Playback is a collection that was originally released in 1995, but which has been unavailable outside North America since 2005. It’s a compilation covering the band’s time with MCA records and spans 20 years of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ career, from 1973 to 1993.
What a collection this is! A six CD compilation containing 84 tracks and lasting over four and a half hours. It’s impressive – there’s no other word for it. Not only do you get several discs packed full of their greatest hits, you also get three discs of B sides and rarities including outtakes, material recorded by Mudcrutch (the band that would later become the Heartbreakers)
To review this in detail would involve writing far more than anyone reading this is likely to want to endure – the only people interested in the tiny details will be the die-hard fans who will already know pretty much everything about this release already.
So, people reading this are likely to be people who might have one album by the band or who like a few songs. For that sort of audience, is this a collection worth getting? The answer to that is a definite YES – this is a fantastic collection. Three discs full of the hits make this worth having straight away, and the other three discs are just a bonus. Often when you get discs of ”rarities and unreleased material” then there’s usually a reason why it wasn’t released before – it’s usually not that great, but here the rarities are actually very good and rather than being something you might listen to once out of curiosity, it’s stuff you’ll be listening to again and again.
There’s a hell of a lot to listen to here, but when it’s this good then listening to four or five hours or music is a real pleasure. I really can’t recommend this album highly enough – any fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers who hasn’t got this already should certainly be adding it to their collection.
The Big Jangle – Track listing:
1. Breakdown
2. American Girl
3. Hometown Blues
4. Anything That’s Rock `N’ Roll
5. I Need to Know
6. Listen to Her Heart
7. When the Time Comes
8. Too Much Ain’t Enough
9. No Second Thoughts
10. Baby’s a Rock `N’ Roller
11. Refugee
12. Here Comes My Girl
13. Even the Losers
14. Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)
15. Don’t Do Me Like That
16. The Waiting
17. A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)
18. Something Big
19. A Thing About You
20. Insider
21. You Can Still Change Your Mind
Spoiled & Mistreated – Track listing:
1. You Got Lucky
2. Change of Heart
3. Straight Into Darkness
4. The Same Old You
5. Rebels
6. Don’t Come Around Here No More
7. Southern Accents
8. Make It Better (Forget About Me)
9. The Best of Everything
10. So You Wanna Be a Rock `N’ Roll Star
11. Don’t Bring Me Down
12. Jammin’ Me
13. It’ll All Work Out
14. Mike’s Life/Mike’s World
15. Think About Me
16. A Self-Made Man
Good Booty – Track listing:
1. All or Nothin’
2. Alright for now
3. Built to last
4. Christmas all over again
5. Free fallin’
6. I won’t back down
7. Into the great wide open
8. Learning to fly
9. Love is a long road
10. Mary Jane’s last dance
11. Out in the cold
12. Runnin’ down a dream
13. Yer so bad
The other sides – Track listing:
1. Casa Dega (B-side of Don’t Do Me Like That)
2. Heartbreaker’s Beach Party (B-side of Change of Heart)
3. Trailer (B-side of Don’t Come Around Here No More)
4. Cracking Up (B-side of Make It Better (Forget About Me))
5. Psychotic Reaction (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
6. I’m Tired Joey Boy (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
7. Lonely Weekends (live) (from UK EP Too Good to Be True)
8. Gator on the Lawn (B-side of A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me))
9. Make That Connection (B-side of Jammin Me)
10. Down The Line (B-side of Free Fallin’)
11. Peace In LA (Peace Mix) (B-side of Peace in LA)
12. It’s Raining Again (B-side of Refugee)
13. Somethin’ Else (live) (UK B-side of Even the Losers)
14. I Don’t Know What to Say to You (B-side of Listen to Her Heart)
15. Kings Highway (live) (German B-side of Something in the Air)
Through the Cracks – Track listing:
1. On the Street
2. Depot Street
3. Cry to Me
4. Don’t Do Me Like That (Mudcrutch version)
5. I Can’t Fight It
6. Since You Said You Loved Me
7. Louisiana Rain (original version)
8. Keeping Me Alive
9. Turning Point
10. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (demo)
11. The Apartment Song (demo)
12. Big Boss Man
13. The Image of Me
14. Moon Pie
15. The Damage You’ve Done (country version)
Nobody’s children – Track listing:
1. Got My Mind Made Up (original version)
2. Ways to Be Wicked
3. Can’t Get Her Out
4. Waiting for Tonight
5. Travelin’
6. Baby, Let’s Play House
7. Wooden Heart
8. God’s Gift to Man
9. You Get Me High
10. Come On Down To My House
11. You Come Through
12. Up In Mississippi Tonight
