I became a deeper fan of Tom Petty’s music somewhat later in his career, around the time of 1989’s Full Moon Fever and subsequent recordings produced by Jeff Lynne of ELO fame, Rick Rubin and others. Don’t get me wrong, I always like “the hits,” but Petty’s early records always sounded thin to me when I heard them played by friends and on radio. Thus I was never especially motivated to physically buy them for my collection.
Fortunately, because of the entertainment technology arena many of us call home theater, my impression of — and interest in — Tom Petty’s music has changed dramatically in the ensuing years. I became a big fan of his 2010 instant-classic Mojo primarily because of its stunning presentation on Blu-ray Disc, which sounds amazing in 5.1 surround!
I was subsequently impressed with the transformation of Petty’s 1979 breakthrough album Damn The Torpedoes once it was remixed into surround. Beneath all that radio-friendly hit-making compression was actually a pretty great sounding, full-bodied recording. I was hearing the music for the first time, effectively.
The new expanded edition of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 1982 release Long After Dark thus greeted me with both excitement and trepidation. I’ve had this album for years on vinyl, but it was never a particular favorite. Happily, as presented on this new Blu-ray Disc, I feel I’m again hearing the music for the first time.
Overall the new 5.1 surround mix of Long After Dark presents the music in a bigger, rounder manner. Opening track “One Story Town” offers many wonderful sparkling guitar textures and layers percolating around. The album’s big hit, “You Got Lucky” feels more open, Petty’s vocals swathed in a deep slap reverb recalling no less than John Lennon early 1970s classics. I love how much more bad-ass that super skronky lead guitar sound on “We Stand A Chance” sounds on this mix — it is a borderline cheesy flavor which makes Dave Davies’ “little green amp” tone (on The Kinks’ groundbreaking “You Really Got Me” back in the early 60s) sound near audiophile, yet it totally works on this tune.
The Dolby Atmos mix presents the music of Long After Dark in a bigger presentation still, with some neat twists. For example, in “One Story Town,” the producers captured some nice cymbal splashes via the height channels. “You Got Lucky” jumps out a bit more into the room. And support rhythm details like handclaps feel at points a little bit more ambient and overhead.
That said, if I had to choose between the two mixes, I’ll probably skew towards the 5.1 mix as it simply rocks a bit harder and Long After Dark is no doubt a rock recording. But that is just a personal preference; both versions sound quite good.
The bonus tracks on this new expanded edition of Long After Dark are pretty great as well. In fact, I like a lot of it better than the main album! Thankfully they are not just limited to the CDs and can be found on the Blu-ray Disc in higher resolution (Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes are offered in 48 kHz, 24-bit; PCM Stereo is 96 kHz, 24-bit).
While I’m still absorbing this new material some details already jumped out. For example, the acoustic guitars on “Turning Point” sound great as do the drums, all bigger and more realistic via the surround mixes (even though it feels mostly like stereo overall). Much to explore there, for sure.
At the end of the day, if you love Tom Petty’s music and Long After Dark in particular, for about $30 on Amazon, this two CD and Blu-ray package feels like a great deal worth scoring before they disappear!
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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