Search - Tom Petty & Heartbreakers :: Long After Dark

2001 HDCD Remaster Version Of A Forgotten 1982 Classic!

Mark Barry at Reckless Records, Lon | UK | 05/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Released in November 1982 "Long After Dark" seemed to slip through the cracks - no-one seemed to notice it - especially here in the UK - when it's actually a brilliant rock album with all the great Petty trademark hooks and catchy choruses. Tune after tune smacks you in the gob with their economy and brilliance - all of it is just great.



But the reason for this review - and it's pricey value on the open market of the CD hard copy - is that this issue is not the crap 80's CD initially issued, but the 2001 HDCD version (High Definition Compact Disc) - and the difference in sound couldn't be more pronounced.



Remastered by Joe Gastwirt at Oceanview Digital from the original analogue master tapes - the sound on this issue is just stupendous - clear, rockin' and so loud, you may have to turn the stereo down! A truly fantastic remaster job.



The booklet is ok - reproducing the lyrics the original inner sleeve had - and the back inlay picture is different to the 80's issue, but that's about it. Doesn't really matter that because the sound is just so gobsmacking.



An absolute blinder of an album - and not nearly as dated as so much Eighties cack is. Thoroughly recommended - even at a price."

Best Ever !

Iris523 | OH | 06/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If I choose "The Best of Tom Petty"; it would be this CD, really moves you..."

Tom Petty's Underated 5th.

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 07/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Four terrific albums and non-stop touring had done two things to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It had made them a first-class rock band with a distinct sound, and it had pushed them close to burnout. After the breakthrough of both Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, the backslide was inevitable, and "Long After Dark" was it.



In the old days of LP's with a side one and two, I remember wearing the A-side of this album to the groove. The first five songs are vintage Petty, with "Deliver Me" and "Change Of Heart" both songs that should have been hits. "One Story Town" is a classic rocker that would have fit on any previous Heartbreakers album, and "You Got Lucky" was probably the last gasp of Petty's 'new-wave' connection to the 80's. It would have made a full five star EP.



However, the second half of the album shows its wear and tear. Only the sardonic "The Same Old You" and the glorious "A Wasted Life" hold up with earlier material. The other three songs are a tad generic, with "Between Two Worlds" and "Straight Into Darkness" sounding like leftovers from better work. Still, Petty's off-line songs can still whup a mediocre band with a guitar string tied behind its back. Even a tossed of lyric (from "The Same Old You") can merit a smile:



"I remember you back in '72

with your David Bowie haircut

and your platform shoes."



It is one of the reasons why I feel that "Long After Dark" is unjustly under-rated. Petty had been on a hot streak for so long, that less than stellar material felt like a gigantic let down. To me, this was the final moment in Petty and the Heartbreaker's early chapter. The prolonged break between this album and the slick and more Southern Rockish Southern Accents marked a distinct and sharp divide in style. (Well, with Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) being a coda to that era.) It's still a superb album, and marks a transitional point in Petty's career."