Sometimes overlooked, but only because of the company it kept in the Heartbreakers’ catalogue up to that point, Tom Petty’s fifth album is an exercise in restrained elegance. As pared back and unencumbered as Petty himself, the songs cut right to the creative quick, not least the darkly bubbling You Got Lucky and the chiming Straight Into Darkness, both brilliant if oblique singles.
It was also the album that introduced the world to bassist Howie Epstein, whose playing and harmony vocals were so ubiquitous in their sound that it was hard to imagine a time when he wasn’t a Heartbreaker. It’s difficult to gauge how deep the Petty vaults go, but if this reissue is any indicator then Heartbreaker fans have plenty to look forward to.
It comes with an extra 12 tracks – just to put that in context, the original had 10 – including seven previously unreleased songs, and extensive sleevenotes that include commentary from producer Jimmy Iovine and filmmaker Cameron Crowe.
Petty said there were some songs that didn’t make the initial release that would have made for a more rounded record, and this edition attempts to address that with some that were dropped from the original running order, including Petty’s version of Never Be You (a country hit for Rosanne Cash), Don’t Make Me Walk The Line and an up-tempo version of Ways To Be Wicked, a song he’d originally given to Lone Justice. There are some extraordinary French TV sessions, too, including Stories We Could Tell and a vibrant Keeping Me Alive. Magnifique.
