Gonna go out on a limb here and say Brass In Pocket because it's just perfect.
― Supposed Former ILM Lurker (WeWantMiles), Thursday, 14 November 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link
A number of them seem just perfect.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 14 November 2013 16:17 (ten years ago) link
Brass In PocketDon't Get Me WrongTalk Of The TownStop Your SobbingHymn To HerBack On The Chain Gang
..all pretty much unfuckable with
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link
"Talk of the Town" v. "Chain Gang" is impossible for me. Flipped a coin: "Talk of the Town."
― col, Thursday, 14 November 2013 16:23 (ten years ago) link
"Back on the Chain Gang" has my favorite bridge ever
― rip van wanko, Thursday, 14 November 2013 16:28 (ten years ago) link
"Middle of the Road"
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 14 November 2013 16:52 (ten years ago) link
common laborer by night, by day highbrow
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:03 (ten years ago) link
I've got a mash up of five or six of these songs playing on repeat in my skull now, probably for the rest of the evening.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:09 (ten years ago) link
I'll probably vote for Don't Get Me Wrong.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:17 (ten years ago) link
"Message of Love," because that arrangement is pure infectious genius.
― He got...JACKED UP!!!!! (WilliamC), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:19 (ten years ago) link
just likeBRIGITTE BARDOT!
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:21 (ten years ago) link
That song has never failed to totally neutralize any ongoing bad mood.
― He got...JACKED UP!!!!! (WilliamC), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:22 (ten years ago) link
it's more like a ten-way tie for first place.
this. but Brass In Pocket, if I have to.
― Vic Arpeggio, Private Investigator (stevie), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:22 (ten years ago) link
listening to this collection now is one of the better things to happen this week
― why is it i'm diggin your played out rhyme scenes (Hunt3r), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:27 (ten years ago) link
I've been going on a bit of a YouTube jag for the last half hour. Brilliantly crafted songs.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Thursday, 14 November 2013 17:29 (ten years ago) link
Haven't heard a few of them since I was a kid I don't think.
i've always loved that "message of love" has a chorus that isn't repeated. the same music shows up a second time as the song's coda/outro, but without vocals save for the "talk to me darling" vamping as it's fading out.
i could easily vote for half the songs here, but especially "message" along with "brass in pocket," "kid" and "stop your sobbing."
― i play too fast (which is the sign of an amateur) (fact checking cuz), Thursday, 14 November 2013 20:36 (ten years ago) link
whoa at disc 2 of pirate radio on stream. i don't know "tradition of love" but i'll need to listen to that more closely again later.
― why is it i'm diggin your played out rhyme scenes (Hunt3r), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:02 (ten years ago) link
"Hymn to Her" is gorgeous, ain't it?
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:04 (ten years ago) link
yes
― why is it i'm diggin your played out rhyme scenes (Hunt3r), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:06 (ten years ago) link
I find it almost unbearably moving without having much of a clue as to what it's actually about.
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
Keep beckoning to meFrom behind that closed doorThe maid and the motherAnd the crone that's grown old
I hear your voiceComing out of that holeI listen to youAnd I want some moreI listen to youAnd I want some more
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:26 (ten years ago) link
"Hymn to Her"? It's a conflation of motherly/sisterly and lesbian love.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:27 (ten years ago) link
Oh kay
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
I know it's a very basic musical move, but the one thing about Chrissie's voice that totally kills me is when she spreads a word at the end of a line over two or three notes ending up on the root note of the chord in that low register she has. And she does that all the damn time and I should be tired of it but no, not at all.
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:43 (ten years ago) link
what is the hole?
― OutdoorFish, Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:44 (ten years ago) link
It is a mystery!
Anyhow, this greatest hits is not perfect is it? A few clunkers perhaps, I could certainly live without the UB40 stuff.
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:45 (ten years ago) link
"Kid" forever and for always.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 14 November 2013 21:58 (ten years ago) link
Album wasn't on Spotify afaict so I made a playlist for it:http://open.spotify.com/user/lumpygravy/playlist/2sMVIv4rXG1oLTJKXLuGpZ
What the hell is this Spiritual High garbage?
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 22:00 (ten years ago) link
Not as good as the Donna Summer version of that song, that's for sure
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Thursday, 14 November 2013 22:01 (ten years ago) link
― rip van wanko, Thursday, November 14, 2013 4:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
YES! It has
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 15 November 2013 01:01 (ten years ago) link
I was gonna vote "Day after Day"
but.
― Mark G, Friday, 15 November 2013 02:07 (ten years ago) link
"Brass In Pocket" is like one of the greatest songs of all time, so that.
― Bee OK, Friday, 15 November 2013 02:16 (ten years ago) link
goddamn it I may listen to Pretenders tonight
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 November 2013 02:16 (ten years ago) link
In the absence of "Tattooed Love Boys" and "Mystery Achievement," it's "Talk of the Town."
i don't know "tradition of love" but i'll need to listen to that more closely again later.
That is the absolute hidden gem on Get Close.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 15 November 2013 02:25 (ten years ago) link
the synths are gunky but her bending notes is as thing of wonder (lo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ooove)
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 November 2013 02:28 (ten years ago) link
Talk Of The Town
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 15 November 2013 03:34 (ten years ago) link
is her vibrato rated by actual singers? because it sounds so unusually slow and controlled to me.
god i love her voice, vulnerable or bulletproof and authoritative, whenever or however it suits her.
― why is it i'm diggin your played out rhyme scenes (Hunt3r), Friday, 15 November 2013 03:40 (ten years ago) link
talk of the town one of the greatest songs ever written by anyone
― kel's vintage port (electricsound), Friday, 15 November 2013 03:44 (ten years ago) link
^^^^ especially the unexpected "I want you-uh-HOOOO" in the last verse
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 November 2013 03:46 (ten years ago) link
"Night in My Veins" is one of the greatest late-career songs ever (or what I think of as late career -- I realize we are now farther away from "Night in My Veins" than "Night in My Veins" was from "Brass in Pocket"). But I'm still going to vote "Message of Love."
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Friday, 15 November 2013 03:48 (ten years ago) link
"Night in My Veins" was my first new Pretenders song, and it lived up to whatever idea I'd formed about them.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 November 2013 11:57 (ten years ago) link
yeah, I can't express how much I love this song. Once in a while I forget how good it is, then hear it again and get bowled over by Hynde's singing or the guitars or lines like "You arrived like a day/and passed like a cloud"
― col, Friday, 15 November 2013 14:56 (ten years ago) link
"Chain Gang" is my automatic answer and i'm comfortable with it.
― a strident purist when it comes to band-related shirts (Noodle Vague), Friday, 15 November 2013 15:00 (ten years ago) link
Love "Chain Gang." Would also consider "Don't Get Me Wrong" and even "Middle of the Road." "Kid" is kind of a masterpiece, too.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 15 November 2013 15:09 (ten years ago) link
"You arrived like a day/and passed like a cloud"
"I made a weesh"
― Hideous Lump, Saturday, 16 November 2013 03:57 (ten years ago) link
"ahnd said it ow-loud"
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 16 November 2013 04:01 (ten years ago) link
"don't get me wrong" is the best.
my folks had get close on cassette, i was taken aback years later when i got the cd and discovered that "don't get me wrong" was not the album opener.
― brimstead, Sunday, 17 November 2013 03:48 (ten years ago) link
Aside from generally perfect pop construction and emotional connection, I have noticed that many of the Pretenders peaks have immaculate bridges.
― MatthewK, Sunday, 17 November 2013 10:03 (ten years ago) link
folks had get close on cassette, i was taken aback years later when i got the cd and discovered that "don't get me wrong" was not the album opener.
"My Baby" is pretty sweet though.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 17 November 2013 12:37 (ten years ago) link
ive relistened to chain gang like 10 times now it's still magic for me.
i remember not liking it when it first hit the radio, i thought the oooh ahhs were so cheesy, and pigeons from hell were ...wtf is that about?
― critique by the phantom media (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 20 November 2013 23:10 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 21 November 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
No love for 2,000 Miles or Hymn To Her :(
― but my heart is full of woah (NickB), Thursday, 21 November 2013 00:15 (ten years ago) link
But good work people all the same
kudos to whoever voted for "Night in My Veins.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 November 2013 00:16 (ten years ago) link
me! (and i can't believe i'm the only one......)
― Lee626, Thursday, 21 November 2013 00:24 (ten years ago) link
ha! who voted the UB40 collab??
― http://i26.tinypic.com/2udyu5e.jpg (stevie), Thursday, 21 November 2013 07:28 (ten years ago) link
i don't have any massive beef w/UB40 tbh, but still
"Those were the happiest days of my life" - nobody has ever delivered this line more heart-breakingly
― uk cheese board (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 21 November 2013 08:28 (ten years ago) link
^ TRUTH
― but my heart is full of woah (NickB), Thursday, 21 November 2013 08:37 (ten years ago) link
I could totally see some shit artist piano player covering Hymn to Her and scoring a massive massive Radio 2 friendly hit.
― a beef supreme (dog latin), Thursday, 21 November 2013 12:40 (ten years ago) link
What's difficults about Pretenders is that there is some universe in which "2000 Miles" is the greatest song of all time, instead of pulling zero votes against one of the toughest starting fields in existence.
― MatthewK, Friday, 22 November 2013 11:20 (ten years ago) link
uh, nice typo
― MatthewK, Friday, 22 November 2013 11:21 (ten years ago) link
sucks to be just brilliant when amazing exists
― kel's vintage port (electricsound), Friday, 22 November 2013 11:28 (ten years ago) link
my top twenty-five
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 February 2017 02:40 (seven years ago) link
"Mystery Achievement" FTW!
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 17 February 2017 03:05 (seven years ago) link
WHERE'S MY SANDY BEACH
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 February 2017 03:11 (seven years ago) link
OTM both for Mystery Achievement at #1 and for Chrissie Hynde being awesome vocalist.
― that's not my post, Friday, 17 February 2017 04:47 (seven years ago) link
ILX correct for once
― Οὖτις, Friday, 17 February 2017 05:08 (seven years ago) link
i love this band so much -- hearing almost any of their singles or really anything from the debut never fails to cheer me up.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 17 February 2017 05:27 (seven years ago) link
I may have said this before, but the transition from the middle 8 back to the verse in Chain Gang is one of the finest moments in all of pop music
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 17 February 2017 11:56 (seven years ago) link
There was a BBC4 documentary about Chrissie the other night. It badly needed some editing, but it really came alive when she jammed with some rockabillies in her local pub. If anything, her voice has gained in power over the years.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 17 February 2017 12:15 (seven years ago) link
Yes. Mystery Achievement and Up the Neck are the two best Pretenders songs.
Does anybody else really like her single from a few years back, Dark Sunglasses? I thought that was her best song in many many years but it seems like nobody heard it.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 17 February 2017 14:05 (seven years ago) link
Ooh would love to see that BBC doc!
― You're going to see a lot of love. Okay? Thank you. (Dan Peterson), Friday, 17 February 2017 15:14 (seven years ago) link
It badly needed some editing
I'm sad to say I switched off after ten minutes of not much happening - will try again.
― Dysphagia Nutrition Solutions (stevie), Monday, 20 February 2017 10:07 (seven years ago) link
You didn't miss much, it was a flabby mess, with too much Sandra Bernhard for a start. The performance bits were great though
― Eats like Elvis, shits like De Niro (Tom D.), Monday, 20 February 2017 11:09 (seven years ago) link
It was a bit of a disappointment and a missed opportunity overall. Tough there were some interesting bits like the performances and also her paintings.
I enjoyed her autobiography a lot, especially when it sped up after she leaves Kent State University. Her descriptions of arriving and living in London show her strong visual side.
― Dr Drudge (Bob Six), Monday, 20 February 2017 13:34 (seven years ago) link
She has such a great way with melody, which is what I think helped "Dark Sunglasses." I think "Boots of Chinese Plastic" was more "Pretenders-y," though, which I guess makes sense, since "Sunglasses" was from her solo album, whatever difference the distinction makes, since "Break Up the Concrete" doesn't even feature Martin Chambers.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 20 February 2017 14:50 (seven years ago) link