Echo
After collaborating on a variety of instrumentals and covers for the 1996 soundtrack to *She’s the One*, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers officially reunited with 1999’s *Echo*. The playing is more steady and grounded than it was in the 80s, and Rick Rubin (who produced Petty’s hit 1994 solo album *Wildflowers*) invests the recordings with warm, naturalistic tone. For years, the Heartbreakers hung tight to a basic rock ’n’ roll blueprint, but *Echo* brings into play new and different textures. Benmont Tench’s piano and organ work has always been the keystone in the band’s sound, but these songs give him the opportunity to experiment with other instruments, including clavinet and Chamberlain (a relative of the Mellotron). Rubin encourages the band to try new flavors, but he also brings out the old spirit. “Free Girl Now,” “Accused of Love,” “About to Give Out” and “This One’s For Me” recall the band’s signature sound without simply rehashing it. The vintage-sounding cuts sit comfortably next to future classics like “Counting On You,” “Lonesome Sundown,” “Swingin’,” and “Billy the Kid,” making *Echo* the perfect mix of tradition and inspiration.