With few exceptions, most sequels are doomed to be letdowns in comparisons with what came before. The Pretenders had a tall order to fill for their second album, which they kept simple by titling it Pretenders II and going out of the way to make Chrissie Hynde look almost pretty on the cover.The album is just as tough as the first, blistering with heavy guitars and angry songwriting. And like the first, it was anchored by a couple of great singles. “Message Of Love” is so simple, yet so perfect, and “Talk Of The Town” brings back the pop influences that made her first singles so good. (Both of these had appeared in the U.S. on a maxi-single suitably titled Extended Play, which also included their B-sides “Cuban Slide” and “Porcelain”, plus a killer live version of “Precious”.)
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Pretenders album without a Kinks cover, and “I Go To Sleep” did more for Ray Davies than anyone else could at the time. (And it wasn’t even a hit! The only Kinks version exists as a demo, yet Chrissie is the reason why anybody thinks of the song today. Their romance may not have lasted past the birth of their daughter, but Ray can thank the Pretenders for at least one sizable figure on his royalty checks.)
There’s a certain standard to be followed, and they do their best to keep up with it. “The Adultress” [sic] and “Bad Boys Get Spanked” continue the sado-masochistic overtones, while a cod-reggae track, “Waste Not Want Not”, shows up right where it’s supposed to on side two. Meanwhile, “Pack It Up” and “Day After Day” plow through the speakers with excellent construction. The big question mark is “Louie Louie”, which seems to strive to update the original with quotes from “In The Midnight Hour” and “All The Young Dudes”, resulting in a chaotic, horn-driven mess issued as a single.
Still, with all that, the Pretenders had so much to live up to so that Pretenders II is an anticlimax, and it’s nobody’s fault. The expanded Rhino CD might have had even less to work with, a few of the B-sides already having appeared on the expanded debut. But the label managed to find a few nuggets from the vault, which capped a bonus disc filled out with the contents of another contemporary promo-only live disc. The 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition added even more music from that gig, along with further music from the show that begat the live “Precious” from Extended Play, which also finally made it to digital.
Even though the album paled in comparison the debut, the extra material proves just how tight this band was. As Chrissie said at her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, if it weren’t for Jimmy and Pete, “we wouldn’t be here. And on the other hand, without us, they might have been here.” Within two years’ time, both would be dead. Listening to the blistering performances here—many of which improve on the album versions—it’s absolutely clear that their demise dealt a devastating blow to rock ‘n roll.
Pretenders Extended Play (1981)—4
Pretenders Pretenders II (1981)—3½
2006 expanded, remastered CD: same as 1980, plus 18 extra tracks
2021 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition: same as 1981, plus 12 extra tracks
I suppose the dreaded sophomore slump was inevitable, given that The Pretenders were touring heavily and Chrissie, even under the best of the of circumstances, was not the most prolific of writers. Still, I think this one is better than most people seem to.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit miffed at the time that, while “Talk of the Town” and “Message of Love” were included, their great B-sides (“Cuban Slide” and “Porcelain”) were not. They could have easily replaced the two weakest tracks. One is “Day After Day”, with that annoying, nagging guitar riff. The other is, sorry, “I Go to Sleep”. Although several female singers had recorded it, it’s just a Ray Davies lower tier composition. It’s so dull that even the Pretenders couldn’t liven it up on the original “guitar” version (on the reissue). The final version sounds so overproduced that it doesn’t even sound like a Pretenders song.
Aside from those two, the album is a good, if not mind-blowing, listen. It fun to hear some of more of Chrissie’s sneering sarcasm (“Pack It Up”, “Jealous Dogs” “Bad Boys Get Spanked” – which should be taken only metaphorically). “Waste Not, Want Not” is more reggae, but more spaced out than “Private Life”. “Louie Louie” is a bit of a toss-off, but it is catchy, and the last line is a nice callback to The Kingsmen. The two remaining ballads, “The English Roses” and, especially, “Birds of Paradise”, are very moving, even if they aren’t as epic as “Lovers of Today”. Both the reissue and “Pirate Radio” missed one more track from the session – the B-side “In the Sticks”. It’s a surf guitar instrumental from, of all people, Martin Chambers, only one of two tracks that he would write for the group.
I caught the band in early 1982. They lived up to the hype. Notable was “Louie Louie”, without horns, which actually worked. “Brass in Pocket” got in a lengthy solo from Scott while Chrissie danced happily. And her sarcasm even got an outing. “How many saw us at (a local club) last year?” (scattered applause). “Well, where the hell were the rest of you?”. I didn’t think that this tour was going to be the last hurrah, so to speak, of the band…