Anthology: Through the Years

Released

October 31, 2000

Recorded

1976–2000

Genre

Heartland rock, rock and roll

Length

124:07

Label

MCA

Producer

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers chronology

Echo
(1999)

Anthology: Through the Years
(2000)

The Last DJ
(2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Blender	^[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A^[4]
The Essential Rock Discography	8/10^[5]
Q	^[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[7]
Uncut	^[6]

Anthology: Through the Years is a double compilation album featuring the best of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It contains a new song, "Surrender," written by Petty in 1976 and recorded during sessions for the band's first album but left off the record, recorded again in 1979 but left off "Damn The Torpedoes," and finally recorded again in 2000 for this release. "Surrender" is also the last studio recording of Howie Epstein before his death in 2003. The 1976 version of the song was included on the 2018 box set An American Treasure.

Anthology: Through the Years was released on October 31, 2000, debuted at No. 132,^[8] which would mark the lowest chart-positioning on the Billboard 200 for the band. However, in November 2006, the album was certified Gold (equivalent to 500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA. It reached a new peak of No. 32 on Billboard 200 after Petty's death in 2017.^[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Petty, except where noted

Disc One
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album/notes	Length
1.	"Breakdown"		From Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976	2:42
2.	"American Girl"		From Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	3:30
3.	"Hometown Blues"		From Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	2:11
4.	"The Wild One, Forever"		From Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	3:03
5.	"I Need to Know"		From You're Gonna Get It!, 1978	2:24
6.	"Listen to Her Heart"		From You're Gonna Get It!	3:01
7.	"Too Much Ain't Enough"		From You're Gonna Get It!	2:56
8.	"Refugee"	Petty, Mike Campbell	From Damn the Torpedoes, 1979	3:21
9.	"Here Comes My Girl"	Petty, Campbell	From Damn the Torpedoes	4:33
10.	"Don't Do Me Like That"		From Damn the Torpedoes	2:44
11.	"Even the Losers"		From Damn the Torpedoes	4:00
12.	"The Waiting"		From Hard Promises, 1981	4:00
13.	"A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)"	Petty, Campbell	From Hard Promises	4:22
14.	"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks)	Petty, Campbell	From Nicks' album Bella Donna, 1981	4:04
15.	"You Got Lucky"	Petty, Campbell	From Long After Dark, 1982	3:37
16.	"Straight into Darkness"		From Long After Dark	3:49
17.	"Change of Heart"		From Long After Dark	3:18

Disc Two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album/notes	Length
1.	"Rebels"		From Southern Accents, 1985	5:20
2.	"Don't Come Around Here No More"	Petty, David A. Stewart	from Southern Accents	5:06
3.	"The Best of Everything"		From Southern Accents	4:03
4.	"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star"	Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman	From Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, 1985	3:38
5.	"Jammin' Me"	Petty, Campbell, Bob Dylan	From Let Me Up (I've Had Enough), 1987	4:08
6.	"It'll All Work Out"		From Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)	3:12
7.	"Love Is a Long Road"	Petty, Campbell	From Full Moon Fever, 1989	4:06
8.	"Free Fallin'"	Petty, Jeff Lynne	From Full Moon Fever	4:14
9.	"Yer So Bad"	Petty, Lynne	From Full Moon Fever	3:05
10.	"I Won't Back Down"	Petty, Lynne	From Full Moon Fever	2:56
11.	"Runnin' Down a Dream"	Petty, Campbell, Lynne	From Full Moon Fever	4:23
12.	"Learning to Fly"	Petty, Lynne	From Into the Great Wide Open, 1991	4:03
13.	"Into the Great Wide Open"	Petty, Lynne	From Into the Great Wide Open	3:44
14.	"Two Gunslingers"		From Into the Great Wide Open	3:10
15.	"Mary Jane's Last Dance"		From Greatest Hits, 1993	4:32
16.	"Waiting for Tonight"		From Playback, 1995	3:31
17.	"Surrender"		Re-recorded outtake, 2000	2:54

Personnel

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty – vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, percussion (all tracks on discs 1 & 2)
Mike Campbell – lead guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, koto (all tracks on discs 1 & 2)
Benmont Tench – piano, keyboards, backing vocals (all tracks on discs 1; tracks 1-6, 12-17 on disc 2)
Scott Thurston – guitar, backing vocals (track 17 on disc 2)
Ron Blair – bass guitar, cello (tracks 1–11 on Disc 1)
Howie Epstein – bass guitar, backing vocals (tracks 15-17 on disc 1; tracks 1-7, 10, 12-17 on disc 2)
Stan Lynch – drums, percussion, backing vocals (all tracks on disc 1; tracks 1-6, 12-16 on disc 2)
Steve Ferrone – drums (track 17 on disc 2)

Additional personnel

Jeff Jourard - electric guitar (track 1 on disc 1)
Phil Seymour – backing vocals (tracks 1-2 on disc 1)
Randall Marsh – drums (track 3 on disc 1)
Duck Dunn – bass guitar (tracks 3, 13-14 on disc 1)
Stevie Nicks – lead and backing vocals (track 14 on disc 1)
Jim Keltner – shaker, tambourine (track 8 on disc 1) percussion (track 3 on disc 2), drums, percussion (track 7 on disc 2)
Phil Jones – percussion (tracks 9–17 on disc 1), drums, percussion (tracks 7–11 on disc 2)
John Berry Jr., Dick Braun, Jim Colie, William Bergman, Kurt McGettrick, Molly Duncan, Dave Plews – horns (track 1 on disc 2)
Bobbye Hall - tambourine (track 1 on disc 2)
Dean Garcia – intro bass guitar (track 2 on disc 2)
Daniel Rothmuller – cello (track 2 on disc 2)
Alan Weidel – wild dog piano (track 2 on disc 2)
Stephanie Spruill, Sharon Celani, and Marilyn Martin – backing vocals (track 2 on disc 2)
Dave Stewart – electric sitar, synthesizer, backing vocals (track 2 on disc 2)
Garth Hudson – organ (track 3 on disc 2)
Richard Manuel – backing vocal (track 3 on disc 2)
Gary Chang – synthesizer (track 3 on disc 2)
Jerry Hey – horn conductor, arranger (track 3 on disc 2)
Lee Thornburg – trumpet (track 4 on disc 2)
Carroll Sue Hill, Pat Peterson – backing vocals, percussion (track 4 on disc 2)
Jeff Lynne – bass guitar, guitar, guitar synthesizer, piano, keyboards, backing vocals (tracks 7–14 on disc 2)
George Harrison – acoustic guitar, backing vocals (track 10 on disc 2)
Richard Tandy – synthesizer (track 14 on disc 2)
Chris Trujillo – percussion (track 15 on disc 2)
The Bangles (Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Vicki Peterson, Michael Steele) - backing vocals (track 16 on disc 2)
George Drakoulias – percussion (track 17 on disc 2)
Lenny Castro – percussion (track 17 on disc 2)

Charts

2000 weekly chart performance for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Chart (2000)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[10]	132

2001 weekly chart performance for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Chart (2001)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart^[11]	14

2002 weekly chart performance for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Chart (2002)	Peak position
Danish Top 40 Albums^[12]	22
New Zealand Top 40 Albums^[13]	19

2008 weekly chart performance for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Chart (2008)	Peak position
US Catalog Albums^[10]	6

2017 weekly chart performance for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[14]	51
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[15]	60
US Billboard 200^[16]	32

Certifications

Certifications for *Anthology: Through the Years*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[17]	Gold	100,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[18]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Anthology: Through the Years – Tom Petty, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
^ "Tom Petty: Anthology: Through the Years". Blender. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 2005. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
^ Brunner, Rob (2000-12-01). "Anthology: Through the Years Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 816. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
^ ^a ^b "Tom Petty / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Anthology: Through the Years CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
^ "Tom Petty: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. November 18, 2000.
^ Caulfield, Keith (October 8, 2017). "Tom Petty's 'Greatest Hits' Returns to Billboard 200 Albums Chart at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Anthology: Through the Years – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
^ "Artist Chart History: Tom Petty & Heartbreakers". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Anthology – Through the Years (Album)" (ASP). Danish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Anthology – Through the Years (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
^ "ARIA Chart Watch #441". auspOp. October 7, 2017. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
^ "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
^ "British album certifications – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Anthology - Through the Years". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
^ "American album certifications – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Anthology - Through the Years". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 11, 2021.

v t e Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty Mike Campbell Benmont Tench Ron Blair Stan Lynch Howie Epstein Scott Thurston Steve Ferrone
Studio albums	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers You're Gonna Get It! Damn the Torpedoes Hard Promises Long After Dark Southern Accents Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) Into the Great Wide Open Songs and Music from "She's the One" Echo The Last DJ Mojo Hypnotic Eye
Live albums	Official Live 'Leg Pack Up the Plantation: Live! The Live Anthology Mojo Tour 2010 Kiss My Amps Kiss My Amps, Vol. 2 Live at the Fillmore 1997
Compilations	Greatest Hits Playback Anthology: Through the Years An American Treasure The Best of Everything
Videography	Pack Up the Plantation: Live! Hard to Handle w/ Bob Dylan Playback Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ Runnin' Down a Dream
Songs	"Breakdown" "American Girl" "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" "I Need to Know" "Listen to Her Heart" "Don't Do Me Like That" "Refugee" "Here Comes My Girl" "Even the Losers" "The Waiting" "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" "You Got Lucky" "Change of Heart" "Don't Come Around Here No More" "Rebels" "Southern Accents" "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" "Jammin' Me" "Learning to Fly" "Into the Great Wide Open" "Something in the Air" "Mary Jane's Last Dance" "Walls (Circus)" "Change the Locks" "Room at the Top" "Surrender" "The Last DJ" "I Should Have Known It"
Related articles	Discography Songs Awards Mudcrutch Blue Stingrays Unchained