Pretenders

I also love it when this project forces me to listen to artists of whom I'm always saying, "I should listen to them more." Pretenders are one such artist.

5/5 - Really easy 5 for me. One banger after another. Love Chrissie's style. The groove is so good. If I saw a band in a bar today that sounded like The Pretenders on this debut, I'd be blown away.

I really enjoyed this album. Some great songs on here. Private life is abit of an underrated gem to. I have a lot of respect for Chrissie Hynde and her talent too. Bit suprised to only see the one album on here but makes sense to be there debut. Really enjoyable.

Good songs - Punk punch - That'll do!

Pretenders is a great band, but the album as a whole was a bit disappointing tbh

#136 The second half is stronger than the first. Not bad, especially for a New Wave album. Highlights: Brass In Pocket, Kid, Lovers Of Today

Gets 4 just for Brass in Pocket

este suena bien. me gustó

Day1036 - brass in pocket might have been the hit but it’s my least favorite pretenders song.

Je zou denken door de naam dat ze er niet veel van kunnen. Niets is minder waar. 80/100

Voor mij waren Pretenders tot nu toe alleen 'Brass in Pocket'. Mooi om te horen dat de rest van het album minstens even sterk is. Vooral de opener en de afsluiter springen eruit.

Oké album maar een beetje saai… Het begon leuk met het 1ste nummer maar verzwakte daarna zwaar. De laatste 3 liedjes waren wel nog tof. 7,1/10

Het wordt goed vanaf Private Life

Good. Awesome rock n roll voice

I was familiar with 3-4 of the songs previously. The whole this is great and I’m happy it’s here! 3.5

This was a solid listen - a lot of nice sounding songs to have going on in the background. There were times I felt like the singer's delivery was too much (too theatrical or just sounded like random noises), which did take away from the listening experience for me.

Solid rock, punk, pop album. I was not familiar with the album as a whole, but I'm really enjoying it. Four out of Five stars. Not perfect, but really great and totally listenable.

I predictably like the new wave-y stuff more than the punk rock but it's all a bit intermingled to start off. Female vocals, a little rough around the edges. Up the Neck is good, and Tattooed Love Boys opens with a catchy little synth riff over a faster beat. Not sure I like the shouty singing style though. Space Invader is better - instrumental! Stop Your Sobbing is a little different to finish side one, an old school pop sound and it works. Kid starts side two with a similar sound, pop or jangle rock almost, and I really quite like this. It has a bit of crunch to it too in the chorus and some great synths, this is the best thing so far. Private Life is sultry, moody, very much new wave. Continuing on Brass in Pocket, it's a midpaced plodder but I'm still digging the poppier sound. The last two tracks live in the same world although they don't grab me as much. The back half carries this for me but it's very much a preference thing. There are still some elements here (maybe the singing - or the punk influence) that keep me from liking it more. Still a solid album and I wouldn't mind listening to more of this.

#69 Eh... nah... 😒

Punk, or early post-punk, but still with a lot of punk. Spoken word, keeping in the Velvet Underground tradition, but with the more direct instrumentation (power chords). Something of Blondie here too, but without the rockabilly throwback. It's okay, but I'd rather listen to Blondie. Tattooed Love Boys has a good rhythm, and little hook. Stop Your Sobbing has a bit of a 60s feel. Ooh, I recognise the guitar from Kid! It's more on the pop side. Private Life is more atmospheric. Brass in Pocket I've never been super keen on. Lovers of Today goes almost 70s rock i places, diverging from the punk roots. Best track - Tattooed Love Boys 3 stars - it's fine, almost good in places. For me it has a disjointed identity and doesn't really excel at any of the things it tries to be.

annoyingish voice, 5/10

Idk didn’t really pay attention

Ok but I found it boring 😴 Just one band that does nothing for me even the name is toss. I dont mind a few of the singles and the Xmas song is nice but listening to a whole album is something I could of done without before I die.

Nah, didnt do anything for me Dont think ive ever been able to get on with her singing 'Brass In Pocket' obviously decent, even though no idea whats said at any point

A group of fine, underwhelming new wave songs that I've never really understood the hype for. Not a big fan of the vocals, musically it's still solid and carries a bit of a punk edge, but it just doesn't stand out within the genre.

The Grace Jones song Private Life is actually by the Pretenders? It just sounds so out of place with the other tracks on the record. Still, good album I'd say, the second half in particular.

This was in fact not the Proclaimers

Ellers takk, 2 av 5

It’s fine. A portent of good things to come.

Rock, voix de femmes. Certaines chansons sont un peu moins bonnes mais over all c’est pas si pire.

8/10

I didn't love the beginning but it actually got better and better as it went on. Solid album. Personally, 3.5/5

Hines is amazing.

Each time I think I'm gonna leave this project, I get drawn back in. The original Pretenders lineup is incomparable. Song for song, one of my favorite recordings from the "New Wave" era.

This album is triple platinum in my house. 4.5 stars to me but I'm rounding up

Oooh this one is interesting! I have it on vinyl, it needs another listen as it didn’t quite gel last time. I bought it blind and was a bit surprised by how much of a punk sound it had… …and it’s better on a second listen. Turns out the song I bought it for “Brass In Pocket” was an outlier.

This album is surprisingly good. I was only familiar with the Pretenders biggest singles and Private Life by Grace Jones, and i'm happy to find that this debut album is fantastic and should be up there with some of the great rock debuts. Every song is good with standard 70s rock, but Chrissy's vocals and overall lyricism aged very well and can land in any festival up until the present day. The second half is great, starting with Kid, then (my favorite) Private Life, where you can see how Grace Jones did a pretty straight cover just upping the reggae vibes that it already rode on. Brass in Pocket an obvious classic, but actually sort of feels out of place, more of a blandish rock single, sounds like it could have been added to fill the tracklist. Lastly Mystery Achievement, great rocking ending

Damn I guess I love the Pretenders

Classic pretenders.

It was pretty good, I liked the sound and she sounded so much like Florence Welch it was insane.

It was a decent album. No takeaways, but overall good to listen to. Not so stellar to make it to the 4 rating, but probably 3.5 territory.

I couldn't have named a Pretenders song before I was given this album for yesterday. I certainly can't name the full album now, but progress is being made. An album without a dull moment and maybe (if we're being harsh, because I could easily understand somebody saying this album is all great songs) one, maybe two, tracks that didn't work for me. On a 10+ track album I had no expectations for that's damn impressive. Every song here feels distinct but coherent with the wider package; even the songs I would call my less preferred play a part that really makes it hard to dislike them. Great sound, very distinct vocal performance that lends the album a lot of extra personality, something blessedly different that kept me engaged for the full run, no small feat for a 3/4 hour album. An album that deserves its slot on this run even if it wouldn't perhaps normally be my thing, and isn't that what we all want this challenge to be?

Almost a 4

First time listening to Pretenders. And at first i thought this was another one of those mid albums i have been getting the past days, but this album really surprised me. Definitely gets a lot better in the second half and i enjoyed it very much. Loved Brass in Pocket.

It’s just wall to wall bangers front to back not much more to say really

Hvorfor høre på dette når du kan høre på Blondie?

Fun, lots of good energy to it.

Most of the songs were really great. I saved 3/4 from the album. All above I liked Precious and Lovers of today. I have already know Angel in the morning and I’ll stand by you… Chrisdie Hynde is a great singer… and I will listen more offen to the Pretenders

Quite liked it!

Wow! This one surprised me. I heard hints of Nirvana, No Doubt, and so many others. This album obviously had a big influence and the songs are banging.

Cool band with talent.

I liked the poppier stuff more than the punkish stuff, but the album is uneven.

mmm prefiero sus singles

Starts with Precious which is a pretty good tune The next couple.songs.are just ok. This album, like I think I understand it. I am just not sure I like it. It's a fraction dull. It's not bad, there just isn't much exciting here. We do have Brass in Pocket I guess. ⭐⭐⭐

Chrissie Hynde is the coolest! She has a strong and unique voice. She writes her own music and she hung out with the Sex Pistols. She then went on to form the Pretenders and the rest is history. I've known the Pretenders for years from their singles, but never listened to a whole album. This is more sophisticated than the average punk-pop-rock album. There's lots of variety and it's all very easy on the ears. Liked Songs Added: The Phone Call Stop Your Sobbing Brass In Pocket

OKish

A fun, energetic punk rock album that has 1-2 pretty memorable tracks.

Another one I’m eager to listen to again, but as for this inaugural listen I particularly enjoyed the second half

1.8/5 I didn't really like her voice that much so it detracted from my listening experience somewhat

Fun loving rockers launching an 80s style career.

I was at a shortage of rock bands with female leads- so glad I came across this. I def need to give it a few more good listens

A nice record to listen to. It has a couple of stronger, but the rest feels mostly like filler.

bom...

Oh, that’s who this band is! Yeah, I’ve heard a bunch of their singles before. Light, jangly 80’s pop rock is always welcome. Adding a bunch to my playlist right now.

Like the record cover, with the years this has become a bit beige.

So unfortunately I thought most of this album was pretty ass, it just mostly didnt sound good. There was one single song worth a damn, so that saves it from a one star

nunca lo escuche completo y simplemente delicioso

meh 🫤

Fun listen. Classic pop/rock and roll

Pretty standard early 1980s stuff. Not what I usually listen to but I can see why this kind of music was popular back then. Pretty cool guitar, great melodies and the vocalist has a really nice voice. :3

Chrissie Hynde is such a badass, and this is an excellent album. It's not five material for reasons I can't fully articulate, but probably because it falls somewhere between thrash metal and Americana, and is maybe just a bit too new wave-adjacent for my tastes. Nonetheless, I thought the whole was great and I'm glad we listened to it.

Very solid throughout. The guitar riff on The Wait is the shit.

Chrissie Hynde has a distinctive voice that I really dig, and I think she's cool as all hell. A handful of the songs don't work for me but overall this is great. The fantastic Cuban Slide, the first of the extra tracks on the rerelease, bumps this to 5 for me.

This album is really surprising. I was taken aback by such a drastic change in style halfway through. But honestly, I'm not particularly into either of the two styles. 5/10

too early to be proper new wave, with catchy melodies that unfortunately lack in depth and emotion. There's probably a reason why I never heard of them before.

Yes yes yes yeah!!!!!!!!

3.5 but rounded up for Brass in Pocket

Det er ret hyggeligt, og man kan virkelig høre nogle inspirationer andre steder fra, og sikkert også andre, der har trukket lidt inspirationer herfra. Det er dog ikke noget, der kommer til at sidde fast i hovedet på mig, og jeg synes egentlig, at albums som disse plejer at have én eller to bangers, som man kan genkende for evigt. Det er der ikke her for mig, og derfor glider det her album nok også lidt ud i forglemmelsen på et tidspunkt 3.6

Meh it's fine enough

This did nothing for me. It happened around me and neither enhanced or detracted from my day.

Outstanding first album! So many great albums in the late 70s just before MTV came in and narrowed the creativity.

Very surprising, amazing music !

The Pretenders' debut album marked something of a watershed moment between the decades. It’s not just about the release timing — late December 1979 in the US versus early January 1980 in the UK. The genre mix is ​​eclectic, too: classic punk rock and new wave — defining the end of the 70s — sit alongside the nascent sounds of college rock and jangle pop. And this is a case where the attempt to cover too much ground didn't quite work. The band veers wildly from style to style: one moment there are energetic punk guitar riffs, the next, cozy new-wave melodies; then, suddenly, an almost seven-minute reggae track, followed by a mechanical instrumental... Chrissie Hynde’s vocal delivery — bordering on spoken word — won't be to everyone's taste, either. All in all, while the playing is solid, it remains unclear exactly what the band wanted to focus on. It’s a decent album, but it left me with the feeling that I’d just listened to a "lite" version of Blondie.

An outstanding debut. One of the best albums of the 80s. An innovative mix of post-punk, new wave, and classic rock.

(Light to Solid 8/10) A very fun debut LP! It's got a great blend of punk attitude with pop sensibilities. The musicianship is tasteful and proficient and Chrissie Hynde is a phenomenal frontwoman who stands out wonderfully, especially for the time. I don't have too much to say outside of this just being a great time.

mid

Never my thing

Really liked this, soft cool Indy rock

Really enjoyed this one

Easy 4.5 for me.

Uneven, as most debut albums are. Brass in Pocket and Mystery Achievement were highlights for me. You can see the promise and the direction that they were heading towards

Great stuff

(5/7) women in punk

Honestly, it's kind of cool to see The Pretenders' self-titled debut here. They're another group I was introduced to early on, thanks to "Tattooed Love Boys" being included in the Guitar Hero II soundtrack. Plus, "Brass in Pocket" is still a bop whenever I hear it on FM radio. How does the rest of the album stack up? Well, it's apparent from the get-go with the opening run of "Precious", "Phone Call", "Up the Neck", and "Tattooed Love Boys" that the band's early sound was defined by kinetic new wave meets power pop music. Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott traded delicious guitar riffs while Martin Chambers and Pete Farndon kept the rhythms tight, even with the changing time signatures. Hell, the full band got to show their amazing chops with the instrumental "Space Invader", with its thumping bassline, playful guitar licks, and touching use of sound effects from the titular arcade game. For most of the record, Chrissie delivered her stories of sex, anger, and fervent desires for freedom in her contralto range with an ethereal coolness, while still comfortably offering a vulnerable performance in the middle on cuts like The Kinks' "Stop Sobbing" and "Kid". It's impressive how well she modulated between both sides, to the point that those sides come together beautifully on the strident "Brass in Pocket". That said, if one aspect of this album is holding me back a bit, it's the pacing. It's apparent in the second half with the whiplash alternation between the longer, sentimental tracks "Private Life" and "Lovers of Today" and the shorter, hard-hitting bops "Brass in Pocket" and "Mystery Achievement", even if I feel that "Mystery Achievement" is an effective closer and "Private Life" is a neat deviation into spacious reggae rock. I'd also be remiss not to mention that the cover of The Kinks' "Stop Sobbing" stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the tracklist. I usually think Nick Lowe is a solid producer given his work with Elvis Costello & the Attractions, but on this one, the guitar overdubbing was irritating in the mix. Thankfully, Chris Thomas did a much better job for the rest of the record. Overall, this was a solid debut, showcasing a lot of potential for the band. Unfortunately, tragedy struck not long after its release, as James Honeymoon-Scott and Pete Farndon would both die from their respective drug problems, leaving Chrissie and Martin to essentially rework The Pretenders into a completely different band from Learning to Crawl onward. I can only imagine what could have been had the original iteration of the band continued for just a little more.

Well that was eye opening! My only knowledge of The Pretenders was "I'll Stand By You" and "Where Has Everybody Gone" from The Living Daylights soundtrack. I was not prepared for the punk energy of this album and loved it!

nothing special

Maybe I wasn't in the right place for this album, but it didn't grab me like I thought it would. Song good songs in here, but it didn't stick out to me. Rating: 5/10 Favorite Song: Brass in Pocket

Incredible album that I've never heard of before. This is why we're here. Great stuff. Personal shout-outs are "Space Invaders", "The Wait", "Brass in Pocket", and "Mystery Achievement". 8/10

disappointing

Back half saves this album