Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The 1986 Listening Post - The Pretenders - Get Close

The Pretenders - Get Close

#490/2139
November 4 1986
The Pretenders
Get Close
Genre: Rock
3.75 out of 5



Highlights:
Dance!
Don’t Get Me Wrong
Hymn to Her


Requisite 80s cover: “Room Full of Mirrors” by Jimi Hendrix. A terrific updating into the 80s milieu. I wish the rest of the record had this kind of energy. 


This is the most mature I’ve heard Hynde so far. And, reading up on the album, that makes sense. She’s got a kid. She’s settling in to some kind of domesticity. Half of her band is dead and the other guy can’t play well anymore cuz, trauma of dead friends. 
It’s more grounded and less explosive than the Pretenders I fell in love with; instead of “Precious” we get “Dance!” which sounds like a song she wrote to get the audience going but I can’t see myself call-and-responding at a Chrissy Hynde show so…but…I kinda love it. 
The album is very assured but uninspired. 

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