It has always been something of a mystery that Tom Petty’s massive popularity in his American homeland has never been replicated on these shores.

He has a loyal following over here for sure but his status is nothing like the same as that of his compatriot, Mr Bruce Springsteen.

Stateside, for the past thirty odd years, Petty has been solid gold rock royalty and a hugely bankable star, especially on the concert circuit where he sells out vast stadiums with easy.

And such is his reputation amongst his fellow musicians that no less a figure than Bob Dylan asked Petty if he and his band (the Heartbreakers) would take on the role of being his backing musicians on a world tour in the late 80’s.

Also, Petty was one quarter of The Travelling Wilburys, undoubtedly the finest supergroup that was ever assembled, along with Messrs Roy Orbison, George Harrison and of course, Dylan himself.

With his signature Byrds influenced chiming guitars and strong melodies, Petty has made consistently fine albums and penned many a song that would be regarded as a rock classic.

He’s all-American but no more so than Springsteen and his songwriting is certainly of a less jingoistic nature than The Boss’s compositions which again makes his relative failing in the UK by comparison perhaps even more difficult to fathom.

However good Tom Petty is on record, he’s better again by half on stage, where he and his trusty Heartbreakers regularly deliver near three hour shows night after night of the tightest, hook-laden, rousing rock and if there is an artist or band that works harder for their audience than Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers then please tell.

Somewhat surprisingly then for a band for whom getting out there and performing on-stage is so much a part of what they are all about, there has been, to date, a distinct shortage of ‘live’ concert recordings available in their catalogue.

Thankfully though, that situation has just been rectified in most splendid fashion in the form of a new box set entitled, ‘Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology which has gathered together, across 4CDs, forty-eight stunning concert performances spanning Petty’s entire career, perfectly showcasing his magnificent stagecraft.

There’s also a ‘bells and whistles’ deluxe edition of the box set available that provides an additional fourteen cuts on a 5th CD along with DVD extras that include a previously unreleased 1978 New Year’s Eve gig and a documentary, ‘400 Days’ focusing on the recording and tour of the Wildflowers album. And if that wasn’t enough for your money, you further get the remastered 1976 vinyl ‘Official Live Leg’ bootleg and a Blu-ray disc featuring all 62 tracks.

If you’ve chosen not to embrace CDs and you are a vinyl junkie, still preferring the ‘warm’ sound of that format, then you’ll no doubt prefer to buy ‘The Live Anthology’ as a 51 track, 7LP edition.

Whichever version you choose to purchase though, you’ll get to hear great renditions of Petty classics and crowd favourites such as ‘American Girl’, ‘Refugee’, ‘Even The Losers’, ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’, ‘Learning To Fly’, ‘Here Comes My Girl’, ‘Jammin Me’, ‘The Waiting’, ‘Running Down a Dream’, ‘I Won’t Back Down’ and ‘Free Falling’.

‘The Live Anthology’ is an absolute ‘must have’ item for all Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers diehards and it’s a set that will also add value to any self-respecting record collection.