Customer Reviews

Pretenders

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been listening to (and loving, and rabidly recommending, and freaking out over, and obsessing over) this record for over twenty of my thirty-four years. What band's debut is better? What record is more packed full of brilliantly intense and intensely brilliant songwriting, playing, and singing?

If you're serious about learning the history of rock music, you should hear this record. If you want to hear one of the first records to offer a woman's perspective in the largely testosterone-choked legacy of punk rock, you should hear this record. If you love intelligent lyrics, incendiary musicianship, and flat-out brilliant songwriting, you should hear this record. If you want to hear music that makes you feel alive, you should hear this record!

Considering the six bucks I spent to buy it back in the 1980s, Chrissie Hynde and company have given me so much pleasure in the ensuing 20+ years that the entertainment value is beyond measure. To me, this ranks with the 1st Modern Lovers and Velvet Underground records and Marquee Moon in terms of flawless, timeless debut albums. This is one for the ages.

This is the first album that I actually fell head over heals, madly, psychopathically in love with. Looking back on it, I can't understand why I felt that strongly about a piece of music, even though I still love to listen to it now and then.

Yet, whenever I do listen, it never fails to remind me just how strongly I felt as a college student. And I still love it today.

One of the few New Wave records that stand the test of time and can be appreciated today as something more substantial than mere nostalgia. The band rocks hard with some very innovative arrangements on cuts like "Precious" and "Tattooed Love Boys." Then they turn around and deliver some great pop songs like "Kid" and "Stop Your Sobbing." It's a shame that half the band died after recording this music. The Pretenders never attained the same heights again.

It seems that the most impactful music, if not necessarily the best work, of many artists is their first album. Maybe it has something to do with living a lifetime, building up emotion, frustration and ideas until that moment when you can finally release it all on record. Then, every year or two, you get to put out another record. It would only follow that those subsequent releases, perhaps more sophisticated, more nuanced and skillful, might still be lacking a certain spark.

This first Pretenders record is their finest moment. Yes, there have been other good moments, but nothing as consistently good. Of course, when half the band dies off by the second record, surely that would have a dramatic impact as well.

I was reminded how good this album was when stumbling on these reviews on Amazon. I hadn't listened to the album in a few years, and reading the reviews again reminded me how good it was. So, I dug it out today and played the cd again, and yes, it still retains that spark. You can't say that about all that many albums some twenty years later. The contrast of sweetness and balls-to-the-walls aggression mixes quite nicely on this record. Just when you think you wouldn't want to be walking on the same side of the street if Chrissy Hynde came along, she becomes this gentle figure of compassion.

All the songs are really good, but I have the most affection for the duo of 'The Phone Call' & 'Up the Neck'. Grind-it-up melody is how I'll describe it. And since few have mentioned them, 'Lovers of Today' & 'Private Life' are worthy of specific attention here as well.

The cd version could stand an update, whether it be to SACD or DVD-A, or even a simple remastering. The original transfer to disc is a bit harsh, not uncommon to the early transfers done when cd technology was starting to take over. Certainly this is one deserving of such renewal. Harsh or not, don't let that stop you from marching to the store or the local library to check out this great slice of "punk/new-wave" rock. It doesn't necessarily seem so "punk" or "new-wave" to our modern ears (back when this came out, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were considered punk/new wave too, believe it or not.. it's just that people were so accustomed to rock music sounding only a certain way, that anything even slightly outside of those constricted boundaries was considered wierd. Now, it just sounds aggressively melodic with a little "potty mouth" thrown in from time to time).

Chrissy Hynde once said that she used to practice singing for hours on end in her bedroom closet before she struck out on her own. We can all be very thankful that she stepped out of that closet.

When i heard this for the first time... it was something of a life-changing event. I had liked some new wave music, but was mostly a Led Zeppelin chick - smoking pot with my friends and pondering Jim Morrison's poetry on Doors albums.

Then... THIS ALBUM... wow! From the instant "Precious" starts with the drumsticks clicking and then... Chrissie sings... and you're not exactly sure WHAT she's saying, but you just know she is the coolest girl singer in many years. Combining a mix of Shangri-La's tuff-girl with some Dusty Springfield soul, not to mention some bad-ass Keith Richards looks - how could you lose with Chrissie as your lead singer?

The interesting thing is that even though I was born and raised in the USA, I learned this album's lyrics from copying the sounds she makes and didn't know some of them actually HAD lyrics for years. Who cares? Now that i DO know the lyrics, it seems I'm quoting them ALL the time. "Howard the Duck and Mr Stress both stayed trapped in a world that they never made - But not me baby, i'm too precious i had to f#@% off!" - "I said, Baby, oh, sweetheart" - "It was all very run of the mill" - "I was a good time, yeah, i got pretty good" - "stop snivelin' - you're gonna make some plastic surgeon a rich man!" - "i'm very superficial i hate anything official" - "all of the birds start to sing everytime babies dream" - "you know me - i love pretending"

I think i've bought about 4 copies over the years... don't cheese out and ONLY get the Singles collection! :)

If you buy this album, you, too, can find out what the Wait is all about.

And remember - PLAY IT LOUD

This album stirs up so many emotions. Lust,love and hate and does so quite remarkably. Spent many early teenage angst filled years wearing this one out. I still keep it in my cd rotation, and probably always will. Every song on the album is great from the angry tattoed love boys, to the passionate sensitivity of Lovers of today. This one ranks in the greatest like Hole's Live through this.

The first time I heard "Brass In Pocket" I ran to my local record store to buy The Pretenders debut album. What a surprise, the entire album was excellent and it contained many uptempo rockers as well as a few slower tunes. Being a big fan of the "new wave" movement, having recently bought albums by The Romantics, The Clash, The Vapors and Devo this was right up my alley as so to speak. The album was full of intensity with alot of soaring guitar work by the late James Honeyman Scott and enough can't be said of Chrissie Hynde's excellent vocals. There were so many great songs on The Pretender's debut album such as "Precious", "Up The Neck", "Tattooed Love Boys", "The Wait", "Brass In Pocket", "Kid", "Stop Your Sobbing", and my personal favorite "Mystery Achievement". I still feel that this is the group's best album, although The Pretenders did continue releasing some excellent songs throughout the eighties and nineties. If you enjoy listening to artists such as Blondie, The Go Go's, Holly & The Italians, and The Photos you'll love The Pretenders first release.

This CD represents one of the best rock albums ever made, clearly the best music being made at the time of its release, and, as many have suggested, the best the Pretenders ever created. At a time when the airwaves were dominated by bad music, as punk and new wave were emerging as alternatives, this band stood out. Unlike many of those alternatives, this music still sounds fresh.

There may never have been a better rock song written than Precious, and when the song moves past the opening Ramones-like guitar strumming, we instantly travel far beyond punk to reveal a unique and wondrous voice and singing style, then a guitar sound never heard before. My jaw still drops as raw energy and musical flair combine to introduce what was then an entirely new sound. Whether it's the guitars, the way chords are combined, or Chrissie Hynde's voice, this is a band that is distinctive at its best, as here, or at its worst.

This album was made before CD's, and had two sides that were put to good use. Side one was absolutely blistering rock, from Precious to The Wait, and was all I listened to 20 years ago. Sophisticated, biting, shocking lyrics were spat out with energy that is preserved here. If Chrissie Hynde's voice has been an influence on many others, so was Patti Smith's, very audible in The Wait. Side two was the pop side. It doesn't have that same fierce rock sound, but beginning with the Kinks cover that was our first ballad from Chrissie Hynde, it stands out in its own way. Kid remains a good ballad, and Brass in Pocket a classic pop anthem. Private Life is vocally and lyrically sophisticated, and Mystery Achievement picks up the pace to close the album with a driving beat and changes that still sounds great.

There simply isn't a bad song here. This is a near-perfect album. Amazon is full of 5-star reviews for everything from the best to the worst, but this is the essential Pretenders album. It may be downhill from here, but that isn't unusual or bad. Many singers or bands spend years putting together their best material for a first album, then have less time to write songs for those that follow shortly thereafter. And then are simply not able to rise twice to the level at which one changes the course of popular music. Isn't once enough?

Put a group of great musicians together, add Chrissie Hynde to the mix and you get an explosive debut album!

Strong solid rockers, touching ballads, and great song writing!

All pulled off with a hardcore edgy punk attitude!

The best release by the Pretenders and a Mystery Achievement yet to be matched!!!

I first heard "Brass in Pocket" right around the beginning of 1980. I thought to myself - 'man, the 80s are gonna be great when it comes to musics'. I immediately went out and bought the Pretenders debut album.

The irony became that "Brass in Pocket" is possibly the weakest song on the recording (though I have little use for "Space Invaders").

"Precious" and "Mystery Achievement" are possibly the best opening and closing numbers on a record ever. Sandwiched inbetween are some wonderful, underrated recordings that rarely got played. "Lovers of Today" and "Private Life" are much more subtle than "Tattooed Love Boys", but it works. And the almost pop of "Stop Your Sobbing" and "Kid" really fit in nicely without becoming sell-out material.

Everything else is just as good - though as mentioned, "Brass in Pocket" may have become too overplayed for me, but that's just quibbeling on my part.

The Pretenders have put out a lot of other good work (their 2nd and 3rd albums), but it does pain me to say - they've never matched the accomplishments of their debut disk.