Originally released on December 27, 1979 although many sources cite January 11, 1980 as the original released. The Pretenders debut studio album was a combination of rock and roll, punk and new wave music, literally was the album that made the band famous due their singles "Stop Your Sobbing", "Kid", "Brass In Pocket" and "Precious".
The band was formed in 1978 by Chrissie Hynde, who had spent the previous few years bouncing around with different bands, including early incarnations of The Clash and The Damned. Determined to form her own band, Hynde recorded some tracks for a demo using a variety of musicians including drummer Phil Taylor, whom she originally wanted in her band, but couldn't bring herself to try and steal from her friend Lemmy's band Motorhead. So then Hynde brought Pete Farndon (bass) into the fold, and he convinced her to tryout his friend from Hereford, James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards).
Ironically, Nick Lowe produced their first single "Stop Your Sobbing", but decided not to work with them again as he thought the band was "not going anywhere". So Chris Thomas took over on the subsequent recording sessions. That recording was enough to convince Honeyman-Scott to join the band and soon after, Martin Chambers (drums) came on board. So the original lineup was set by the summer of 1978, Thomas produced "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket." So this empowered the band to released three singles in 1979, which led to released their anticipated debut album in the last week of that 1979.
The album started with "Precious" a frenetic, high-speed car chase of a song highlighted by Hynde's vocal, which I can best describe as controlled, sexual ferocity, this is an ode to her native Cleveland, then comes a pack of three tracks "The Phone Call", "Up The Neck", and "Tattoeed Love Boys", a sort of intense tracks but pleasant at the same time and introducing the listener for what is about to hear, next is the first single "Stop Your Sobbing," which closes out side one, has a different energy than the other songs on the album. Despite it fits in nicely with the other tracks, it certainly reflects a different Hynde than the one on the previous six songs, this was the last track on Side one.
The side two opens with the second single "Kid," it expresses a tenderness and vulnerability that was not present on side one, but ultimately surfaced quite often throughout Hynde's ensuing career. "Private Life" is another highlight in the album a slow ballad about someone that Hynde thinks has no use for you and you must be happy you're not that person, but the real deal for me is definitely "Brass In Pocket" an enduring single that 45 years later still sounds fresh and catchy, co-written by Hynde and Honeyman-Scott, was the band's first big hit and a song she would have preferred to have never seen the light of day. She hated the song and in 2004, she told the Observer, "When we recorded the song I wasn't very happy with it and told my producer that he could release it over my dead body, but they eventually persuaded me. So I remember feeling a bit sheepish when it went to #1. The album closes with "Lovers Of Today" and "Mistery Achievement" and there you go, one of the most brilliant debut albums ever released.
What a pity the original lineup wouldn't make it for three or more albums, they released "Pretenders II" a year later, but unfortunately within a two-year span, Honeyman-Scott and Farndon were dead as a result of drug use and with them the brilliant and underrated playing of Honeyman-Scott, the solid rhythm section of Farndon and Chambers and a once-in-a-generation lead singer in Hynde vanished forever, even thought Hynde keeps with the band, it wouldn't be the same again, and for this reason, this album is not only a great debut album but an all-time classic rock album whose influence and charm has not vanished away.
Despite the critics were mixed back then, some called the record as the first important album of the 1980s, considered it irresistible, others called the album as a just a reminiscent of the 60's pop band dismissing Hynde talent for play and create music, things got change in the years to come, considered as a classic album and one of the most astonishing debut albums ever released, not only in the 1980s but in the history of rock and roll.
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