Pretenders: Classic or Dud?

Yeah, I think she's coming from a very different place than most contemporary music criticism when it comes to gender discourse

http://www.pretenders.org/adviceto.gif

#10 OTM

New album "Alone" coming out that is produced by Dan Auerbach of Black Keys in Nashville. Duane Eddy is on one song and some Nashville studio guys are on others, per the press release.

They're gonna tour as the opening act for a Stevie Nicks US arena tour

would love to hear Stevie + Chrissie sing "Back on the Chain Gang" or "Hymn to Her."

That would be nice. November 4th gig in your part of the country.

Been digging into their first four albums (prompted by Alfred tweeting about the debut) and man there is a real steep drop with "Get Close". Understandable given the shifting line-ups and changing times, but man Hynde was really not served well by the late 80s frills of fretless bass, shitty synth pads, etc. Big singles and maybe Chill Factor aside it's a bummer to listen to.

Also just generally struck by how much her phrasing reminds me of Dylan. Those first three albums are an incredible run.

Wikipedia, perhaps appropriately, lists it as both "New Wave" and "soft rock."

I'm not at all baffled by someone not liking it, and I can certainly imagine it shedding some fans of the first three albums at the time, but a few duds aside ("How Much Did You Get For Your Soul" being the yuckiest), I still love it. "My Baby," "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Hymn To Her" are all great, shimmery pop.

The big singles are wonderful though - Hymn To Her, Don't Get Me Wrong and My Baby are great boomer pop xpost

Her singing and breath control in "Chill Factor" kills me.

I'm usually a defender of expensive '80s albus, but Shakey OTM about the vacuousenss of Get Close.

The first four Pretenders albums are a lot like the proper Clash album discography (minus Give 'Em Enough Rope, which for some reason I never owned until I was older) in that they were so formative for me, and I've lived with them for so long now, that I'm pretty much blind to their flaws.

(don't trust my opinions on 'em, in other words)

I'm usually a defender of expensive '80s albus, but Shakey OTM about the vacuousenss of Get Close.

I just don't think those touches play to her strengths, and they don't reveal anything or challenge her in interesting ways they just feel like half-assed window-dressing. Was kinda surprised to read Alomar was involved tbh, I can't identify his contributions.

you know what I really love on re-listening to these is "Pack it Up"

also can anyone explain why they did a song called "Louie Louie" that is not THE "Louie Louie"? idgi

Don't sleep on packed!. It's got some of her loveliest material ("When Will I See You," "Never Do That," "Let's Make a Pact").

I posted this in the other thread.

"Thumbelina", off Learning To Crawl, sets a bar for female-led Americana that I wish was reached for more.

Hidden gem on Get Close: "Tradition of Love"

I still can't stand her biggest revenue stream.

Chrissie's performance half-saves this song for me. Imagine it in the hands of Celine Dion or some other nuance-adverse bleater and you might see what I mean.

if there were any justice in this fallen world, "show me" would have earned her a billion dollars

the s/t debut is one of the best rock records ever. pretenders II is good. they are CLASSIC
p much everything after the deaths of JHS & PF = DUD

Bar maybe a half dozen or so songs, maybe. Though Hynde remains classic, which kind of keeps the goodwill flowing. Last couple of albums did not even feature Chambers, so wonder why her sole solo album was the only one designated as such.

agreed that Hynde is eternally classic

I'll go as far as the third album and quite enjoy the occasional single after that.

agreed that Hynde is eternally classic

sometime in the last decade she chose a friend's band to open for part of a tour. he told me that when they went in for their first meeting, she said "yeah I had this huge pile of CDs to look through, and you guys were the UGLIEST motherfuckers out of all the bands. I figured that you were in it for the music and not the chicks, so I wanted to check you out."

hahaha

that rules lol

has she written a memoir?

yes, and i read it

It disappointed me. She's such a vivid talker and songwriter and was once a critic that I expected something felicitous.

yeah it was alright, but disappointing

she has some antiquated views about some stuff (and i understand where they come from but they are not sentiments currently in cultural vogue -- she's more caitlin flanagan than people might want her to be), and i don't really identify with her characterization of our hometown, partially because when she lived there was before i was born.
her descriptions of her life in london were pretty interesting, but not dishy.

she's very cool, as you would expect. cool = not into dishing or revealing too much
i don't remember a whole lot about it tbh, not really one of my top memoirs even though as a person she is indeed classic.

"yeah I had this huge pile of CDs to look through, and you guys were the UGLIEST motherfuckers out of all the bands. I figured that you were in it for the music and not the chicks

tbh I'm not really following Hynde's reasoning here

Like, they're clearly in it for the music. Face for radio, etc.

p much everything after the deaths of JHS & PF = DUD

nah, a lot of the 3rd album and get close is great.

The transition from the middle 8 to the verse in Back on the Chain Gang is one of the best things I have ever heard

tbh I'm not really following Hynde's reasoning here

I didn't know until Spotify told me that there's a version of 'Let's get lost' with Neil Tennant. I like it.

I didn't like I'll Stand By You that much, but my dislike of it is based on the fact that it paved the way for Love Can Build A Bridge, the worst thing in the discography of three different artists.

Think Clapton has probably done worse

Pretenders influence can be felt in some newer bands like dum dum girls, alvvays, Laura marling and especially stories from the city

The most enjoyment I've gotten out of Arcade Fire in over a decade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqFvqYcYD3Y

Stop your sobbing is one of the best approximations of the spirit of doo-wop. Man does that guitarist rip too, lovers of today melts my face off

Classic!

"Birds of Paradise" came up on random shuffle for me today. A minor Pretenders song, sure, but man is it gorgeous.

^ yeah!

Gonna sample brass in pockets intro, down pitch it and loop it into a hip hop beat. Think it would sound dope

Gonna use MAH MAH MAH.

You listed the correct post-80s record.

I'm finding it difficult to accept the notion that Hynde has a limited voice.

― lihaperäpukamat (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:09 AM (nine years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Alfred she sings flat about half the time. It's a charming flat, but it's flat.

― a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:26 AM (nine years ago)

lol someone added this to her wikipedia page:

Artistry
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2015)
Hynde has a contralto vocal range.[ 50 ] Until 1978, shortly before the advent of The Pretenders, Hynde had little idea what she sounded like.[ 51 ] Attributing her distinctive time signatures to an inability to count, and her distinctive amusia to an inability to hear, she eschews formal voice training saying that, "distinctive voices in rock are trained through years of many things: frustration, fear, loneliness, anger, insecurity, arrogance, narcissism, or just sheer perseverance – anything but a teacher."[ 51 ]

did Hynde and Petty ever cross paths? Was thinking about how they are kinda similar, both part of the last wave of "classic rock", shading into new wave. shag haircuts, idiosyncratic voices, classicists but also p odd.

In which our hero, Chrissie Hynde, kisses Trump's ass in order to encourage him to ... help Julian Assange.

ew! no! what are you talking about?