Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers news

A new deluxe edition of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 1982 album, Long After Dark, will be released via Geffen/UMe on October 18. Pre-order/pre-save here. The Petty Legacy archives will share previously unseen newly remastered film and audio from 1982 to 1983 this year, beginning with a new video for the French TV version of “Straight Into Darkness” featuring footage of the band performing at the Record Plant by director Alan Bibby—watch here and listen here.

“There was some music recorded for Long After Dark that didn’t get on the record, that I thought would’ve made it a better album,” said Tom Petty in a past interview. “I left off…four things that I liked quite a bit. And probably a few more written that never even got in the door.”

Looking back on their third and final album together, legendary rock music producer Jimmy Iovine reflects, “Long After Dark, we thought we had it. Sounded like Positively Fourth Street, sounded like one of those records, you know. By the way, I think it is!”

The album features rock ballads and guitar anthems backed by The Heartbreakers, including founding members Mike Campbell (lead guitar), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Stan Lynch (drums), plus the then-new addition of Howie Epstein on bass and backing vocals.

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) will feature the songs that were lost in the debate over the album’s original direction such as Petty’s version of “Never Be You”—which was a #1 country hit for Rosanne Cash, “Don’t Make Me Walk the Line,” and an up-tempo version of “Ways To Be Wicked,” which was previously covered by Lone Justice, recorded at Applewood Studios in Denver, Colorado. Many of the additional tracks are taken from the French TV sessions, including acoustic songs “Turning Point” and the Everly Brothers influenced “Keeping Me Alive.”

Long After Dark went Top 10 in Billboard, was certified gold and spawned “You Got Lucky,” “Change of Heart” and “Straight Into Darkness.” 

“It’s a good little rock & roll record” but also “a tough record because I never knew if we were making the right decisions about songs,” Petty shared in Paul Zollo’s interview anthology book, Conversations With Tom Petty.

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) features the newly remastered original album from the original analog master tapes, plus 12 rediscovered bonus tracks newly mixed by Petty’s longtime engineer Ryan Ulyate, liner notes by David Fricke, with commentary from Jimmy Iovine and Cameron Crowe and archival photographs by Dennis Callahan, Neal Preston and Aaron Rapoport.

The set will be released in a variety of configurations: a limited edition TomPetty.com 2LP pressing on 180-gram red with black splatter color vinyl, housed in a numbered foil tip-on jacket with an exclusive lithograph; a 3-disc set featuring 2 CDs, and a Blu-ray audio disc with additional hi-res stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes of the album and bonus tracks, also mixed by Ulyate; a variety of additional vinyl options includes a 2LP on 180-gram black vinyl; a limited edition 1LP 180-gram turquoise color vinyl pressing (main album only) with double-sided lithograph of Blaze Brooks’ illustrations (available exclusively at indie record stores). The album will also be available at all streaming, download and HD audio download partners.

For more info, complete track listing and to pre-order 2 LP versions and 3-disc set visit the official Tom Petty store.

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. A One Story Town

2. You Got Lucky
3. Deliver Me
4. Change Of Heart
5. Finding Out
6. We Stand A Chance
7. Straight Into Darkness
8. The Same Old You
9. Between Two Worlds
10. A Wasted Life

DISC 2

1. Stories We Could Tell (French TV)
2. Never Be You *
3. Turning Point (Original Drums Version)
4. Don’t Make Me Walk The Line *
5. I’m Finding Out (French TV) *
6. Heartbreakers Beach Party (Extended Version)
7. Keeping Me Alive (French TV)
8. Straight Into Darkness (French TV)
9. Ways To Be Wicked (Denver Sessions) *
10. Between Two Worlds (French TV) *
11. One On One *
12. Wild Thing *

* previously unreleased