The Inside Track
By Marilyn Beck
The Spokesman-Review - Sunday, January 9, 1983
When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers set off on their three-month concert tour, it'll be with advertising and tickets trumpeting Tecate Beer. The brewery, on a campaign to heighten its appeal among U.S. teens, is following the lead of other firms forming tie-ins with rock groups, and is spending a fortune to sponsor the tour of Tom and group. It will make a loverly security blanket for Petty during these times when the concert business is chancy at best -- and Tecate will know before too long if it increases the sales of its brew.
Album Spot
Evening Times - Friday, January 14, 1983
TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS, "LONG AFTER DARK" (Backstreet).
Tom Petty is one of these American singers I take or leave. His music is never brilliant but always okay (with the exception of "American Girl" which was magic). That's the way the album is, too. Always pass marks, but not the gold star.
Reel to Real: Hot Rocks: year's best bets in rock music
By Chris Fletcher
The Duquesne Duke - January 14, 1983
Last year was an interesting one for the music business. There was an abundance of quality filling the airwaves and stocking the shelves of local record stores.
Picking the five best albums of 1982 is not an easy task. New Wave, new groups and new technology brought an excitement and vitality that had been missing in many recent years.
In choosing the landmark albums of 1982, some of the criteria are freshness, vitality, originality and, of course, musical ability. Admittedly, it's hard to come up with an objective list, but the following six albums represent some of last year's best rock offerings:
1. It's Hard -- the Who
2. Combat Rock -- the Clash
3. Long After Dark -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4. Asia -- Asia
5. Built for Speed -- the Stray Cats
6. Rio -- Duran Duran
Simple rock straightforward, not overpolished -- has long been the trademark of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Long After Dark carries on this tradition. Petty's unique vocal flair and driving energy have made hism popular with listeners and critics alike.
Petty's Long After Dark is also a relevant album. He sings of the despair of going nowhere ("One Story Town"), the pain of love ("You Got Lucky" and "Straight into Darkness") and the joy of seeing things as they really are ("I'm Finding Out").
Long After Dark offers the listener a good mix of great music and themes that the average person can relate to. Few albums offer such a mixture.
Albums with noteable music
Review by Michele Courtright
Northern Iowan - January 18, 1983
Long After Dark
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' latest album, Long After Dark features the unmistakable rock style that made previous albums popular. The simple lyrics sung by Petty present a simple, realistic view of life which matches the group's style.
Side one opens with "A One Story Town," an easy, flowing rock sound with Petty's usual fast-paced lyrics and wailing voice. The hit "You Got Lucky" follows, another good combination of vocals and instrumentation.
Next, "Deliver Me" has possibilities as a single with its contrasts between fast and slower moments. "Change of Heart" and "Finding Out" complete the side following the established rock pace.
Side two begins with "We Stand a Chance" which makes use of an organ. This spunky tune also demonstrates possibility as a single. Side two is completed at a slightly calmer face with "Straight into Darkness," the nostalgic "The Same Old You," and "Between Two Worlds."
Long After Dark runs strong in instrumentation, vocals and lyrics. Petty's style produces some similarity between songs, but overall the album is recommended for rock fans.
Long After Dark hit for Petty
By Kevin Dunn
The Rocket - January 21, 1983
"Long After Dark," the most recent Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers album, peaks as the band's best musically textured record to date. The album combines the rough rocking sounds that drove "Damn the Torpedoes" and the more subdued sounds that puncuated the "Hard Promises" album.
"Long After Dark" proves that Tom Petty and his fellow Heartbreakers do possess a great deal of rock 'n' roll talent. This band is young enough to be new and vital and old enough to be good and mature.
The songs and music on this record walk the thin line of rock 'n' roll perfection.
The opening side of the album is packed with five red-hot rocking numbers. Songs like "A One Story Town," "You Got Lucky," and "Change of Heart" highlight the up tempo rock 'n' roll of side one.
Petty concert rocks crowd with past hits
By Julie Gayle
The Lariat -- Tuesday, February 1, 1983
It was not the quantity, but the quality of the crowd that made Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker a success Thursday night as the group performed in concert at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center in Austin.
The show was not a sell-out, but the energy level was high throughout the evening, thanks to Petty and the band.
The concert opened with Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack singing "I Need You" and Carrack's attempting to divert the audience with his yellow socks and occasionally with his keyboard ability.
But show time did not actually begin until Petty himself took center stage and began an hour and a half of stimulating his audience with his ardent showsmanship and, of course, the music, which for the past five years has thrust Petty into the rock-and-roll limelight.
"Long After Dark" lacks passion
By Jay Watson
The Red and Black - Thursday, February 3, 1983
A review of "Long After Dark" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Produced by Tom Petty and Jimmy Iovine. A Backstreet Records release.
Musically, "Long After Dark" is Tom Petty's most self-assured, well-constructed album to date. On "Damn the Torpedoes," Petty and his Heartbreakers darted from verse to verse with such a deft, bright vigor -- restless and full speed ahead -- that the listener, after repeated listenings, could get the impression that he was seeking to dash out from under the shadow of a not-complete confidence in his material, a fear that it might not work. Thus, for all its uncharacteristic optimism and its compositional and instrumental triumphs, "Torpedoes" stands as Petty's most two-dimensional album.
Be it ever so humble: Tom Petty talks about home
By Bill DeYoung
Gainesville Sun - February 4, 1983
The voice is deep and thoughtful. He speaks slowly and deliberately, with hardly a trace of a Southern accent. Tom Petty, the vagabond rock star who left Gainesville nine years ago, spoke with Scene by telephone this week in preparation for his band's second homecoming appearance Thursday.
Born and raised right here in Hogtown, Petty went to California in 1974 to get a record contract for his band, Mudcrutch. Mike Campbell, Stan Lynch, Benmont Tench, and Ron Blair were, in one way or another, associates of Tom's, and shortly after Mudcrutch was signed, they took over the contact as Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Tom says he couldn't wait to get out of Gainesville. "I was 20 years there," he explains, "and to make records, I had to be somewhere else. So we took off down the road and ended up in California."
"A One Story Town," from the Heartbreakers' latest album "Long After Dark," bemoans the frustrating fight to get out of a small circle. Petty dismisses the notion that he wrote the song about his own experiences here. "It could be a big-town frustration story," he says. "It's just dealing with the idea that people always seem to think they can do better somewhere else. I just try to write about reality, and reality isn't always happy."
Apple Sauce: Petty, Lowe set area dates
By Ken Schlager
Herald Statesman - February 6, 1983
Here's big news for rock fans: Tickets will be going on sale within the next 10 days for a pair of area shows starring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And just to sweeten the dates, British popsters Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack will be appearing with their band as the opening act. The dates to remember are March 31 at the Nassau Coliseum and April 1 at the Byrne Meadowlands Arena. The Petty-Lowe-Carrack tour hit the road last week in Houston and will continue through the south and east at least until an April 2 date in Philadelphia. A western swing in April is still in the planning stage. Petty's band includes a new bassist, Howie Epstein, who also appears on the latest Petty LP, "Long After Dark." Lowe and Carrack are traveling with the same three-man back-up crew that joined them for their North American wanderings last year. The group also appears on a new Nick LP, "The Abominable Snowman," due in local stores in early March.