The Pretenders - "Learning to Crawl" (1984)

The Pretenders were both critically acclaimed (this album received 5 stars at allmusic.com) and commercially successful, but they have no doubt faded in terms of recognition today, at least compared to some of their contemporaries. My feeling is that this is a good, but not great record. The opening set of songs is great, though. "Middle of the Road" combines jangly guitars in the verses with harder riffage in the choruses, simultaneously casting them as a harder rocking, more bluesy R.E.M., yet the "oooh oooh oooh"s prove they have a pop sense as well. Single "Back on the Chain Gang" is the highlight of the record, with a romantic, almost Spanish lead guitar part, and simple, but brilliant call-and-response pop hooks ("I found a picture of you - oh oh oh oh"). "Time the Avenger" is much more taut, almost punk in its driving, bass-led riff, and really works just as well. After that, the record doesn't exactly lose focus, but most of the remaining material is decent rather than excellent.

Although the group no doubt can play in a lot of different styles, most of the tracks are all produced the same way, and as such, they sometimes fail to develop their own personality. Furthermore, especially on the second side, a lot of the songs just seem like pastiches rather than fully developed compositions. "My City Was Gone" has a nice bluesy bass riff, but I would have preferred it at half the length). "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" is the only song here not penned by Chrissie Hynde, and although pleasant, it is basically a generic Motown soul ballad. What I didn't know about this record while listening to it is that it was made after the deaths of the band's guitarist and bassist. So I am impressed that they kept on, especially as the guitar and bass playing on this record is overall very good, and perhaps if I had been more familiar with the Pretenders and their history, I would get more of an emotional charge out of this record given the circumstances. But then again, perhaps it's better to stay objective. At any rate, an easy one to recommend, if not quite a must-own.