Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-Long After Dark (1982)


 
Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Title: Long After Dark

Label: Backstreet Records

Format: LP

Cat #: BSR-5360

Year of Release: 1982

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1982 Promo Limited Edition Premium Pickneyville Pressing

Listed Condition: VG+/VG+

Sell Date: 4/6/22

Sell Price: $12.99

Discogs Last Sold: NM/VG+ $11.95

Low: $3.00 VG/F

Median: $11.00

Average: $11.67

High: $29.99  NM/NM

Current low price: VG/VG $7.00

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 89

Have/Want: 7478/541

Where Sold: Bellingham, WA

Time it took to sell: 7 years

Where and When Bought: flea market Worcester end of 1982 $3.00 

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A-

Sad To See It Go: No

Chock full of hits this one, yet it doesn't feel played out the way some Petty Greatest Hits do.  I bought Long After Dark used at a flea market with records at the end of 1982 and was quite happy to find such a new album at the time.  I'm trying to think of a Tom Petty record I had before this one but it's a mismash in my mind because I took Hard Promises out of the library and probably Damn The Torpedoes also.  I had a complete collection bought used by the time Southern Accents came out, which was the first tour I saw of his.

I'm going to say my thoughts about this album haven't changed from age 12 to age 51.  Back then I thought in Rolling Stone terms that this was a "four-star" album.  Now with the Gwiz-gau grading system it sits squarely at A-..  Why?  Side 2 flags a little compared to the first half.

That said, the surprise track for me came on that second side.  I had no recollection of "Straight Into Darkness" and that cut is a great love gone wrong song.  It's followed by the only AOR hit on the side, "The Same Old You."  I'm a bit surprised I didn't listen to this album start to finish more than once or twice when I bought it.  I guess I was buying 8 used records a week with paper route money and this didn't make it into regular rotation with Christmas gift records on the horizon on top of paper route tip extra records.  Hard Promises, I liked less and know better and that came only the year before.

Side One I knew so well I basically went back to relistening to Side 2 to get further insight and upgrade this to an 'A'.  Really all that was reconfirmed is "Straight Into Darkness" is a standout track I previously missed.  Now that I listen again I can add "Between Two Worlds" as a good one.

Certainly in the upper tier of Petty.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bob Dylan-Blood On The Tracks (1975)

The Byrds-Live At The Fillmore-February 1969 (2000)

Bob Dylan-Bob Dylan (1962)