling ("Swingin'"). The music itself is much more despairing than the usual happy-go-lucky Petty gems (think "Free Fallin'" as opposed to "Lonesome Sundown"), with dark overtones seeping insidiously into every song, including the ones that aren't even meant to be so. All of the musicians display vast amounts of improvement and attempt (and generally succeed) to find some new tricks and thus stylistically speaking this album is quite different than the Heartbreakers' usual repertoire, making it very difficult for some die-hard Petty fans to stomach; however, it is in this musical uniqueness and Petty's own personal affliction that brings out the best in the Heartbreakers.

"Room at the Top"s quiet appreciation of solitude, mixed with a lower-neck solo by Mike Campbell, creates a laid-back, low-key atmosphere that generally is consistent throughout the album. "Counting on You" is a bluesy rocker that contains sneering vocals and more excellent guitar work. "Free Girl Now" is more reminiscent of early classic Petty, letting up on the melancholy mood for a brief jam session. "Lonesome Sundown" is a beautiful piano ballad complete with steel guitar handiwork and the first few inklings of a voice Tom Petty rarely uses, a voice that hints at deep emotion and quiet reflection that makes the song (and the album) a much more personal ride for both the bad and the listener. Following another song about loneliness, "Swingin'" attempts to lighten up the mood with another mid-tempo rocker, complete with harmonica and piano, but while the music is generally looser and more upbeat, it is a successful failure in said respect; its lyrics, like that of "Free Girl Now", display a sort of quiet attitude that frequents the album, in which Petty describes a feeling of resistance and liberation that seems to come from his own forced independence that also appears in the later "This One's for Me". "Echo" is a highlight track that is truly depressing. Its piano, acoustic guitar, and Petty's lower-register vocals provide an atmosphere that I can only assume is an angry, introspective song to Petty's wife that provides some of his most bitter and remorseful lyrics ever: "And I don't want to mean anything to you/and I don't want to tempt you to be true." The song builds and displays how while Mike Campbell can truly rock out, he also knows how to tone it down a bit in order to create a moving piece.

"Down But it Won't Last Long" is an upbeat song that contains a catchy chorus and a cool keyboard bit, creating a heavy atmosphere to a song describing a "Swingin'"-esque feeling of hitting rock bottom and yet making a comeback. The next two tracks are largely forgettable, as Petty's attempt to lighten it up a little bit grates against the feeling of the rest of the album, as I honestly don't believe Petty was feeling all that "lightened up" at that point in his career. "About to Give Out" redeems these two tracks as another straight-out rocker that hints at exhaustion with yet another catchy chorus. "Rhino Skin" is a dark take on life and the hardships endured, with a hauntingly beautiful solo at the end which appears to contain three guitars working wonderfully together. The lyrics are some of the darkest on the album: "If you listen long enough/you can hear my skin grow tough/love is painful to the touch/must be made of stronger stuff." However, the most brilliant song on the album is the closer, "One More Night, One More Day", a sad and absolutely beautiful ballad that slowly builds into one of the best solos Mike Campbell has ever created. The vocals are desperate, emotional, and hurt, and is Tom Petty at his best. The chorus is one of the most depressing pieces of music ever written, with Petty, raw and exhausted, admitting in a summation of the entire album "I keep breaking down, breaking down, you know." It is a moving track that shows how ironically tragedy can create genius.

While the album is generally considered one of his weakest efforts, Petty fans (and critics) should take into account the depth and sheer brilliance of the music and especially the magnitude of Petty's lyrical abilities. I recently saw the Heartbreakers in concert and was disappointed to find that Petty has seemed to disown this album and, more tragically, fans don't seem to care. This is a master at his absolute best.

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