Search - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers :: The Live Anthology: Ultimate Collector's Edition Boxed Set (5 CDs + 1 Blu-ray + 2 DVDs + 1 LP)

Great package, but consider the non-deluxe version for MUCH

zlh67 | Austin, TX | 12/27/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I saw this title, I knew I'd get it, but there are a few versions, so... which one? I opted for the deluxe Collector's Edition because I'm a big Petty fan, and I don't regret it, but after sifting through it, I think the non-deluxe version is a MUCH better value. That can be had for $20 or so, while the deluxe seems to be a minimum of $100 (on sale) or up to $150 at regular prices.



The non-deluxe version gets you 4 cd's of great Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers live from 1980-2007 (disc 5 in the Deluxe Version gets you one older track recorded in 1978, but everything else in this set is 1980 or later). You can check the track-listing for details, so I won't drag it out here, but suffice to say there's plenty of room for the hits, and there are tons here, but thankfully there's also plenty of room for some more obscure Petty gems like "Nightwatchman", which is a fave of mine and opens the set, as well as covers he's done through the years like Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You", an instrumental version of "Goldfinger", "Green Onions" from Booker T & the MG's and many more. So there's plenty of songs Petty does here you will not have heard on his albums, and they are worth having. And the set is not chronologically ordered, instead sequenced by mood, so each disc flows nicely yet is never predictable. Just what a Petty/Heartbreakers live anthology should be, and at $20 for FOUR discs, an absolute STEAL. Some fans seem a little disappointed that the set is a bit heavy on more recent performances featuring Steve Ferrone on drums instead of the 1976-1993 lineup that had original drummer Stan Lynch, but I'm a drummer myself of 18 years and this doesn't bug me a bit. They are both excellent players and both are in top form on this set.



The Deluxe version has the 4 discs above, plus a 5th bonus disc of more live material as well as the following:



-Blu-ray audio disc of all 62 tracks in both stereo and surround sound, high resolution 96K 24-bit audio with 256 times more resolution than a CD



-DVD of "400 Days," a previously unreleased documentary film by director Martyn Atkins, made during the 1995 Wildflowers tour and recording sessions



-DVD with previously unreleased New Years Eve 1978 Santa Monica, CA, concert



-12" vinyl of a remastered 1976 official Live Bootleg album



-Deluxe book with liner notes offering personal perspectives on the band and their music by Tom Petty, Warren Zanes, Bill Flanagan, Robert Hilbum, Joel Selvin, Austin Scaggs and Phil Sutcliffe



-Reproduction "Litho" of Shepard Fairey cover art (12x12 on high quality stock)



-Assorted authentic vintage backstage satin passes





Looking at all these extras, it's an impressive package, but here's what I've found:



- the backstage passes and litho artwork are nice to look at, but... essential? Not really.



- the live DVD from 1978 is prior to Petty's breakthrough "Damn The Torpedos" album, so unless you're a big fan of his earlier stuff (which I'm not), this is also not essential.



- same for the 1976 "Official Live 'Leg" LP. This was recorded a mere month after the release of Petty's very first album in front of what sounds like about 10 people and includes just 4 songs: Jaguar and Thunderbird (a Chuck Berry cover), an early take on "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" plus "Luna" and "Dog On The Run". About 22min in all, so again, neat to hear and a nice piece of history, but hardly essential.



- The documentary '400 Days' is nice, but focuses on one period of Petty's career (1995 during the Wildflowers album and tour). It's probaby the favorite of the "extras" included in this set, but unlike the main music discs themselves, this too isn't anything I could see myself watching over and over again.



- Then there's the blu-ray disc if you're a tech-junkie/true audiophile (I'm not, so the regular discs sound just fine to me). And then the extended liner notes are nice, combining looks back from some top music journalists that have seen Petty over the years and Petty himself offering takes on each of the tracks.



So I guess for ME, the only thing of all these extras I really wouldn't want to live without is the 5th disc of music (as even Petty himself would agree I bet, it's the MUSIC that matters, right?). Disc 5 contains one of my all-time favorite tunes ("The Last DJ"), plus several interesting covers (including Roger McGuinn's "Ballad of Easy Rider") and the always killer "Don't Come Around Here No More", which easily trumps the studio recorded version.



But... is that 5th disc worth an extra $100? Hmmm, that's a toughie for you to decide. Since I bought it, I'll keep it, but for all but the hardest of the hard-core Petty fans, the 4-disc version for $20 is an incredible value with TONS of great music. The collector's edition contains a lot of great extras, but the only essential thing there to me is the 5th disc and if I had it to do over again, I might pass on that and save the $100. That's why this deluxe version gets 4 stars from me and not 5, but overall it is a nice package and the music itself is definitely top notch! A great reminder of what makes Petty (and the Heartbreakers!) such an important band over the last 30+ years."