Hey let's poll the Pretenders' Greatest Hits

Yeah, Singles was the album I grew up with - though my dad also had Get Close (love My Baby and Hymn To Her in partic)

my dad had learning to crawl (almost definitely one of the last albums he ever bought) and the first one, they were one of a handful of new wave acts that crossed over enough that even my dad owned an album or two by them - the cars, the police, blondie, rick springfield.

My god, Hynde's vocal at the beginning of 2000 Miles! She just kills it.

it is so pleasing to see all this love for chrissie hynde! i guess i didn't realize the degree of affection people had for her/her singing. i realized the other day that everything i ever needed to learn about women wearing ruffle-fronted shirts, i learned from her. also, hometown pride! she is a hero (except for that awful UB40 collab but hey she's human)

there are TWO not great UB40 collabs on here folks - I Got U Babe and Breakfast In Bed

regrettable
still, the line "without some little jerk on my back" has been stuck in my head since i was about 7?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDeHAM93fuc

Hand to god, I swear that I read an interview with Slash from 20 years ago where he tells this same story, but about the first Pretenders album.

My big awakening happened when I was 14. I'd been trying to get into this older girl's pants for a while, and she finally let me come over to her house. We hung out, smoked some pot and listened to Aerosmith's Rocks. It hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over, and totally blew off this girl. I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed. Now I identified with something."

Slash on his passion for rock music[24]

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I guess they weren't singles, but how are "Precious" and "The Wait" not on this?

I'm going with "Message of Love."

that's why

How do people rate the second album overall? I've always been under the impression it was seen as a disappointing follow up to a classic debut album but listening to it now I think it's not far off the first album. Along with some of their best singles there are some incredible album tracks too like Birds of Paradise, Jealous Dogs and The English Roses.

I've tried -- oh I've tried -- but it's blurry, opaque, shoddily written. Take "The Adultress" -- it's all texture and attitude but it sounds secondhand? It doesn't cohere.

Most days, I prefer it to the 1st album. The first and last tracks are the only weak ones for me, but it's solid otherwise.

It's the classic "2nd album review" syndrome..

I was A/B'ing "Talk of the Town" and "Don't Get Me Wrong" to see which of the two would get my vote and both of them sound like proto-Smiths songs imo

Oh wow, I'd been wondering why I had This Charming Man stuck in my head!

I seem to recall that Johnny Marr was the Pretenders guitarist for one tour (maybe for Packed?)

"Don't Get Me Wrong" is on constant rotation on a Menorcan radio station we used to have on in the car on every family holiday there, so as well as being a legit 10/10 song on its own it also brings back many of the fondest memories I have.

I think Marr was pre-Packed! - he played with the band for a 1987 tour.

he played on the album and co-wrote "When Will I See You."

He actually only played on one single and co-wrote "When Will I See You," but he was already in The The and Electronic by the time Packed! came out.

James Honeyman Scott was apparently his biggest influence, though, so it's not surprising that there are similarities in early Pretenders and The Smiths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmZSuiKu-Nk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9L1SYU93d8

^ here are the songs Marr played with the band.

voted chain gang, glad to have this off my mind.

it was the happiest day of your life?

Voted "Kid" while trying not to look "Talk Of The Town" in the eyes.

"Back on the Chain Gang", love that main riff!

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep05/articles/classictracks.htm

"Then there were the background vocals, the 'oohs' and 'aahs'. Martin Chambers and Tony Butler did these, but at first Chrissie didn't think their efforts were good enough, so she bent over in front of them and wiggled her bum while they were singing. We all fell about laughing, but I have to say it achieved the right results."

Kid, for the unforgettable solo tbh

It's like if John, Paul, and George stitched their "The End" solos together but were asked by George Martin to play three variations on jangle.

oh that's right i'd forgotten that some of big country were on chain gang xps to hunt3r

Thinking about what Honeyman Scott and Chrissie could have accomplished in the rest of the 80s makes me sad.

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?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

No love for 2,000 Miles or Hymn To Her :(

But good work people all the same

kudos to whoever voted for "Night in My Veins.

me! (and i can't believe i'm the only one......)

ha! who voted the UB40 collab??

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

^ TRUTH

I could totally see some shit artist piano player covering Hymn to Her and scoring a massive massive Radio 2 friendly hit.

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.

uh, nice typo

sucks to be just brilliant when amazing exists

my top twenty-five

"Mystery Achievement" FTW!

WHERE'S MY SANDY BEACH

OTM both for Mystery Achievement at #1 and for Chrissie Hynde being awesome vocalist.

ILX correct for once