Pretenders II (1981)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by this CD.

First, track 3 of this album is my all-time favorite Pretenders song, Message Of Love.

Second, this isn't a very good album as a whole, but if you compare it to the group's debut album, it becomes that much more disappointing. Sophomore slump, regression to the mean, whatever you want to call it. It rocks, but the overall material is weak. No matter, they'd bounce back with the next one.

I dig the fact there's no band name or title on the cover and I don't know if I like it for artistic reasons or because it must have driven the label's promotion department crazy. I think they ended up putting a sticker on the shrinkwrap?

Press of the time:

• Trouser Press: "disappointing in its pacing and reiterated techniques"
• Smash Hits (7 out of 10): "Whatever else, it's not pompous."
• Rolling Stone (★★★★): "passionate, recklessly engaged, and, in some ways, far richer that its predecessor"
• Stereo Review: "the biggest rock-and-roll letdown in recent memory"
• Musician: "Disappointing, but not the unmitigated disaster"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #10
• Billboard Rock: #11
• CashBox: #14
• Rolling Stone: #6

Tracks: The best stuff: Message Of Love (#5 rock) and Talk Of The Town. The good filler: I Go To Sleep (written by then-boyfriend Ray Davies), Pack It Up, and Louie Louie. Meh: Birds Of Paradise and Day After Day. The rest.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I originally purchased this album in the '80s solely for Message Of Love. Didn't listen to the rest of it much, if ever. The fact that titillating titles such as The Adultress and Bad Boys Get Spanked didn't capture the attention of a teenaged boy speaks for itself. I probably would have been better off picking up a copy of their Extended Play instead.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Learning to Crawl (1983)
Pretenders (1980)

Pretenders (1980)

Note: the CD I listened to was not the 2006 reissue with bonus disc.

First off, how great a band name is Pretenders?!? And Chrissie Hynde's tough girl attitude and condescending glares really get me going. This is one of the great debut albums and, even though I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, I finally got to it and I'm glad I did. A fantastic amalgamation of punk, New Wave, pop, and rock, this album quickly reached heavy rotation around here once I finally gave it its due. Great songwriting, an immediately recognizable voice, and outstanding guitar work by James Honeyman Scott.

Accolades:

• debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart
• #52 - Best Albums of All Time by VH1
• #64 - Best Albums of the 80s by Slant Magazine
• A minus - Robert Christgau
• #13 - 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine
• #20 - 100 Best Albums of the '80s by Rolling Stone Magazine
• #152 - 500 Greatest Albums of All time by Rolling Stone Magazine (2020)

Press of the time:

• Record Mirror (++++): "an inspiring bit of stuff"
• Rolling Stone: "some of the freshest, most provocative music around right now"
• Smash Hits (9 out of 10): "Great album"
• Stereo Review: "one of the hottest little rock bands going"
• Trouser Press: "the most arresting debut LP of the year"
• Musician: "impressive debut"
• Slash: "If I've ever seen a hit machine this is it"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #9
• CashBox: #12
• Rolling Stone: #5

Tracks:  When know we're in for a treat from the get-go when Precious hits the speakers and Chrissie Hynde tells us to f off. Other great lyrics include "I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for" from Tattooed Love Boys. Other favorites include Up The Neck, The Kid, Mystery Achievement and, of course, Brass In Pocket. Private Life reminds me so much of early Police, that I swear Andy Summers is playing the guitar part. Don't skip any of the 12 tracks and don't listen on shuffle because the sequencing is perfect as is.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This was one of many albums that my high school buddy Jim played for me in the early '80s that I summarily dismissed. Because of my closed mind, I had to do remedial work later. Better late than never.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Learning to Crawl (1983)

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

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #5
• Billboard Rock: #2
• CashBox: #4
• Rolling Stone: #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.