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The Pretenders
Pirate Radio: 1979 - 2005
(Rhino/Warner)
DISCS: Four CDs and one DVD.
YEARS: Despite the title, it's actually 1978 - 2003.
LOWDOWN: Chrissie Hynde is "still the coolest girl in the world," gushes Nick Lowe in the liner notes to Pirate Radio. We know what he means. Last week at Austin's South by Southwest music festival, we crossed paths with the 54-year-old rock goddess on the sidewalk. She still looks the part -- same rail-thin frame clad in black, same raccoon eyes, same inky peekaboo bangs. Cool? Hell yeah. So cool, in fact, that we were too gobsmacked to think of anything to say until she was half a block away -- and by that time, we thought better of chasing after the woman who famously kvetched, "I can't get from the car to the curb without some little jerk on my back."
Had we not been so starstruck, we might have said this: It's high time somebody put out a Pretenders box. If Hynde is indeed the coolest frontwoman in rock, The Pretenders were surely one of the coolest bands in post-punk. And their story -- after original guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon fatally OD'd within months of each other, Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers regrouped and made a triumphant return -- is the stuff of rock legend.
The handsomely packaged five-disc Pirate Radio is a long-overdue bid to honour their legacy and encapsulate Hynde's roller-coaster career. To that end, it delivers 100 remastered tracks over the course of four CDs and one DVD. On the audio side, the story is roughly divided into three chronological chapters. The first disc concentrates on the original '70s lineup, which issued only two albums and one EP -- with gems like Stop Your Sobbing, Brass in Pocket and Talk of the Town -- before imploding. The second disc fittingly kicks off with the moving Back on the Chain Gang, then follows the reformed band through '80s hits like Middle of the Road, My City Was Gone, Thin Line Between Love and Hate, 2000 Miles and Don't Get Me Wrong. The last two discs cover the past 15 years, a period of diminishing returns as Hynde has settled into motherhood and activism, content to work sporadically and deliver the odd hit like Night in My Veins and I'll Stand by You. In those copious liner notes, Hynde even refers to the later Pretenders as "a tribute band" to the old lineup.
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Too bad Pirate Radio doesn't pay greater tribute to the original band. Instead, it's too even-handed for its own good. The bulk of the packaging and pictures feature the old lineup -- but their music accounts for less than one-quarter of the set. You get just as many songs from forgettable discs like Packed and Loose Screw as you do from their flawless first albums. Even worse, only one of the 15 bonus tracks features the classic band. That's just wrong, no matter how you slice it. But even if Pirate Radio delivers mixed signals, it's still the most extensive Pretenders compilation to come down the pike. If you bump into Chrissie, tell her we said so.
HIGHLIGHTS: All the band's hits are here in nicely remastered form. But the set also resurrects overlooked oldies like Cuban Slide, English Roses and Porcelain. The 60-page colour book, loaded with pictures, an extensive biography and some track-by-track commentaries from Hynde, is also a treat. The biggest thrill for fans, though, has got to be the 75-minute DVD with 19 live clips, including early lip-synch performances from Top of the Pops, most of a powerful 1981 appearance on Fridays, some live footage from a London show that same year and a slew of later TV gigs.
EXTRAS: A mixed bag of nearly 20 previously unavailable bonus tracks and rarities. Covers of The Small Faces' What You Gonna Do About It and Neil Young's The Needle and the Damage Done stand out, but the best of the lot is the crackling 1978 demo of Precious. So where are the rest of the first album demos? And live cuts from those years? An old recording of Up the Neck would be far more, well, precious than the 2003 version included here.
Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. Precious (Regent Park Demo)
2. Stop Your Sobbing
3. The Wait (Single Version)
4. Kid
5. Tattooed Love Boys
6. Mystery Achievement
7. Brass In Pocket
8. Porcelain
9. Talk Of The Town (U.K. Single Version)
10. Message Of Love
11. Cuban Slide
12. What You Gonna Do About It
13. The Adultress
14. Bad Boys Get Spanked
15. I Go To Sleep
16. Day After Day
17. The English Roses
18. Time The Avenger
19. Watching The Clothes (Denmark Street Demo)
20. Show Me
Disc 2:
1. Back On The Chain Gang
2. Thumbelina
3. Thin Line Between Love And Hate
4. My City Was Gone
5. Middle Of The Road
6. Tequila*
7. 2000 Miles
8. When I Change My Life (Alternate Version)
9. My Baby
10. Worlds Within Worlds
11. Don't Get Me Wrong
12. Hymn To Her
13. Tradition Of Love
14. Room Full Of Mirrors
15. Reconsider Me*
16. Hold A Candle To This (Alternate Version)
17. Windows Of The World
18. Never Do That
19. No Guarantee
20. Not A Second Time
Disc 3:
1. Sense Of Purpose
2. Downtown (Akron)
3. How Do I Miss You
4. Bold As Love
5. When Will I See You
6. Hollywood Perfume
7. Night In My Veins
8. 977
9. All My Dreams
10. Angel Of The Morning (Original Version)
11. Money Talk
12. Rebel Rock Me
13. I'll Stand By You
14. Every Mothers' Son (Demo)
15. Love Colours
16. Private Life (Live)
17. Lovers Of Today (Live)
18. Creep (Live)
19. Criminal (Live)
20. Revolution (Live)
Disc 4:
1. Everyday Is Like Sunday
2. Human (Class Mix)
3. Popstar
4. Back Down
5. California
6. The Needle And The Damage Done
7. From The Heart Down (Alternate Version)
8. Who's Who
9. Biker
10. Nails In The Road
11. Legalize Me
12. The Homecoming (Live)
13. Up The Neck (Live)
14. Fools Must Die (Live)
15. Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
16. Lie To Me
17. Complex Person
18. You Know Who Your Friends Are
19. I Should Of
20. The Losing
Disc 5:
1. Talk Of The Town
2. The Adultress
3. The Wait
4. Hollywood Perfume
5. Brass In Pocket
6. 977
7. Never Do That
8. Thumbelina
9. 2000 Miles
10. Night In My Veins
11. My City Was Gone
12. Tattooed Love Boys
13. Middle Of The Road
14. Don't Get Me Wrong
15. Criminal
16. Room Full Of Mirrors
17. Louie, Louie
18. Stop Your Sobbing
19. Tattooed Love Boys/Up The Neck