Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ album to be re-issued with unreleased tracks

An expanded, deluxe edition of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ ‘Long After Dark’ is on the way, and set to be released in October.

• READ MORE:  The Tom Petty NME obituary: 1950 – 2017

The new version of the 1982 album will arrive in stores next month, more than 40 years after it was first released.

Set to arrive via Geffen/UMe on October 18, the new variant will come as a double disc and contains seven recordings that remained unreleased up until now. These include Petty’s ‘Never Be You’, which became a chart-topping hit for Rosanne Cash in 1984, as well as ‘Don’t Make Me Walk the Line’ and ‘Ways To Be Wicked’. The latter was released as a single by Lone Justice in 1985.

The other bonus tracks include four songs that were filmed for a French TV Special at the Record Plant in Hollywood – the same site where much of ‘Long After Dark’ was recorded.

“Despite it being a golden era of The Heartbreakers playing at the height of their powers, it is widely known as the band’s most misunderstood and underrated success,” reads a press release.

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

Ahead of the album re-release next month, the fan favourite ‘Straight Into Darkness’ has been shared with a new video. Check it out above, and pre-order the album here.

Previously speaking about the material that went unreleased, Petty explained how he lost out to producer Jimmy Iovine during debates over the album’s direction.

“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,” the songwriter 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.”

The new version of the 1982 album will arrive as a double black vinyl, a triple-disc set containing 2 CDs and a Blu-ray audio disc with additional hi-res stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes of the album and bonus track, and more.

It also comes with remastered audio, plus liner notes from journalist David Fricke, and commentary from both Jimmy Iovine and filmmaker Cameron Crowe. Find the full tracklist and album artwork below.

The Tom Petty ‘Long After Dark’ Deluxe Edition tracklist is:

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.

In other Tom Petty news, earlier this year Dolly Parton shared a new rousing cover of his 1985 classic, ‘Southern Accents’, Post Malone and Eddie Vedder came together in Tennessee to perform some of his tracks, and the long-awaited ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ trailer was soundtracked by his song ‘Love Is A Long Road’.

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