![]() Chrissie Hynde was like a distant sister to Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, just raised on pub rock instead of Led Zeppelin. The energy and sneer of punk combined with great songwriting and nimble musicianship. To me, the Pretenders were the epitome of UK cool - even after I learned that Hynde was actually from Ohio. The girls could have dandies like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. The biker gang toughness of leader Chrissie Hynde and bassist Pete Farndon, the rumpled charm of guitarist James Honeyman- Scott, the dazzling facial hair of drummer Martin Chambers. Mike Canoe: Because the Pretenders were a big part of early MTV, their image was always linked with their music for me. Yes, it's a little slicker and more stylised than its predecessor, and, yes, there's a little bit of filler, yet any album where rockers as tough as Message of Love and The Adultress are balanced by a pop tune as lovely as Talk of the Town is hard to resist. "Even if they offer diminished returns, it's still diminished returns on good material, and much of Pretenders II is quite enjoyable. It was difficult second album time." ( BBC (opens in new tab)) Yet excessive touring combined with substance abuse helped the creative juices stall somewhat. "The unique American voice of Hynde matched with the tribal beat of Martin Chambers and spangly guitar of Honeyman-Scott was as close to perfect as a band could get in the late 70s. Each of the 12 songs (11 originals and another Ray Davies composition) is packed with instrumental and vocal detail, and while some of the arrangements on the first album trumpeted their daring, on the new LP the seams simply don't show." ( New York Times (opens in new tab)) "If it is a more conservative album than its predecessor, it is also, musically speaking, a more substantial one. I listen to the first and second albums with equal enjoyment.” "She has to be relaxed to write, and we were on the road all the time. "The second album was more difficult, because Chrissie had no time to write," Chambers told Trouser Press (opens in new tab). The similarities might suggest a band running out of inspiration, keen to repeat a formula that worked, and the band have claimed in the years since that this was precisely the case: they were so busy promoting the first album that they weren't able to concentrate on their second. The lineup of Hynde, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon and drummer Martin Chambers were still in place, as was the producer (Chris Thomas) and location (Wessex Studios in London).Īnd, just like the first album, Pretenders II featured 11 Hynde/band originals and a Kinks cover (Hynde's partner at the time was Ray Davies – incidentally, The Kinks' Give the People What They Want was released on the same day as Pretenders II).
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