To Petty’s credit, he’s always willing to try something new (see his mid-80s flirtation with the Southern rock sound, his wall-of-sound days working with Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne, and his 90s fling – including on this album — with keep-it-simple-stupid producer Rick Rubin). When asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack of the 1996 Jennifer Aniston movie She’s The One, he said why not, watched the movie and proceeded to go wild. When he came back with five new songs finished and more on the boards, the powers-that-be at Fox (the movie studio) and Warner (the record company) astonishingly agreed to do the logical albeit unorthodox thing, and make the soundtrack album and Petty’s planned new studio album one and the same.
The resulting album finds Petty and the Heartbreakers in fine form, revisiting his snarling, power-chording days on hard-rocking numbers like “Zero From Outer Space.” “Zero” and the tart “
Like “Dream,” the album’s big number, “Walls,” is presented here in two different versions, with the “Circus” version (guest starring Fleetwood
Finally, it’s worth noting that on this disc Petty curtailed his own songwriting excesses enough to include a pair of clever and distinctive covers, putting the indelible TP/Heartbreakers stamp on both Lucinda Williams’ “Change The Locks” and Beck’s “Asshole.”
She’s the One was an unusual chapter in Petty’s career, and it’s rather loose and messy in places with its multiple versions of songs and random studio noise between cuts, but those who take a chance on it will more than likely find it worth the risk. It’s actually one of his more consistent albums, and a worthy addition to his catalog.
