REVIEWS:
Post your comments about Pretenders
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This was the band's landmark debut, and for good reason, because this is one of the absolute finest examples of infectious melodies and rhythms that the 80s had to offer - due to the band's phenomenal chemistry and Chrissie Hynde's considerable gift for a hook and skill at conveying distinct emotion. The album explodes immediately with "Precious", a defiant anthem that you can dance to easily, due to that rhythm section, and "The Phone Call" is simply a frantic rush of adrenaline vocally and musically, with its' almost constant time changes and complex solo section. "Up The Neck", meanwhile, is a pure classic example of their distinctive sound and energy, while "Space Invader" is a great atmospheric, creatively executed instrumental. Unfortunately, there are also two lesser tracks here that stop the momentum a bit - the aggressive but not very catchy "Tattooed Love Boys" and the similarly unmemorable "The Wait".
The second half, however, is a completely different story, and it's one of the greatest latter halves of an album I've ever heard, beginning with the stunning Kinks cover "Stop Your Sobbing" - I haven't heard the original from theat band's debut, but it's supposedly overly sappy, generic, and not very worthwhile, but it is breathtakingly beautiful, sincere and melodic here. "Kid" is also a desperate sounding, heartfelt emotional plea, with an astonishingly uplifting bridge and fantastic melody. "Private Life" continues the album's unstoppable creative drive with a dark, moody number featuring a haunting bassline and something of a musical edge.
It's the biggest hit single "Brass In Pocket", however, that convinced me to by this album in the first place, and it's worth it for the price alone, because it's got the complete package - everything about the song is absolutely irresistible, from the addictive main riff to the groovy rhythm section performance to the infectious hook to the brilliant cocky attitude conveyed throughout the lyrics ('I'm special, I gotta have some of your attention, give it to me'). I think so highly of this song that it may be my pick for the greatest single of the entire decade on the right kind of day, it's that friggin' great. Unbelievably, the following "Lovers Of Today" comes ever so close to capturing magic, an amazing example of sheer musical beauty and inspiration, lyrically, melodically and musically, while "Mystery Achievement" closes things out as an exciting rocker with an engaging bassline and riff, capping off quite a convincing musical 'achievement' of a debut album that has rightfully earned its' praise and is an essential.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Not too surprisingly, the Pretenders' second effort takes its' title quite literally, being just as much a retread of the debut as Home Alone 2 is of its' original, featuring songs in the same style. However, while the New Wave pop sound here definitely isn't as fresh and exciting as before, it's still such an attractive sound, and it is only their second attempt at it, so it also doesn't quite seem stagnant yet. Another thing to remember is that this is could arguably be called the last album the Pretenders did as a band, not as a mere foil for Chrissie Hynde's songs - especially when you consider that key members crucial to their sound, Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott, would both be dead of drug overdose within the next two years. So that's basically what it is - a rewrite of a great record, but hey, it's a good rewrite, since the songs are actually quite fine, if ultimately less energetic and more slickly produced.
It's a bit hard to discuss the songs in too much detail, since almost all of them have counterparts from the debut. There's even another cover of a Kinks song from that band's early period, though this time the cover might be the best thing here - "I Go To Sleep" is given a gorgeously 'dreamy' acoustic-based atmosphere, great guitar and keyboard embellishments to add to an already excellent pop melody. Elsewhere, the opener "The Adultress" is basically a dumber (but still entertaining) take on the 'tough girl' speaking/singing style of "Precious", "Bad Boys Get Spanked" openly recalls the faster rockers like "Tattooed Love Boys", "Jealous Dogs" favors the creepy, slowly building guitar/bass atmospherics of something like "Private Life", and the closer "Louie, Louie" (no, it's not that "Louie, Louie", though it is built on a similar chord sequence) is an obviously inferior version of the bouncy rock found on "Mystery Achievement", dumb ending refrain and lack of verse melody added on.
So why should we really care about this album if it's merely a repeat of before? Well, first of all, with the exception of "Louie, Louie", basically all the songs range from good to great (though obviously not approaching "Brass In Pocket"-level great). There's some fabulous pop songs like the entertainingly shifting "Message Of Love", the soaring "Day After Day", and the shimmering "Talk Of The Town" with that great band chemistry and the usual fantastic vocal delivery, plus fine balladry in "The English Roses" and "Birds Of Paradise", the latter in following "I Go To Sleep" can quite easily put the listener in a dream state for the good 6 or 7 minute length both are on. The rocker "Pack It Up", is a decent display of attitude, with a generic but fun riff and some spoken trash-talking thrown in there, and "Waste Not, Want Not" is a pretty fun stab at reggae (Ahh - something they didn't do on the debut! Pretend you didn't hear it).
In all, the retreading qualities of this are almost obnoxiously apparent at many points, but really, how can I help it when the material is this good? In theory, I probably shouldn't give it as high as a low 8, since most of these approaches have been done before and mostly better, plus there are no 'wow, man, that's amazing' type tracks to be found, but hey. If AC/DC can make the same album over and over with obvious recycled riffs and tempos and still come out on top, why can't the Pretenders do more in the same style here? And in doing so, they succeed. A terrible shame they couldn't keep the chemistry going, though.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Samuel Fassbinder)
As you read above, the Pretenders (as everyone else said) are the name of Chrissie Hynde's band, Chrissie Hynde being the tough-sounding female lead vocalist leader of the band. Oh sure, there were albums after the debut, The Pretenders, there was for instance a Pretenders II, which was kind of like The Pretenders but not as good or as experimental. Well, Learning To Crawl is Chrissie Hynde's album for the working class. The working class? Who? Even if you aren't a member, the TV tells you today that you know who these people are; of course they're the folks that are celebrated in song and image in one of the most recent Budweiser TV ads, "this is for the people in the neighborhood."
Now, of course, rock stars who make million-dollar rock records (like Chrissie Hynde) aren't really the folks who make the world run, they don't grow your food or build the buildings you use or run your transportation networks or do anything of such importance. The Pretenders aren't the primary producers of the Western lifestyle by any stretch, all they do is put out music so they can make lots of money off of you through the music industry while at the same time becoming famous musical icons. Meanwhile the guy who sweeps the floors makes minimum wage in a job that guarantees his anonymity, the housewife is seen even less often. Chrissie Hynde is therefore, of course, an aristocrat of labor; she's rich like all of the other popstars, that's her job.
Did I tell you this is an album of clean rock tunes which commemorates the struggles of working people? Just trying to put it in perspective. Guitar, bass, drums, voice only; piano but only on one song. Great lead guitar licks and lots of good musical hooks, tho' the guitar sounds are less piercing than the ones on the debut album and on Pretenders II, doubtless due to the death of James Honeyman Scott, their old guitarist. Memorable tunes, each and every one of them, though "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" and "I Hurt You" have melodies that drag a bit (as befitting the lyrical content, which is about couples who fight). Lyrics which recognize material poverty, overwork, monotony, and struggle within the lives of working people.
"Watching The Clothes" is about someone who has to do her laundry on Saturday night when everyone else is presumably having fun. Chrissie sings brusquely "I been working hard/ Tryin to make some money/ Would you like sour cream/ On that potato honey?" Lyrics about travel that aren't about tourism. "Middle Of The Road" is about why travel sucks when you're a musician, a good hard-driving song, like a car on the freeway. "Thumbelina" is about the breakup of a family and about a cross-country escape; "My City Was Gone" is about the disappearance of community Hynde felt when whe "went back to Ohio." This is a great album to listen to when you're going to and from your day job.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Samuel Fassbinder)
As with The Pretenders and Pretenders II, Chrissie Hynde sings about dangerous themes, well, lovers who fight, prostitutes, pathetic guys, mostly, only here the melodies seem undecided or monotonous and the biting sarcasm seemingly absent from the lyrics, which contain a straightforward bluntness often devoid of metaphor. Much of this album Hynde appears to be filled with soulful passion but she's often (here) undecided about the sort of passion she wished to evoke in her listeners. Maybe this album had to come out according to a certain time-frame -- it's sort of a next-to-last draft of an album if you ask me. The first song, "Hollywood Perfume," starts out with the ripple of a distorted guitar, and the drums come in soon thereafter, followed by a come-hither whistle, another guitar line, and the bass line, but the melody? It's there somewhere, Chrissie's voice is supposed to carry it, but Chrissie's voice seems pretty tentative about what this melody is supposed to be.
"Night In My Veins," a song about casual sex, seems to have more of a point, though "Money Talk" reverts to the pattern, all the instruments playing in repetitive fashion, with nothing else guiding each tune to its end but a series of backup melodies and rhythms repeated over and over again by the instruments. On a lot of the songs I didn't quite understand what the lyrics were about -- "Money Talk" is about asking for money, but what else is it about? "Revolution" is about fighting for freedom, but freedom to do what? Love songs such as "All My Dreams" seem kind of monotonous, and are followed up by "I'll Stand By You," a big piece of overbearing schmaltz. "Won't let nobody hurt you," Chrissie sings in her loud voice. "I'm A Mother" rocks out, & it's followed by "Tequila," a song clocking in at a depressingly short one minute thirteen seconds, followed by "Every Mother's Son," another song confused about its melody.
"Rebel Rock Me," no I don't like rockabilly, "Love Colours," a repetitious rocker, and a cover of "Forever Young" finish this album. There are some good ideas in here, I don't think most of them come to fruition though. Maybe my rating is a little severe, "Night In My Veins" and "Revolution" are great tunes, but I got bored listening to this one all the way through. Give it an extra point if you don't actively dislike "I'll Stand By You" or if you are a revolutionary who needs "Revolution," or if you are caught rooting for the melody of "Every Mother's Son."
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Samuel Fassbinder)
A significantly more thorough and finished effort than Last Of The Independents, ¡Viva el Amor! carries memorable tunes with great melodies and its lyrics have followable story-lines with recognizably-biting sarcasm. Chrissie uses all of the elements in Last Of The Independents (and indeed these are the elements in most of her stuff outside of Learning To Crawl and that cool song about revolution) to greater effect here. "Popstar" is this funny pastiche about popstars that ends with Chrissie Hynde in this silly background dialogue with a voice from "Dee-Troit" as the rest of band crashes through to the end of the song, "Human" and "Nails In The Road" are about (what else) lovers who fight, "From The Heart Down" is a love song that isn't overbearing, "Who's Who" and "Baby's Breath" are funny shove-offs presumably addressed to unwanted guys. From "Who's Who": "A man without a home/ Is never alone/ Well just look at what he's got/ The whole parking lot." "Baby's Breath" has GREAT bass-playing in the background, BTW.
The flaws in this album seemingly descend from the flaws in Last Of The Independents: "Dragway 42" is too heavy upon the melodrama, "Legalize Me" is too closely descended to previous Pretenders tunes, and "One More Time" is too schmaltzy, but "Samurai" is this spooky tune where she carries off the dramatic moment with lyrics that hint rather than telling, with a great guitar interlude. "Rabo de Nube" is a piece of poetry sung in a Spanish, probably for her Colombian husband. "Biker" is a moment in outlaw chic accompanied by strings and a romantic tune. This album puts some life into the later Pretenders. Add a point to the rating if you really like Chrissie Hynde's regular schtick. Me, I think songs about human relationships are all out of proportion to the real relationships we have out there, and the balance would be redressed if the pop music world would sing more about our relationship to our personal economies.
Post your comments / reviews for this album