Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Precious
2. Phone Call
3. Up The Neck
4. Tattooed Love Boys
5. Space Invader
6. Wait
7. Stop Your Sobbing
8. Kid
9. Private Life
10. Brass In Pocket
11. Lovers Of Today
12. Mystery Achievement

Disc 2:

1. Cuban Slide
2. Porcelain
3. Phone Call
4. Wait
5. I Can't Control Myself
6. Swinging London
7. Brass In Pocket
8. Kid
9. Stop Your Sobbing
10. Tequila
11. Nervous But Shy
12. I Need Somebody
13. Mystery Achievement
14. Precious
15. Tattooed Love Boys
16. Sabre Dance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32628 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-09
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

CD Description
Former rock critic Chrissie Hynde launched the Pretenders with an engaging, yet passive, version of the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing". She unveiled her own persona fully on The Pretenders, which contains a series of excellent compositions marked by her sensual vocals and brilliant sense of dynamics. An understanding of pop's structures allowed Hynde to exploitthem to her own ends while sympathetic support, particularly that of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, used the excitement of rock without reference to its cliches. Tough and opinionated, Chrissie Hynde's first declaration of independence established the formula she proceeded to follow.

Customer Reviews

Exceptional
It's great to see this astonishing debut finally get the CD re-release and remastering that it deserves. Few debut albums - and not that many albums full stop - can match the stellar combination of Hynde's intelligent lyrics and excellent guitar work, backed up by the brilliantly tight contributions from the rest of the band. James Honeyman-Scott's guitar work stands out in particular. His work here - and on the equally impressive second Pretenders' album - stands out as some of the best and most innovative playing of the post punk era, which has influenced the great Johnny Marr, among many others. On its own, the reissue of the original album is a great purchase - with a fascinating bonus disc of demos and live performances, it's a must have.

Great Album Made Even Better
This collection is what every re-issue should be about: put the original album on one CD, remaster it to give improved sound, and then add a nice disc of rare and interesting material. And give it a sensible price.

The album itself is simply one of the greatest debuts ever, but the demos and live tracks are not just filler. While some tracks were available in the vinyl era on various 45s and EPs, most are unreleased. The remastered sound is much improved over the existing issue and sounds more like the LP, which in this case is all for the best.

This is the first in a series of re-issues of Pretenders CDs and I look forward to the rest.