Between my job and volunteer work it
ended up being a long day, but I’m getting this review in before it is over.
Disc 1072 is…Songs and Music from the Motion Picture “She’s the One”
Artist: Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers
Year of Release: 1996
What’s up with the Cover? A couple scenes from a movie
(less on that later), on either side of a shot of Tom doing what Tom does.
Also, a whole lot of yellow. That’s right, album cover, I called you yellow. Care
to make somethin’ of it?
How I Came To Know It: For the longest time I skipped
getting this record, thinking that because it was a soundtrack to a movie I’d
never seen, it wouldn’t resonate. Finally I bought it last year. Sorry, Tom – I
should’ve had more faith.
How It Stacks Up: I have sixteen Tom Petty albums, which I think
is all of them. I like them all but competition is fierce and “She’s The One” was
only able to land at number 12.
Ratings: 3 stars
Usually
when I buy a soundtrack it is because I heard the music while watching the
film, and having never seen “She’s the One” it was a bit weird reviewing the
record. I tried to just think of it as another solid Tom Petty album (which it
is) but I couldn’t help but wonder how these songs fit into a movie.
I have
deliberately decided not to find out. Whatever mysteries “She’s the One” the
movie will reveal to me will have to wait until I see it – this one is for Tom
and the Heartbreakers. I will say that I bet “She’s the One” is some kind of
romance or romantic comedy, because these songs are focused on relationships,
not all of them healthy.
“She’s
the One” borrows from a lot of different aspects of Petty’s music. It comes
immediately after Petty’s 1994 solo masterpiece “Wildflowers” and incorporates a
lot of the sparse and understated indie folk sounds of that record. However,
with the return of the heartbreakers the grime and dust of southern rock
returns with a vengeance and Petty seems equally willing to explore a blues
riff as he is a lilting melody.
Generally
I love when Petty showcases his range, but even though “She’s the One” is only
slightly overlong - 15 songs in 51 minutes – it feels disjointed. No doubt
being a movie soundtrack it had to cover a lot of emotional ground when telling
the story of…whatever the hell “She’s the One” is about. Let’s guess it is boy
meets girl/boy loses girl, boy meets girl again and it may or may not work out
before one of them moves to California. I mean, there is a song about going to
California. But I digress…
One of
the reasons I eventually bought this record was the presence of a cover of
Lucinda Williams’ “Change the Locks.”
The Heartbreakers do a solid version of it, but Petty’s vocal delivery is a bit
too “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
to make it feel as nasty and visceral as I wanted it to be.
Much
better are the original tracks “Walls”
and “Angel Dream” both of which have
multiple versions present on the record and were likely recurring themes in the
film. While I didn’t need a whole bunch of versions of both songs, it helped
that they were two of the best songs on the record.
“Angel
Dream (no. 4)” is a bit more up tempo, whereas “Angel Dream (no. 2)” is slower and stripped down. “Angel Dream (no.4)” is a rolling tune
best suited to thinking kind thoughts about the woman you love while looking
wistfully out a car window. “Angel Dream
(no. 2)” is more about looking out through a rainy window wondering when
that love is going to pull into the driveway. With songs like this, the movie
writes itself.
A
similar decision is made with “Walls”
where the “circus” version is a bit more jangly and up-beat, and “Walls (No. 3)” which feels thin and
drawn out, and fills the lyrics with a heartfelt resignation – like no one was
at fault, but things still didn’t work out.
Incidentally,
there is no sign of “Angel Dream”
nos. 1 and 3 nor does either “Walls”
nos. 1 or 2 make an appearance. They were either left on the cutting floor of
the studio, or preserved for movie-goers only.
More
than anything, “She’s the One” reminded me that even when he is constricted to
writing for some limited release art film, Petty is a master storyteller that
can knock out timeless melodies in his sleep. Whatever the hell the movie was
about, the film makers should feel damn fortunate they managed to get Petty to
do their soundtrack.
Tom
Petty was taken from us too soon, and while “She’s the One” isn’t his greatest
work, it was nice to hear his voice again so soon after he left us all and
headed out into the great wide open.
Best
tracks: Angel
Dream (No. 2 and No. 4), Hope You Never, Asshole, Walls (No. 3), California
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