V/A – Home Alone Christmas (6th Press)

For whatever reason this holiday compilation has been highly sought after. At times it’s been hard to find and even sold for ridiculous amounts on the secondary market, until it was re-pressed for the countless time. Even during the summer months, when Christmas is the furthest thing from most people’s minds.

Let’s get this out of the way before we dive any deeper. This is not a traditional soundtrack or score. It features songs off the Home Alone and Home Alone 2 Soundtracks and Scores, thus making it a compilation.  This comp does include the iconic “Somewhere In My Memory” composed by John Williams featured in the Home Alone film. There are other tracks by John Williams, but overall this is an eclectic track listing that features Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Alan Jackson, TLC, Darlene Love and Mel Tormé.

I mentioned above that Home Alone Christmas has not only gone through quite a few pressings, but in rapid succession. It’s currently in its sixth pressing, which came out in September of this year. The first pressing was released in 2019. The first five pressings were released by Real Gone Music, who licensed it from Fox Music (part of the 20^th Century Fox umbrella because the films were released by 20^th Century Fox) and Sony Music Group. For whatever reason, likely due to the contract running out, the current pressing (featured in the photo gallery below) was not released via Real Gone Music.

Only a handful of the pressings have pressing info released, but thankfully they were all done on only one color. The first pressing was limited to 1500 copies on “holly” green. Apparently the powers at be have never seen a holly bush, because the green the first pressing turned out being was an opaque Kelly green. The leaves on holly bushes are an incredibly dark green. One nice aspect of the first pressing is that it comes with a color coded hype sticker that says how many copies were pressed.

The second pressing was also limited to 1500 copies, this time “in” red & white “candy cane” vinyl.  I say “in” instead of on because that is what the hype sticker erroneously states as part of its verbiage. Once again the hype sticker is color coded and says how many copies were pressed. Well, it’s at least party color coded because there is no white. The white portion you see is part of the bar code area, which was done the same way on the first pressing, and is an intentional design feature to have the barcode be more visible. The red & white “candy cane” actually turned out matching a candy cane very well. The color is essentially a white w/ red splatter,  which does have some blending of the red splatter into the white, creating some pinkish areas.

The third pressing, the only one released in 2020, throws the color coded hype stickers into a loop. This is also the first of the pressings to not have pressing info officially released. So there is an unknown amount of copies on “Santa” red. The aforementioned hype sticker is white and red striped, which would have gone much better with the second pressing. The fourth pressing continues the trend of not having pressing info released. The first pressing to be released in 2021, it was pressed on clear with red & green “Christmas Party” This color actually turned out being translucent yellow with red and green swirl/smoke. I want to point out the fact that Discogs has this color listed as a swirl, but that is not part of the official description given anywhere for this pressing.

For the fifth pressing, Newbury Comics was chosen as an exclusive retailer. So needless to say, as of posting this, there are still lots of copies left because Newbury overprices all their vinyl, but especially their exclusive variants/pressings.  There were 1,000 copies pressed on “Christmas Slush” vinyl, which is simply white. This is also the first pressing to have a hype sticker that differs from what essentially amounts to a stock hype sticker used on all the previous pressings. It’s the typical Newbury hype sticker.

I already touched a bit on the most recent pressing, which is the sixth overall and featured here. It’s the only pressing to be released in 2022, and it’s a Walmart exclusive on translucent red vinyl. Which leads me to believe that the third pressing on “Santa” red is opaque. To be honest I can’t tell if the third pressing ins translucent or opaque based on the few photos of it I’ve seen. Pressing info has not been, and most likely never will be released for the sixth variant.

All copies, regardless of variant come housed in a single pocket jacket. And that’s it. It’s just  single LP stuffed into a jacket. This is about as no frills a released as you can get. This comp was initially released in 1993 on CD only. It took almost 30 years for it to be pressed on vinyl.

Prices on this are tough to pin down. There is definitely a seasonal swing, as the closer it gets to December you can see the prices start to climb higher and higher. But prices still remained high (just not a premium price) in the warm weather months as supply could not meet demand What I will say is that retail price on all the pressings, except for the fifth (thanks Newbury Comics) is $25. The fifth pressing costs a whopping $40. So no wonder why that is still sitting around over a year after it was released, despite the high demand for this comp and all the previous pressing selling out. But with that said, the demand has started to get watered down as more and more copies get pressed.

The high mark for this comp was set at a little over $100, which was for a copy from the first pressing that sold in 2021. Copies from the second and third pressings were not far behind, as the high mark for them was $100, again in 2021. After the first three pressings, prices on the secondary market plummet off a cliff; literally sliced in half. Sadly though, there are some idiots who are paying more than retail price for the fifth pressing, which is still readily available from Newbury Comics. I hope, but I have my doubts, that most of those buyers are from overseas and it’s the only and/or cheapest way they can get a copy for whatever reason.

I want to add one last tidbit about this record. I wanted a copy ever since it was first released, but refused to splurge on it. Simply hoping it would be discounted after the holidays, come like June when most Christmas related albums get marked down. That never happened for whatever reason(s). Then the first pressing went OOP and I saw prices soar. Same thing happened with the second pressing. And then once I saw a third and then fourth pressing announced/released, I decided to just wait it out. I hedged my bets and it paid off. I didn’t care which pressing I bought. I’d obviously prefer as early a pressing as I could get, but price was the main determining factor. Fast forward to November 2022, when Walmart ran another $15 sale on all vinyl in their physical stores, which was only on their exclusives online. I cleaned house the last time Walmart ran this sale two years ago, and while I didn’t do as well this time, I did hit several Walmarts and one of the records I  left with was this comp; for $16 (yay taxes)!

Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All The Rest (Super Deluxe Edition)

After what felt like forever, I finally own Wildflowers on vinyl. Not that this album was unobtainable; I just didn’t want to pay the insane prices it went for. And after losing my bet that the album would eventually be offered for sale outside of the second studio album box set, this re-issue was well worth the wait.

The story behind Wildflowers is fairly well known by this point. Tom wanted to release everything, essentially a double album. But the label thought otherwise and forced him to trim it down to a single album’s worth of material. Not the first moment of contention between Tom and the music industry. He’s famously won some battles, but was left without much recourse when it came to Wildflowers.

Fast forward over 20 years, with the rumors of not only a Wildflowers re-press, but an expanded edition starting to make the rounds. The tragic death of Petty in 2017 put a hold on those plans, as his estate wanted to do things right when it came to re-releasing this album. And boy did they.

You could make the case a lot of this is a cash grab. But the underlying re-release, the music, which is the most important aspect of this, is not compromised. Sure, there are literally over a half dozen different versions of Wildflowers & All The Rest, four of which are various vinyl versions. But fans have the choice of which they buy. Nobody is forced into buying the extravagant $500 box set. There is the standard triple LP version for $40, seven LP deluxe vedition for $175, a nine LP super deluxe edition for $250 and the $500 ultra deluxe edition. That should satisfy every level of fan.

After reading that you may be wondering what about that $500 version? Well here are the details. As I said, it is extravagant, with lots of extra goodies nobody truly needs. The concept of want is also pushed to the limit here. The $500 box set is dubbed the ultra deluxe edition, and it comes with the same nine LP set as the super deluxe version. So if you reasonably opted to go with the more affordable super deluxe edition, the only things you’re missing out on are the exclusive extras included with the ultra deluxe.

Included in those extras is a lithograph of exclusive artwork image, a numbered Certificate of Authenticity (which does NOT say how many copies were made/pressed), Dogs With Wings Tour program replica (1995 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Tour), a fabric bag designed and manufactured by Made Worn in Los Angeles with custom metal Wildflowers closure (read below about what this actually turned out to be), a Wildflowers logo cloth patch and “laminated” sticker, reproductions of four song lyrics in Tom’s handwriting (photos of which are featured in the book that comes packaged inside the super deluxe edition), a handmade bead necklace in a pouch, lyric book (the 25 songs on Wildflowers and All The Rest) with illustrations by Blaze Ben Brooks and a 7” single of “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “Girl on LSD.”

It was not mentioned anywhere in the description, and the mock up images used in Petty’s store made it appear as if the fabric bag was TINY; in other words; not large enough to hold everything that the ultra deluxe edition comes with, including the box set containing the Wildflowers & All The Rest album(s). This fact did not surface until unboxing videos of the ultra deluxe edition started to surface. Let me just say, some of these unboxing videos are painful to watch. The fact that someone spent $500 on something and it’s clear as day that they have no idea what some of the things included in the set are, is a slap in the face to anyone who wanted to buy the ultra deluxe edition but couldn’t because it sold out.

Here are more details about the exclusive items included with the ultra deluxe edition. The exclusive lyric book is much smaller than the book included with all the deluxe editions (read more about that book below), but it does share a lot of the same imagery (and even the lyrics!). Every song has its own artwork, which is on an adjoining page. There is a black envelope, sealed with a black Wildflowers logo sticker, that contains the COA, the four individual hand written lyric sheets (on yellow lined paper, which Tom apparently originally wrote the lyrics down on), sticker, patch, art print featuring the aforementioned artwork for the “Only A Broken Heart” and the exclusive 7”.  Most of the paperwork stuff is actually housed in a blank white folder, with the lyric sheets, patch and sticker coming all together in a separate envelope (still contained in the black envelope)

The Dogs With Wings Tour program replica is housed in a brown sleeve (similar to the what the records in the box set are housed in). The necklace comes in a tiny red pouch. If you’ve ever gotten one of those ‘free neckalce’ promo flyers in the mail from a mail chain store jewelry store and actually went to redeem the flyer; this pouch is the same pouch those jewelry stores use. Which should be an indication of the scale of the necklace included in this set. It’s literally a necklace made out of tiny beads.  Was any of that worth the extra $250? In my opinion; no.

Honestly, I contemplated buying this, in part because I could have gotten 5% cashback on the purchase, which would’ve been over $25 after shipping was included. With the other part being the exclusive 7” included with the ultra deluxe. I’m a huge Tom Petty fan, but I’m a bigger fan of money. Fortunately for my bank account, and hair line, the ultra deluxe edition sold out before I convinced myself to shell out for it. Most times I have some regret about not splurging on things like this, but in this case I’m relieved and bit overjoyed.

I mentioned above how the COA does not say how many copies were made/pressed, and I cannot stress that enough. Where people are getting that there were only 475 copies of the ultra deluxe edition in existence is beyond me. It’s not mentioned anywhere. I will also point out that the fabric pouch apparently comes in different colors. The picture/mock up in the official Tom Petty online store shows one that is mainly tan/brown, but I have seen photos of a pouch that is mostly red, and heard reports of ones that are blue, where the tan/brown should be according to the aforementioned mock up. I want to also point out that the exclusive 7” is only kind of exclusive.

The track listing found on the 7” was featured on the U.S. 7” single released back in 1994, but that pressing did not come with a picture sleeve/jacket. The German pressing of the 7” did however, and that artwork is used for the 7” included in the ultra deluxe edition. The track listing for that German 7” is different though, as it features “House In The Woods” on the b-side instead of “Girl On LSD.” The songs on the updated 7” included in the ultra deluxe edition, I assume, feature the re-mastered versions found on Wildflowers & All The Rest.

The super deluxe edition, which I will remind people is the same box set that comes with the ultra deluxe edition, has an additional two LPs of alternate versions (“Finding Wildflowers”) that is exclusive to the super deluxe nine LP edition. These two LPs are not included with the seven LP deluxe edition. The packaging for all the deluxe editions is the same however; a hardbound 60-page book. Which includes an introduction by Rick Rubin (the original producer), an essay by David Fricke, a complete track-by-track, and rare photos and specially commissioned illustrations.

The book is nicely put together. It’s hardbound, has awesome artwork on the front and back covers, and contains A LOT of information. Stan Fricke’s essay is a bit overwhelming in length actually. This is not a book that is full of filler. Yes, there is some filler, like photos taken during the recording session and during music video shoots. You get a track by track breakdown from multiple perspectives. This includes all the bonus tracks aside from the liver tour performances found on the Wildflowers Live LP. Rubin, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench offer notes about each of the songs, which gives you a more in depth look at what went into writing and recording them.

If there is one shortcoming of how the super deluxe edition it’s how the set is put together. For such a substantial set it seems not a lot of thought went into the construction of it. Once open it can’t support its own weight. The spine actually starts to tear apart. It’s not flexible enough to be able to flip through and remove each of the discs in the set. So say if you want to open up the set and take out LP 7 to play it, you can hear the spine start to separate. The spine consists of sections of fiber board (if you’re not sure what I’m describing you can see an example in the photo gallery below) glued together in order to extend the spin to make it fit a book and nine LP records. Everything in the set is attached to the box set packaging. The book it contained in a sleeve that us glued to the inside of the front cover, with each of the nine LPs in their own plain brown dust sleeve. The records do come in poly line paper dust sleeves as well. So it’s not complete carelessness on the label’s part.

I have other box sets similar in nature, mainly the Led Zeppelin reissues from a few years back. If I’m being honest with myself the Zeppelin box sets are much nicer than this Wildflowers deluxe edition. They are better constructed, contain more items and most importantly; were cheaper. Everything in those Zeppelin super deluxe box sets were contained separately inside a fold out box. So you didn’t have to worry about things potentially coming apart like you will with this Wildflowers set. You also got a bigger bang for your buck.

For btween $140-$160 (depending on if the studio album was a double LP) you got the re-mastered studio album, a separate LP in its own unique jacket containing the bonus material, two separate CDs (one for the studio album, another for the bonus material), digital downloads for everything in the super deluxe edition, a cloth bound hard cover book and a numbered lithograph. In the case of Led Zeppelin I you also got a replica of the original press kit sent out to promote the band and the album.

Now granted, the super deluxe edition of Wildflowers & And The Rest is nine LPs, but for the price; $250, with nothing extra other than a book, and an additional $250 in order to get a bunch of similar extras that are already included with the aforementioned Zeppelin re-issue for $140… you do the math. It’s at this point I want to point out that none of the physical editions/versions of Wildflowers & All The Rest come with a download card/code. You only get one if you buy directly from the Tom Petty online store.

If this album wasn’t so sought after on vinyl, and the bonus material so hyped, the various versions of Wildflowers & All The Rest wouldn’t be flying off the shelves like they have been. Quite frankly that is the main reason why I bought a copy. Yes, I love this album, and fell in love with it all over again after listening to the complete recordings that Tom wanted to release, but I’m left with a sense of disappointment in what I paid for.

Don’t get me wrong, the records sound fantastic. The re-master is great. But if we’re strictly talking about bang for your buck; the super deluxe set is lacking. I would venture to guess the deluxe seven LP edition is also lacking considering it cost $175 and has two less LPs. And when you actually think about the fact that the two extra LPs found in the super deluxe edition cost $37.50 each, it makes me sick to my stomach.

Fast forward to early 2021 and the news of a Findings Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) release that includes all the music that was “exclusive” to the super deluxe and ultra deluxe editions of the Wildflowers & All The Rest box sets is a flat out slap to the face. It literally makes everything I spent over $250 on back in October 2020 pointless. This box set, the super deluxe edition, is not worth that price, as I’ve already stated. Sure, there are some nice facets, but the overall lack of quality control and how cheaply this box set was strung together , and now knowing that the music I ultimately was buying the super deluxe edition for is available for a fraction of the price, is insulting. But should I, or anyone for that matter, expect anything less, as a fan and consumer? Perhaps it was I who went wrong in assuming, well hoping, it was actually about the quality and integrity of the finished product, and not the bottom line. In the end, it was all about how much money could be churned out from a now deceased artist, who obviously can no longer release new material. And this is what Tom himself fought against for all those years…

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Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever (2nd Press)

At this point there were only a few Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers albums I needed. I put them on the back burner because I figured they’d be around for a long time with what was likely an indefinite pressing quantity. But then, bam, the untimely death of Tom Petty sent things into a free for all.

Seemingly overnight any and all albums with any association to Tom Petty sold out. So it became an increasingly harder task to not only find the outstanding albums I needed to complete my Tom Petty collection, but to find them for a decent price. Full Moon Fever was one of these albums.

Original retail price on it was $25, which is way more than I want to pay for a single LP. Considering I picked up some of the recent re-presses of other Heartbreakers albums (The Last DJ, Echo and the She’s The One Soundtrack) at a highly discounted price last year, I was waiting for the price on Full Moon Fever to drop in similar fashion. It never happened. This album actually inflated in price on the secondary market after his death. The original retail price on Full Moon Fever was also around $25, but people were bidding up copies of the re-press, not the original pressing, upwards of $40 on ebay. Which in turn sent the price on Discogs up as well.

Fortunately this dilemma was short lived, as the label was in the process of re-pressing the album. I’ll never understand the mad dash to buy albums, movies, books, etc from recently deceased people. I know it sparks a renewed interest or even sparks a discovery period into the musician/band/singer, actor and/or writer, but seriously; who hasn’t heard of Tom Petty?

It took until March 2018 for the re-press to be done, which coincidentally coincided with an insane sale going on where I got this record for 40% off, with free shipping . And tax free as well. So I wound up paying around $15; a price I’m comfortable paying for a single LP.

Both the 2017 and 2018 re-presses of Full Moon Fever were done to replicate the original pressing released back in 1989. It’s not just a record stuffed into a plain white paper dust sleeve crammed into a jacket. Geffen (which absorbed MCA Records, who originally released this album) included the printed dust sleeve that originally came with Full Moon Fever when it was first released. For these modern re-presses, the record actually comes in a separate plain white paper dust sleeve, and the printed dust sleeve in slid into the jacket by itself. The re-presses are also done on 180 gram vinyl. It’s also worth noting that these re-presses were re-mastered from the original analog tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

What I own is actually the Euro pressing, which was done in the Netherlands. The place I bought it from did not specifically state it was the Euro pressing, so I assumed I was getting a copy from the U.S. pressing. But there are no discernible differences between the two pressings other than catalog number and a sticker on the back of the Euro pressing that says “pressed in the Netherlands.” The catalog number for the Euro pressing (featured here) is 00602547658593 and the catalog number for the U.S. pressing is B0024291-01.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Into The Great Wide Open (2nd Press)

At this point there were only a few Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers albums I needed. I put them on the back burner because I figured they’d be around for a long time with what was likely an indefinite pressing quantity. But then, bam, the untimely death of Tom Petty sent things into a free for all.

Seemingly overnight any and all albums with any association to Tom Petty sold out. So it became an increasingly harder task to not only find the outstanding albums I needed to complete my Tom Petty collection, but to find them for a decent price. Into The Great Wide Open was one of these albums.

Original retail price on it was $25, which is way more than I want to pay for a single LP. Considering I picked up some of the recent re-presses of other Heartbreakers albums (The Last DJ, Echo and the She’s The One Soundtrack) at a highly discounted price last year, I was waiting for the price on Into The Great Wide Open to drop in similar fashion. It never happened. But at least it wasn’t Petty’s “solo” album Full Moon Fever, which actually inflated in price on the secondary market after his death. The original retail price on Full Moon Fever was also around $25, but people were bidding up copies of the re-press, not the original pressing, upwards of $40 on ebay. Which in turn sent the price on Discogs up as well.

Fortunately this dilemma was short lived, as the label was in the process of re-pressing both albums. I’ll never understand the mad dash to buy albums, movies, books, etc from recently deceased people. I know it sparks a renewed interest in the artist, actor and/or writer, but seriously; who hasn’t heard of Tom Petty?

It took until March 2018 for the re-press to be done, which coincidentally coincided with an insane sale going on where I got this record for 40% off, with free shipping . And tax free as well. So I wound up paying around $15; a price I’m comfortable paying for a single LP.

Both the 2017 and 2018 re-presses of Into The Great Wide Open were done to replicate the original pressing released back in 1991. It’s not just a record stuffed into a plain white paper dust sleeve crammed into a jacket. Geffen (which absorbed MCA Records, who originally released this album) included the printed dust sleeve that originally came with Into The Great Wide Open when it was first released. For this modern re-presses, the record actually comes in a separate plain white paper dust sleeve, and the printed dust sleeve is slid into the jacket by itself. The re-presses are also done on 180 gram vinyl. It’s also worth noting that these re-presses were re-mastered from the original analog tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

What I own is actually the Euro pressing, which was done in the Netherlands. The place I bought it from did not specifically it was the Euro pressing, so I assumed I was getting a copy from the U.S. pressing. But there are no discernible differences between the two pressings other than catalog number and a sticker on the back of the Euro pressing that says “pressed in the Netherlands.” The catalog number for the Euro pressing (featured here) is 00602547658647 and the catalog number for the U.S. pressing is B0024292-01.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)

One of the missing pieces of my Tom Petty collection (both solo and with the Heartbreakers) was Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough). To be honest, this is my least favorite of their albums, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I likely could have scored an original pressing, but the untimely death of Tom Petty sent prices on those sky rocketing overnight. So I opted for a copy from the most recent pressing from 2016. I bought it for $12 shipped, and for that price I’m happier to buy a new copy of the album than play the hit or miss game of buying used records on ebay.

The 2016 re-press of Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) replicates 99% of the physical aspects of the original pressing from 1987. It has the same printed dust sleeve and center labels. All it’s missing is the hype sticker that came with some copies of the original 1987 pressing. There is no download card/code included with the 2016 re-press, which is pretty lame by today’s standards. But it’s a major label release, and a re-press at that, so it’s sadly not surprising.

I mentioned above what I paid for this record, but the original retail price on it was around $25. Which was yet another reason why I held off on buying it. But at this point if you can find a copy of this record for under $20 I would buy it, because with the passing of Tom Petty, prices on any record with his name associated with it have increased.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – The Best Of Everything

I’ve said it regarding Record Store Days of years past, but I can’t say it now given Tom Petty’s passing, but the players at the table have cashed in on it. Typically when a musician passes it signals an opportunity for those fortunate enough to have a seat at the table to view it as an opportunity to make money. Given Tom Petty’s stance on the music industry, the age old debate of art over profit, it sadly came as no surprise that not one, but two, compilations of his catalog were released posthumous. It’s not all bad though, as his family fought to retain the rights and royalties for his music, but there is still a divide amongst the family regarding his estate. Which, again, harkens back to the fights between artist and big business.

As a bystander I’m torn. Do I want more Tom Petty music? Absolutely. But do I want it like this? No. When he passed it was one of the few times in recent memory where I cried. I was devastated actually. When I heard he was clinging to life in a hospital bed I played The Heartbreakers greatest hits as loud as I could without blowing out my speakers. I didn’t care that it was the early AM hours, or that it was an unusually cold night in early October, I purposely opened the windows in that particular room in my house. My efforts were verified when my next door neighbor knocked on my door the next day, telling me, and I will always remember this: “I was going to bang on your door to have you turn the music down because my kid couldn’t sleep. But once I realized what you were playing I didn’t have the heart to do it. My wife was upset too, but once I told her why she understood. I love Tom Petty too and I was getting annoyed with the noise until I put two and two together.” We hugged each other and we went about our separate days.

Later that day I again made it a point to not only play, but blast all of his albums that I own (I still don’t have Wildflowers unfortunately) in chronological order, with the windows down in my house. That same neighbor came over and had a drink with me. We shared tears and beers. It one one of those moments you’ll never forget and one I’ll always look back on fondly, despite it being spawned out of tragedy.

Enough of my personal attachment to Tom Petty and his music. This greatest hits compilation, entitled The Best Of Everything, was released on vinyl as a quadruple LP. There are two variants; clear and black. The clear is the only one that is limited, with “1,000 copies” pressed. I say 1,000 in quotes because that was a blatant lie. Even if you take into account the typical 10% overrun, that is only an additional 100 copies. Some people who ordered the first week pre-orders went live received copies numbered in the 1600 range. Low and behold, only AFTER pre-orders started shipping, did Tom Petty’s official web store change the pressing info to reflect that 2,000 copies were pressed. Kind of hard to hide the fact that you literally scammed people when you’re stamping copies with a unique, individual number that is WAYYYYY higher than 1,000…

That sad fact reflects back on my aforementioned qualms with people cashing in on his passing. Text book definition of false advertising, and I would’ve been angry had I bought a clear copy. Sadly I I knew copies of this release would be readily available in the future, and by future I mean seven months after release, for very cheap. Which is why I waited to buy this.

It’s yet another kick in the pants that clear copies cost $90 as opposed to the $80 Tom Petty’s official web store charged for copies on black vinyl. Most retailers, who only had access to black copies, wanted close to $80 for it too. Some started to slash prices to $60 in the fall of 2019, but at that price I still didn’t bite. I bought this for $35 shipped, from Canada no less, with free shipping attached. Canada is the last bastion for U.S. based folks to take advantage of exchange rates and reasonable international shipping charges.

So let’s go into the finer details of this box set. Did I not mention that earlier? Yes, this is a box set. All four LPs in the set come housed in a slip case, with each individual record in a separate, unique dust sleeve printed on thick card stock with a matte finish. Each dust sleeve is a different color; the first is black, second is red, third is cream and fourth is white. The center labels of each respective LP match their respective dust sleeve. I can’t speak for the clear copies, but my copy on black vinyl is pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

There are two different hype stickers, which are unique to each variant. All the clear copies come with a gold circle sticker, that says “limited edition colored vinyl.” All copies on black vinyl come with a red circle sticker that highlights some songs found on the release. It seems like the plant was lackadaisical with affixing these hype stickers, as mine is not straight even to a cross-eyed person. See the photo gallery below as an example.

It seems ZERO pride was done with getting this release out the door. From the blatant lie of there being 1,000 copies pressed on clear (literally double were pressed), to stickers being placed at awkward angles out of laziness; the ball was dropped in many places. I’ve had mundane jobs for menial wage; you should still have enough self worth and pride to stick a sticker on properly. This didn’t happen because of machinery glitches or errors; it happened because some clown in the plant simply didn’t care. Which sums up the underlying issues with this release. Which is a shame because it sounds great; it’s just marred with greed, lies and laziness.

A few Greatest Hits compilations have been released for Tom Petty and Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. This is one of the first to include songs aside from his solo work and Heartbreakers material, as it includes Mudcrutch songs. On top of that, The Best Of Everything compilation includes two, never before released songs, with one being a new, unheard song from the Petty vaults. “This Is For Real” is the new, unheard song. It’s the last track on the comp. While an alternate version of “The Best of Everything” from Southern Accents is the other exclusive, “new” song. If not for those two songs, well really only “This Is For Real,” this comp would be something a casual Petty fan could easily pass on buying. It just sucks that a great, unheard Tom Petty song has to be included on such a frivolous, expensive, compilation.

V/A – A Concert For George

This is the other George Harrison tribute album/concert released/held. A Concert For George was held/released well before the George Fest: A Night To Celebrate The Music Of George Harrison concert was held/released. And both tribute albums are worth owning if you’re a Beatles fan or a fan of any of George Harrison’s work outside of the Fab Four. But with that said, the two tribute albums could not be more different from each other.

While George Fest features many, random contemporary artists, with the bulk of songs being performed by the ensemble of artists assembled for the concert, A Concert For George features mainly solo performances performed by artists who have worked with George Harison in some capacity or his friends. Tom Petty (along with The Heartbreakers), Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Joe Brown, Gary Brooker and Anoushka Shankar are the artists featured.  This should go without saying, but all the songs featured on this album are covers, and are live recordings from the concert. The concert was held on November 29, 2002 at Royal Albert Hall in London.

A Concert For George was only released (on vinyl) in a box set containing four LPs and an extensive full size booklet. The final side (side H) is etched with an intricate pattern/logo, which is used extensively throughout the set. One nice touch is that there are essentially two separate dust sleeves for each record in the set. Rather than just have the records placed in one sleeve, each record comes placed in a sleeve with a matte finish, which then gets slid into nicer sleeve made of glossy paper. The inner sleeves all have a die-cut center hole, with alternating colors between yellow and purple (first and third LP with yellow, second and fourth with purple). The outer sleeves also all follow an aesthetic; purple sleeves with the aforementioned pattern/logo on the front with the track listing and a picture of George on the back.

The booklet included is 26 pages, and features photos from the concert, quotes from the performers, various photos of George and various other liner notes. For the box itself, it’s a slip lid, which has a hype sticker affixed to the shrink wrap.

All these details are for the standard edition of the album. There is also a deluxe edition that comes in an even bigger box (different color and design than the box for the standard edition) which contains the vinyl and CD versions of the album, the blu-ray and DVD versions of the concert, a larger 60 page clothbound book and last but not least a piece of the original stage fabric. There is also a note from George’s widow, Olivia Harrison, explaining the stage fabric. This deluxe edition is limited to 1,000 numbered copies and cost $350 (before shipping). It was exclusive to the official George Harrison web store.

Pressing info has not been released for this set, but it’s not being advertised as being limited in any sense. I get the feeling this was a hot seller though, but with that said it’s not sold out as of posting this. That is likely due to the price; around $125 before shipping (should it apply). That price scared me from ordering it, and I planned on waiting for the price to drop in some manner before buying it. But a sale came around where I was able to buy this for $78 shipped. And at that price I couldn’t pass it up. After getting this release in my hands, I will say it’s fully worth the MSRP price of $125.

 

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Greatest Hits (2nd Press / 1st U.S. Pressing)

The second pressing of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits slightly differs from the first pressing. Both are pressed as a double LP, but the key difference is the artwork. The first pressing, released in 1993, features a group shot of the band in a bubble set against a red background. The second pressing features a group shot of the band, which is a reflection in either a mirror or a pan with water that someone (not a band member) is holding. Both pressing come in gatefold jackets, with the gatefold artwork differing between them. I don’t think an insert is included with either pressing, I’m certain about the second pressing. The center labels differ between the pressings as well. The first pressing has stock black MCA labels while the second pressing has red and black labels with the band’s logo along with Geffen’s. The first pressing was a Dutch release, and was never made available outside of Europe. The second pressing is widely available, but is a U.S. pressing.

The second pressing (featured here) has a small yellow circle hype sticker that erroneously advertises that this is the first time the album is on vinyl. As aforementioned, it was released in 1993 in Europe. It was out of print for over two decades until 2016. The hype sticker does correctly advertise that the pressing is on 180 gram vinyl; black vinyl to be precise. No download card is included, nor is an insert. Just the two records in poly lined paper dust sleeves slid into their respective pockets of the gatefold jacket.

The biggest appeal for this Greatest Hits album is that is has two exclusive, (brand new at the time of original release in 1993) songs on it; “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Something In The Air.” They are tacked on to the end of the album. So there is a draw for everyone, even people who already own Tom Petty And The Heartbreaker’s complete discography.

Retail price when it first came out was around $30 (before shipping), but now prices are starting to come down a bit on the secondary market, as you can find new copies for around $25 plus shipping. I’m guessing the market is flooded with these or record stores over estimated the demand for it. I picked this up for $18 shipped after taking advantage of a ridiculous eBay sale combined with an eBay coupon. No word on pressing info, but it’s likely in five digit numbers.

This was a long rumored re-press, and it was put on hold for what seemed like an eternity. It was put up for pre-order, and then abruptly pulled multiple times. Years actually went by without word about this. But then, when most people had given up on it, Bull Moose put up a pre-order for it with a confirmed release date. I think the biggest problem with this was Amazon and message boards. Amazon sometimes put things up for pre-order way too far in advance, and then people see it on Amazon, post about it on message boards, and the excitement grows.

This never used to be the case. The biggest culprit message board use to be a source of solid information without clutter or rumors. Threads used to be started only when an official pre-order was launched. But now it’s full of people starting threads with titles like “PO SOON” or “Soon?” or simply started a thread about a re-press because the band talked about something on stage or they talked to a band member after a show and asked them, and was told such and such. Basically high school gossip gets threads started there now, and it results in the typical internet BS of people calling the guy who started the thread a moron (or a variety of other names) and other trolling mixed with honest conversation, leading to multiple pages of useless posts that make it rather difficult to actually find useful information.

So when someone saw that Amazon had Greatest Hits up for pre-order they rushed to make a thread despite there being no official announcement about the album being re-pressed. When typically major artists like Tom Petty have press releases sent out to announce such things, let alone the fact that social media is a vital PR tool now. Had a thread never been started on that message board, it wouldn’t have spread like wild fire. Granted, other online distros and even Bull Moose put up pre-orders themselves shortly after Amazon only to have to take them down too. But the damage was done before that.

Anyway, this re-press eventually did get released with pre-orders that didn’t have to get pulled and refunded. But it was still wrought with delays. People were fed up with it all and there was little to no fanfare when the record finally started shipping. Not even a sarcastic “I finally got it” comment anywhere.

 

 

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – The Last DJ (2nd Press)

Box sets have seemed to be picking up steam, with many big name bands and artists having their discography made into a vinyl (or even CD) box set. Sometimes these box sets are for a special occasion, like some sort of anniversary, and other times it’s to offer up newly re-mastered albums in a one stop shop fans. Then there are other times where it seems labels are catering to diehard fans with the release of a box set, as the albums found within are eventually, or even at the same time or before, release as standalone releases outside of said box set. The later is the case with Tom Petty’s discography, both with The Heartbreakers and “solo” albums. I say “solo” because many times his backing band was comprised of members of The Heartbreakers.

The Tom Petty box sets, yes box sets, were announced in late 2016. The two separate box sets were divided up by era, the first from 1976-191 and the second from1994-2014. Many people hoped the albums would be release outside of the box set at some point, and they eventually got their wish.

The label smartly, or annoyingly depending on how you look at it, did release all but one of the albums from both box sets individually as standalone releases, but likely deliberately waited a while in a likely attempt to sell more box sets. I was contempt with waiting for standalone releases to round out my Tom Petty collection, or at the very least wait for a significant price drop in the $260 retail price of each box set if I had to bite the bullet and buy them.

The Last DJ was one of the few albums missing from my Tom Petty collection, and I was never going to spend the upwards of $150 to obtain a copy of it. Though I still might have to shell out for a copy from the first pressing to suit my oddball collector habit.

There are some key difference between the first and second pressing. The first pressing, released in 2002, had a U.S. and German release, and was done as a single LP. The second pressing, featured here, was pressed as a double LP, and features an etching on the d-side. This etching was not announced by the label at any point. I didn’t hear nor read anything about it, and you think the label would use it as a selling point because some people like frivolous add ons like that with records these days. The etching, while nicely done, is simply the album’s logo. Much like the re-press of Echo.

I don’t have a copy of the first pressing to do a sound comparison, but I’m willing to bet the second pressing sounds better for the simple fact that it’s not compressed down to a single LP. The second pressing is re-mastered, but I doubt this results in drastically better sound. The tracks being expanded onto an additional side should inherently decrease on some of the classic pitfalls of records sounding awful. Because of the oddball collector in me, I want to add a copy of the original pressing for the lone fact that it’s a single LP instead of a double LP.

The second pressing comes in a gatefold jacket with an insert. The insert has the lyrics printed on one side with photos of the band on the reverse side. I would say they’re black and white photos, but the entire insert is likely purposely not done in color for whatever reason.

Retail price on it is around $22, which is only $1 more for the single LP releases that came out of these box sets. But it’s still better than spending between $100-300 for a copy from the original pressing, regardless of sound quality, which was the going rate before this re-press. Prices of the original pressing have yet to drop, but I suspect, or at least hope, that they will drop given the release of a new, widely available pressing.

No word on pressing info, but it’s likely in five digits after you take into account the box set (which they seem to be re-pressing). All copies come with a silver rectangle hype sticker affixed to the bottom left corner that points out this pressing is re-mastered.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Echo (2nd Press)

Box sets have seemed to be picking up steam, with many big name bands and artists having their discography made into a vinyl (or even CD) box set. Sometimes these box sets are for a special occasion, like some sort of anniversary, and other times it’s to offer up newly re-mastered albums in a one stop shop fans. Then there are other times where it seems labels are catering to diehard fans with the release of a box set, as the albums found within are eventually, or even at the same time or before, release as standalone releases outside of said box set. The later is the case with Tom Petty’s discography, both with The Heartbreakers and “solo” albums. I say “solo” because many times his backing band was comprised of members of The Heartbreakers.

The Tom Petty box sets, yes box sets, were announced in late 2016. The two separate box sets were divided up by era, the first from 1976-191 and the second from1994-2014. Many people hoped the albums would be release outside of the box set at some point, and they eventually got their wish.

The label smartly, or annoyingly depending on how you look at it, did release all but one of the albums from both box sets individually as standalone releases, but likely deliberately waited a while in a likely attempt to sell more box sets. I was contempt with waiting for standalone releases to round out my Tom Petty collection, or at the very least wait for a significant price drop in the $260 retail price of each box set if I had to bite the bullet and buy them.

Echo was one of the few albums missing from my Tom Petty collection, and I was never going to spend the upwards of $200 to obtain a copy of it. Though I still might have to shell out for a copy from the first pressing to suit my oddball collector habit.

There are some key difference between the first and second pressing. Both pressings were done as a double LP, but second pressing only runs on three sides. For whatever reason the label decided to do an etching on the d-side of the second pressing rather than have the album properly flow onto all four sides like the original pressing did. And they purposely held back this information, as I didn’t hear nor read anything about an etching.

I don’t have a copy of the first pressing to do a sound comparison, but I’m willing to bet the first pressing sounds better for the simple fact that it’s not compressed down to three sides. The second pressing is re-mastered, but I doubt this resulted in the tracks suddenly becoming smaller; at least not without being heavily compressed and losing fidelity as a result. So it’s for this reason that I am considering buying a copy from the first pressing, if not just for the audio quality but to have a true double LP copy.

The aforementioned etching is nicely done though, it’s of the albums logo. Along with the etching the double LP comes in a gatefold jacket with the records in printed dust sleeves. These dust sleeves are rather plain though; white paper with black and white photos of the band on one side and the album’s logo on the reverse side.

Retail price on it is around $22, which is only $1 more for the single LP releases that came out of these box sets. But it’s still better than spending between $100-300 for a copy from the original pressing, regardless of sound quality, which was the going rate before this re-press. Prices of the original pressing have yet to drop, but I suspect, or at least hope, that they will drop given the release of a new, widely available pressing.

No word on pressing info, but it’s likely in five digits after you take into account the box set (which they seem to be re-pressing). All copies come with a silver rectangle hype sticker affixed to the top right corner that points out this pressing is re-mastered. For those curious, the first pressing was released in 1999 and the record was out of print for over a decade until 2017.