10 Amazing Later Releases By Legendary Rock Acts

For all of the heartland rock that Tom Petty went through since 1976, there had never really been a dull moment. In between classic songs like American Girl and Refugee, Tom had to deal with a lawsuit that he had against his own record label, massive fights in the studio, and even someone trying to set his house on fire in the late '80s. Everything seemed to be on much more level ground in the '90s though, and this was where all of those hard times came back around.

Being free from his own label and now being a part of Warner Brothers, Petty's choice to hook up with Rick Rubin for Wildflowers made for some of the most organic sounding songs of his career. Although most of the album is credited to just Tom Petty, every one of the Heartbreakers shows up on here in some capacity, like the twinkling piano flourishes from Benmont Tench on the title track or the incredible slide guitar chops from Mike Campbell across songs like It's Good To Be King.

The core identity of Tom wasn't gone here by any stretch, but the sounds of grunge made him a bit of a godfather of the genre, never willing to back down in the face of defeat and always making songs that were from the heart rather than looking for the paycheck. After all of those hangups that got in the way back in the '80s, Wildflowers is still that same punk kid who drove out of Gainesville, only with a lot more road miles to account for.