An American Treasure (Deluxe Edition)

Editors’ Notes The only downside to this 63-track anthology spanning the breadth and depth of Tom Petty's career is its reason for existence. Marking one year since his death, the collection largely eschews the hits you already know and own (save for exemplary live versions of “Breakdown,” “I Won't Back Down,” and “Even the Losers”) and seeks to dig deeper than the refugees already rescued for collections like 1995's Playback box set. That leaves the focus on outtakes and alternative versions of the songs that cemented Petty's legacy as a clockwork-consistent career artist who just happened to have crafted a couple dozen of the most beloved hits in rock history. The unearthed “Keep a Little Soul,” from 1982, could have been a high point of Damn the Torpedoes but happened not to be, while relatively overlooked later gems like “Saving Grace” and “Down South” from 2006's Highway Companion get their chance to be seen as part of the pantheon.