Tom Petty Long After Dark CD

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (vocals, guitar); Benmont Tench (vocals, keyboards); Howe Epstein (vocals, bass); Stan Lynch (vocals, drums); Mike Campbell (guitar, organ).
Additional personnel: Ron Blair (bass); Phil Jones (percussion).
Recorded at Record Plant, Wally Heider's, and CA Crystal, Hollywood, California; Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Riding high on the back-to-back Top Five platinum hits Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, Tom Petty quickly returned to the studio to record the Heartbreakers' fifth album, Long After Dark. Truth be told, there was about as long a gap between Dark and Promises as there was between Promises and Torpedoes. There are a few new wave flourishes here and there, but the band hasn't really changed its style at all -- it's still Stonesy, Byrdsian heartland rock. As their first four albums illustrated, that isn't a problem in itself, since they've found numerous variations within their signature sound. With its swirling, minor key guitars, "You Got Lucky" is a classic and "Change of Heart" comes close to matching the peaks of Promises and Torpedoes. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Riding high on the back-to-back Top Five, platinum hits Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, Tom Petty quickly returned to the studio to record the Heartbreakers' fifth album, Long After Dark. Truth be told, there was about as long a gap between Dark and Promises as there was between Promises and Torpedoes, but there was a difference this time around -- Petty & the Heartbreakers sounded tired. Even if there are a few new wave flourishes here and there, the band hasn't really changed its style at all -- it's still Stonesy, Byrdsian heartland rock. As their first four albums illustrated, that isn't a problem in itself, since they've found numerous variations within their signature sound, providing they have the right songs. Unfortunately, Petty had a dry spell on Long After Dark. With its swirling, minor key guitars, "You Got Lucky" is a classic and "Change of Heart" comes close to matching those peaks, but the remaining songs rarely rise above agreeable filler. Since the Heartbreakers are a very good band, it means the record sounds pretty good as it's playing, but apart from those few highlights, nothing much is memorable once the album has finished. And coming on the heels of two excellent records, that's quite a disappointment. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
On his first four albums, Petty pulled off the impressive feat of starting out great and improving with each record. LONG AFTER DARK may not have extended that streak to five, but it came pretty damn close, and it's a solid, above-average offering that has more in common with the hard-rocking DAMN THE TORPEDOS than the more introspective, folk-tinged HARD PROMISES. Sonically, LONG AFTER DARK is flawless, it's the hardest Petty and company have ever rocked; Petty and Campbell's guitars would never sound this raw again (Petty had been listening to some AC/DC at the time, which obviously helped). Lyrically, the album is almost unrelentingly bleak, as Petty weaves tale after tale of hard luck and working men doomed to lives of tribulation. He's popmeister enough to keep it catchy, so you don't get bogged down by the weighty topics, and wise enough to disavow any Beautiful Loser claims ("I don't think pain is so romantic").Q (8/01, p.154) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The sound of water being expertly trodden...housing the exquisite 'You Got Lucky' and 'Finding Out'..."
CMJ (1/5/04, p.12) - Ranked #20 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1983".