Long After Dark

Long After Dark
Studio album by
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
ReleasedNovember 2, 1982 (1982-11-02)
Recorded1981–82
Studio
  • Record Plant (Hollywood)
  • Wally Heider's (Hollywood)
  • Crystal (Hollywood)
  • Rumbo (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length37:44
LabelBackstreet
Producer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology
Hard Promises
(1981) 		Long After Dark
(1982) 		Southern Accents
(1985)
Singles from Long After Dark
  1. "You Got Lucky"/"Between Two Worlds"
    Released: October 22, 1982
  2. "Straight into Darkness"/"A Wasted Life"
    Released: 1982
  3. "Change of Heart"
    Released: February 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
The Essential Rock Discography5/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Long After Dark is the fifth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on November 2, 1982, on Backstreet Records. Notable for the MTV hit "You Got Lucky", the album was also the band's first to feature Howie Epstein on bass and harmony vocals. Epstein's vocals are prevalent throughout the album and from that point on, became an integral part of the Heartbreakers' sound.

Two other singles from the album were released, "Change of Heart" and "Straight into Darkness", the former joining "You Got Lucky" in the Billboard top 40. In July 2018, "Keep a Little Soul", an outtake from Long After Dark, was released as the first single to promote Petty's box set An American Treasure. "Keeping Me Alive", another outtake from the album sessions,[9] was a Petty favorite, and was eventually released on his and the Heartbreakers' 1995 box set Playback, as well as on An American Treasure.

On August 30, 2024, the Tom Petty estate announced the release of an expanded Deluxe Edition of the album, which included 12 new live and previously unreleased songs, as well as a Blu-Ray Dolby Atmos remix.[10] This version was released on streaming services, numbered vinyl and CD on October 18, 2024.

  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ "Tom Petty: Long After Dark". Blender. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  3. ^ Kot, Greg (1991-09-01). "Through The Years With Tom Petty". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  4. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: tom petty and the heartbreakers".
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 2005. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 816. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
  7. ^ "Long After Dark". Rolling Stone. 20 January 1983.
  8. ^ "Tom Petty: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  9. ^ Zollo, Paul. Conversations With Tom Petty (2005): 81–83.
  10. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-08-31.