The estate of Tom Petty has announced a forthcoming reissue of the late rocker’s Wildflowers solo album. A re-release has been heavily implied the past couple months as various demos and unreleased tracks from the 1994 album have been shared. The reissue, titled Wildflowers & All The Rest, is set for release on October 16th via Warner. Thursday’s announcement also came with a previously-unreleased home recording of the album’s title track, along with a new music video with home footage of Petty.
Wildflowers & All The Rest will be available in a variety of formats, from the most basic version featuring 25 tracks on two CDs or three LPs, all the way up to the “Ultra Deluxe Edition” comprised of 70 tracks on nine LPs along with a trove of merch. On the basic edition of Wildflowers & All The Rest, fans will receive two CDs–one with the original 15-track album and the other containing 10 songs that didn’t make the cut. The three-LP vinyl edition splits the original album onto two tracks.
The original Wildflowers release has been out of print of vinyl for some time, and a re-release of the record has been a topic of discussion since before Petty died from an accidental drug overdose in 2017.
On the “deluxe edition” fans get an additional two CDs, the third labeled home recordings/demos including another 15 tracks and the fourth is “Wildflowers Live”, which features performances of 14 of the songs from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers over the years. Next is the “Super Deluxe Edition,” which will be sold direct-to-consumer and not be available in stores, featuring a motherload of content for any hardcore Petty fanatic. This package features the original album, home recordings/demos, Wildflowers live, and a 16-track CD of alternate versions recorded in-studio (“Finding Wildflowers“). What also puts the super deluxe edition over the top is an 80-page hardbound book featuring an introduction by the album’s original producer Rick Rubin, as well as contributions from Rolling Stone writer David Fricke, photos, a replica of the 1995 “Dogs With Wings” tour program, and more.
Lastly, there is the most exclusive option–the “Ultra Deluxe” edition. This selection only comes on vinyl and features the same nine LPs found on the “Super Deluxe Edition”, priced at $499.98 and limited to 475 copies. From an exclusive fabric bag to a handmade bead necklace, a lyric book, and a 7″ single of “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “Girl On LSD”, in addition to all of the merch found in the super deluxe package, this one has it all for Petty fans.
Head over to the Tom Petty online store to pre-order whatever edition of Wildflowers & All The Rest fits your budget and level of Petty fanaticism. Listen to the newly-released homemade demo of “Wildflowers” below.
Tom Petty – “Wildflowers” (Home Recording)
[Video: tompetty]
[H/T Variety]