Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…

#9 – Highway Companion – Tom Petty

Only three of Tom Petty’s 16 albums were solo releases while the other 13 were recorded with the Heartbreakers. Given that members of the Heartbreakers play on all three of the solo records, it’s arguably a meaningless distinction.

But whatever set apart those solo albums — creative control, general sound, studio atmosphere — it clearly made a difference. As much as I love Petty’s work with the Heartbreakers (including my favorite of his albums, Damn the Torpedoes), I have all three of his solo releases in my Tom Petty Top Five.

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