Today, the Tom Petty Estate gifts fans of the dearly departed troubadour another dispatch from the vaults. For the the artist’s first posthumous offering since 2022—when Petty & the Heartbreakers’ sprawling Live at the Fillmore 1997 set emerged—the estate celebrates the Petty’s life and legacy with two rarities offerings from his heyday: A deluxe edition of 1982’s Long After Dark and Cameron Crowe’s mythical 1983 film Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party. The expanded edition of Petty’s groundbreaking fifth album is available now, and the film will launch in theaters worldwide on Sunday, Oct. 20–what would have been Petty’s 74th birthday.

Long After Dark carved out a bold new sound for the heartland rock forebearer, who embraced his own twist on the high-polish sound of the ‘80s with songs like the smash hit “You Got Lucky.” The band’s threshing, high-voltage sound on the record was defined in part by production from the legendary Jimmy Iovine, who said of his third and final collaboration with the band, “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!” 

Today’s repressing more than doubles the album’s original tracklist, tacking on a second disc with 44 minutes of previously unheard music that was left on the cutting room floor as the ensemble meticulously plotted its new sonic course. “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,” Petty said. “I left off…four things that I liked quite a bit. And probably a few more written that never even got in the door.”

Among those takes that never made it to print are new originals “Don’t Make Me Walk the Line,” and “One On One,” as well as new French TV versions of “Between Two Worlds,” “Straight into Darkness” and the Everly Brothers-inspired “Keeping Me Alive,” all of which are fitted to newly remastered live footage of the Heartbreakers performing at the Record Plant in 1982. Among the most affecting standouts are radiant covers of “Wild Thing” and “Never Be You,”  Rosanne Cash’s unforgettable hit co-written by Benmont Tench.

The entire project is newly remastered in Dolby Atmos sound from the original analog master tapes, and disc two is mixed by Petty’s longtime engineer Ryan Ulyate. A double LP pressing on 180-gram red splatter vinyl also features archival photographs and new liner notes by Tom Petty Radio host David Fricke, plus additional commentary by Iovine and Crowe.

Crowe’s Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party was filmed with the band during the studio finalization, promotion and touring cycle for Long After Dark in 1982. This intimate view from the celebrated director (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, Pearl Jam Twenty) was presented only once on MTV in February 1983, and has since risen to legendary status among longtime fans. Find tickets for its single day of screening in theaters around the world here.

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) is available now. Visit https://www.tompetty.com/ for more information, and read on for the complete tracklist and new music videos.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (@tompettyofficial)

Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition) – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers:
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”