Tom Petty – The Live Anthology: From the Vaults Vol. 1 (RSD 2025)
For the first time ever on vinyl, the long-lost performances from Tom Petty’s Live Anthology archives resurface in a beautifully pressed RSD 2025 exclusive. A clean, dynamic, and surprisingly consistent live collection — and an easy one to recommend.
My Vinyl Review
11/26/20253 min read
Tom Petty – The Live Anthology: From The Vaults Vol. 1 (RSD 2025)
Full Vinyl Review
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers recorded nearly every show they played for decades — thousands of hours of tapes spanning from the late ‘70s through the 2000s. In the late 2000s, Tom, Mike Campbell, and producer Ryan Ulyate spent close to a year combing through more than 5,000 performances to build what became The Live Anthology, an ambitious career-spanning document built from raw tapes with no overdubs.
But one part of that story--14 tracks to be exact, was never pressed on vinyl. Those performances — long desired by fans but unavailable on any streaming platform — finally make their vinyl debut here as “The Live Anthology: From The Vaults Vol. 1,” a Record Store Day 2025 exclusive.
This new 2-LP set immediately feels like part of the Anthology universe. Pressed on regular weight 140 gram vinyl, in a rich, deep turquoise (not translucent, but a saturated, elegant tone), each record is flat, quiet, and well-pressed. Surface noise is essentially nonexistent; no ticks, no pops — an impressive showing for a colored RSD title.
The jacket extends the spirit of the original 2009 artwork, and the gatefold includes Tom’s archival essay on one side and complete track credits on the other. The two inner sleeves include liner notes and photographs — one featuring Tom alone, and the other with the full band. It’s a well done, cohesive package, substantial without being oversized.
Veteran engineer, Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering, who has mastered all of the modern-day Petty releases, did a very nice job with this release. Sonically, this set is surprisingly consistent given the wide span of dates and venues represented. Sound quality leans to the warm side--yet is still energetic and fairly evenly balanced. While not overly complex, the midrange solidly conveys the chiming Rickenbacker's as well as the more crunchy sounding Gibsons.. And Tom's vocals are presented with authority.
Crowd noise is present but never intrusive; there’s no heavy echo, no overdone ambience, and imaging is realistic with decent L-R separation. The low end isn’t seismic, but it’s certainly not thin — and the best moments come from tracks with slightly simpler arrangements and less layering, where the music can breathe better and have more sense of space.
Highlights include “Down South,” whose chiming, Byrds-like guitars ring out beautifully. “Billy the Kid” is another standout, driven by Steve Ferrone’s kick and snare — both captured with an immediacy and punch that elevate the entire performance. And the live version of “Don’t Come Around Here No More” may be the emotional centerpiece of the set: the crowd’s anticipation, the drum entrance, the signature riff, and then that big guitar chord that snaps the whole moment wide open.
For collectors, the historical significance is clear: unless you owned the original Best Buy deluxe CD box in 2009, you’ve likely never heard these recordings. They remain absent from all streaming services, making this vinyl release not just desirable but necessary if you want to experience this chapter of Petty’s live legacy.
Between the archival value, the excellent pressing quality, the strong sound, and its status as a 7,500-copy limited RSD release, this beautifully presented slice of Tom Petty history — is an easy one to recommend.
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