The success of their 1979 debut album created a great demand for more material from the fledgling band; however, a lack of songs precluded the quick release of a follow-up album. In the UK, the band released two hit singles in 1980 and early 1981, "Talk of the Town" followed by "Message of Love". In the US, where standalone singles had become rare, these tracks were combined with three others for a stopgap extended play release in March 1981 simply titled Extended Play. Pretenders II was released two months later to mixed critical reception arguably because many of the songs were viewed as too similar to though not quite as groundbreaking as the band's debut. Nevertheless, several of the album's songs became hits and the album has increased in critical stature with time.
Before that—in 1981—the Pretenders were flying high from their debut's success and were playing ever-larger venues on tour. Their manager, Dave Hill, was eager to strike while the iron was hot and release a follow-up. They had found time to record a few tracks, including “Message of Love” and “Talk of the Town”, at Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris. These tunes (plus two new ones and a live recording of “Precious”) were released as the aptly named Extended Play stopgap EP in March 1981. Hynde felt their management had “jumped the gun” by releasing the new material.
In the UK, the four new tracks were released as singles "Message of Love" and "Talk of the Town" were backed by "Porcelain" and "Cuban Slide", respectively. So, by the time Pretenders II came out five months later, two of its best songs were already known to the band's devotees. And those weren’t the only songs that had a ring of familiarity.
The album's lead-off track, "The Adultress", served as an introduction and replaced bravado with cynicism, boastfulness with world-weariness. Not every song sung in the first person is about the songwriter herself, and women songwriters often get unfairly pegged as confessional. Therefore, it's unfair to say that this piece is about Hynde's relationship with Ray Davies. "Bad Boys Get Spanked" echoed "Tattooed Love Boys" from Pretenders. But it traded in the same seedy milieu with petulant vocal and whip-cracking sound effects are a little too, and resulted resulted in a sound calculated to shock.
"Message of Love" was the rare song that was fleshed out in the studio. Hynde typically brought completed tunes to the group; however, this time—according to drummer Martin Chambers —"she hadn't really finished it and so we just… rehearsed it already set up in the studio, and it was on tape in two hours, basically." It retained the immediacy of the studio and is brimming with ebullience. It showed that the band was just as at home with exuberance and joy as with angst and rebellion. "I Go to Sleep", the band's ed Ray Davies cover and it was rendered desperate and heartbreaking by Hynde's torchy vocals and Honeyman-Scott’s reverberating electric guitar. The addition of a French horn lends it a timeless melancholy, too.
Next were "Birds of Paradise" and “Talk of the Town" the highlights of Pretenders II, as they proved that for all her hard rock posturing, Chrissie Hynde can wrote the hell out of a ballad. Specifically, the former is a meditation on innocence lost and the road not taken as seen from the vantage point of someone who’s vaulted to stardom, became prey to the vagaries of fame, and wished for a simpler time, all the while knowing there is no way back. Farndon's driving bass, Honeyman-Scott's ringing guitar, Chambers' deft sticking on the ride cymbal, and Hynde's natural vibrato all came together to form the perfect pop song, full of longing and hooks.
Up next was "Waste Not Want Not" a reggae-flavored screed that told a story of a future that's void, of the beauty and the majesty that life on Earth is meant to be. "Jealous Dogs" was another filler track, yet Then, was the wistful "The English Roses" and "Louie Louie"
