if you'll permit me, let me rave for a moment about chrissie hynde (=the pretenders). the new album, "break up the concrete" is wonderful, which is good, because the last, "viva el amor," was disappointing, at least to me, and then she's been silent since then (2004). i think chrissie has been an important and deeply innovative artist since "the pretenders" (1980). here are some reasons why. chrissie, when she came out, was surprising, though not without some parallels (joan jett, for instance), as a super-tough guitar-slingin woman fronting a rock band. that wouldn't mean much, but the music was shockingly good, for my money. chrissie could be a snarling punkette running through tuneless hyper-aggressive material. but on the other hand, she has a beautiful and completely unique voice with her wildly huge vibrato, and from the start the s&m bitch from hell ("bad boys get spanked") has been accompanied by a ravishingly beautiful songstress (try "i go to sleep," e.g.). no one else i can think of has two such profoundly different modes, presented as coherently, and the albums were neither unrelieved aggression nor unrelieved loveliness, but always both. her songwriting has been outstanding, and often dispensed, for example, with the verse/chorus form entirely, and yet still created really accessible, whole pop music. the lyrics always flirted with cliches ("love's a mystery" on this one, e.g.), but also always had a bend that made you sit up. again, she fed all kinds of styles (rockabilly, country, blues etc) through a punkish, warping intelligence. whomever's playing guitar for her is at once throwing down trad riffs and inverting or twisting them, and i have to think this reflects chrissie's aesthetic, more clearly present on "break up the concrete" than perhaps on any previous.
"butc" does all of these things. of course this is not 1980, and it can't give you the shock of the new, and chrissie's at this point a thoroughly professional exponent of a style she's always prosecuted; you hear echoes of everything she's ever done. however, there's no sense that she's merely repeating herself or going through the motions, which i guess i did think was happening in "viva el amor." i'd particularly recommend the title cut and "boots of chinese plastic," a hilarious lyric about reincarnation in a strong rock setting. "every drop of blood flowing through a vein makes its way to the heart again. illusion fills my head like an empty can; i've spent a million lifetimes loving the same man." there's a beautiful cover of "i can't help falling in love with you," which now that you mention it sounds like it was written with chrissie's voice in mind.
in 1983 i was living in london, writing for melody maker. i covered the first show on the "learning to crawl" tour at the hammersmith odeon. mm often expressed different views on the same material, and the ed had just slammed the album unmercifully that day (i thought it was great, despite the recent deaths of the previous bass and guitar players; in fact i think i was assigned the show specifically because everyone knew i loved the pretenders). i was supposed (i believed) to interview chrissie after the show, which is never the best moment. when i said "melody maker" she slammed a door in my face. that just enhanced my already fully-engorged crush.
i heard that when she was living in londonin '77, she was supposed to meet johnny rotten at the town hall and get married. apparently johnny sent sid vicious in his place, which didn't go over so well.
i'd strongly recommend all the early albums (1, 2, learning to crawl), but also the hideously underrated "packed!" and "last of the independents." (actually "pretenders 2" was also wildly underappreciated). "isle of view" is a beautiful unplugged set. for my money, avoid "get close" and, again, "viva el amor."

if you're downloading, here's a one-disc best of pretenders. plus you really should get "break up the concrete." i do favor her beautiful mode. but then, i'm 50.

i go to sleep
977
mystery achievement
message of love
i hurt you
i'm a mother
how do i miss you?
kid
stop your sobbing
middle of the road
birds of paradise
back on the chain gang
2000 miles
never do that
millionaires
night in my veins
sense of purpose
money talk
hollywood perfume
brass in pocket