The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl (1983)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette, later replaced by a CD. My copy is not the 2007 reissue that included bonus tracks.

This is The Pretenders' greatest album and the only Pretenders release I currently own on CD even though Message of Love could possibly my favorite Pretenders song and it was on their previous release, Pretenders II. This is a more complete album. I saw this group on a tour back in July, 1998 with the B-52's (that's an interesting pairing, for sure). Chrissie Hynde can still bring it; this music has aged well. The song My City was Gone is especially poignant to me now because it makes me think of the town I grew up in which has undergone significant changes and decay over the past 25 years.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: ★★★★
• Trouser Press: "100 percent Hynde. And it's fine."
• CashBox: "one of early 84's success stories"
• Billboard: "strong songs, crack performances"
• Smash Hits (5 out of 10): "a patchy comeback LP"
• Robert Christgau (A-): 'I'm not the kind I used to be/I've got a kid, I'm thirty-three' is certainly a quotable quote, and whether rock-and-rolling her baby or growling at fat cats Chrissie Hynde backs it up."
• High Fidelity: "contains some of the Pretenders' finest music to date"
• Stereo Review: Best of the Month

Chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200 chart: #5
• Billboard Rock Album chart: #2
• CashBox album chart: #4
• Rolling Stone chart: #1

Tracks: Middle of the Road may be one of the best opening tracks of the 80s. My other favorites include Time the Avenger, My City was Gone, and 2000 Miles. I could do without the cover of The Persuaders' Thin Line Between Love and Hate mainly because it seems out of place on the album. I had no recollection of I Hurt You which shows that it is literally a forgettable track.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Two things come to mind. The first is that in the winter of 1983/84, MTV played the video for Back on the Chain Gang seemingly every hour. Secondly, this release reminds of a church youth group trip that I made to the Dallas area during spring break of 1984. I must have listened to this tape non-stop on that trip.