Get Close [Import]

But if you dont like poppy albums, you probably wouldnt like this at all. it sounds like they are trying to hard to fit in with the popular sound of the time, like radio stuff. you forget that the pretenders are a band. there is even this song that is suppose to be a dance song where this guy just repeats this phrase over and over again.
im not hating on this album. you just might want to hear it first before you buy it.

Who knows, you might like it, or you might not. its all about the style you like.

This album reflects the sounds of 1986. In part the Pretenders were a leader, bringing punk to the masses and in part they were a follower. But, they were always at the leading edge. The Pretenders moved from punk to new wave to pop to funk to disco. By this time disco had taken in all forms of music.

There are some nice funk songs on this album. Dance is probably the closest the Pretenders ever came to a disco dance hit. And then there is How Did You Get So Much Soul.

The real highlight of the album is the final track, Jimi Hendrix's Room Full of Mirrors. I remember hearing this on my car radio and then rushing out to buy the CD. It actually isn't too much different from Hendrix's version, but still great.

There are some mediocre tracks on this album. As always the biggest hit, Don't Get Me Wrong, is the weakest track on the CD.

Before getting this CD, I would get the first 3 (Prentenders, II and Learning to Crawl) and then Last Of the Independents. The first album came out of nowhere, smashing you over the head with a punk, hard rock sound. This wasn't just a matter of an English group softening an American artform for mass consumption(which is done a lot in England-jazz, rock, blues, soul, rap, etc.). There was a real passion in the music. With the second album, the group refined and improved on the sound, and went in some new directions. With Learning To Crawl, the group moved to a rock/pop sound, but still kept that punk edge. It was a successful mix. After that, Hynde has been trying to find a sound, experimenting with all kinds music. Some successful, some not.

Great records are about texture. Easy starts, pulsing builds, smashing climaxes. This record defines the textures of great rock. It'r raw, it's bluesy, it's driving, it's lamenting. It's everything.

Chrissie Hynde is one of the greatest talents who ever ventured into the realm of rock. She has impeccable musical instincts. She finds sublime intersections between punk and reggae and blues and straight-ahead rock and roll.

This is one of those albums that I could listen to every day for the rest of my life. If you don't have it, you need to get it.