I became a deeper fan of Tom Petty’s music a little later in his career, around the 1989s. 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 the radio. Thus, I’ve never been particularly motivated to physically purchase them for my collection.

Fortunately, because of the arena of entertainment technology, many of us are calling home theatermy impression of—and interest in—Tom Petty’s music changed dramatically in the years that followed. I became one great fan of his 2010 instant classic Mojo primarily due to its amazing presentation on Blu-ray Disc, which sounds amazing in 5.1 surround!

I was subsequently impressed by the transformation of Petty’s groundbreaking 1979 album Damn you Torpedoes once remixed in surround. Underneath all that radio-friendly hit-making compression was actually a pretty great, full-bodied record. I was actually hearing the music for the first time.

The new extended edition of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 1982 release Long after dark thus he greeted me with both emotion and fear. I’ve had this album for years on vinyl, but it’s never been a favorite. Fortunately, as presented on this new Blu-ray disc, I feel like I’m hearing the music again for the first time.

Overall, the new 5.1 surround mix of Long after dark it presents the music in a bigger, more rounded way. Opener “One Story Town” offers lots of lovely shimmering guitar textures and layers that seep in all around. The album’s big hit, “You Got Lucky,” feels more open, Petty’s voice shrouded in deep reverb reminiscent of John Lennon’s early 1970s classics no less. great skronky The lead guitar sound on ‘We Stand A Chance’ sounds on this mix – it’s a borderline cheesy flavor that makes Dave Davies’ ‘little green amp’ tone (on The Kinks’ groundbreaking ‘You Really Got Me’ in the early ’60) sounds close to audiophile, but it totally works on this song.

The Dolby Atmos mix features his music Long after dark in an even bigger presentation with a few twists. For example, in “One Story Town,” the producers captured some cymbal splashes through the height channels. “You Got Lucky” jumps a little more in the room. And supporting rhythmic details like handclaps feel a little more ambient and overhead at points.

That said, if I had to choose between the two mixes, I’d probably lean towards the 5.1 mix because it simply cliffs something more difficult Long after dark it’s definitely a rock record. But that’s just personal preference; both versions sound pretty good.

The bonus tracks on this new extended edition a Long after dark they are also pretty great. I actually like it a lot more than the main album! Fortunately, these are not limited to CDs and can be found on Blu-ray Disc in higher resolution (Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes are offered in 48kHz, 24bit; PCM Stereo is 96kHz, 24bit bits).