Pretenders

On the Pretenders' eighth album, Chrissie Hynde and collaborator Adam Seymour have
matched expansive songs to roomy reggae-ish bottoms. The results are top-flight: With one
exception -- "Lie to Me," a thuggy, technologically tricked-up number -- everything here is
all programmed refinement, stylish melodies and vocal fireworks. On "You Know Who Your
Friends Are," Hynde is lost in some obscure story, yet her voice sails over the Sl... More >

Of course Chrissie Hynde's not "back." She never went away, and if this record proves anything it's that she never will--as long as she gets a production budget. Figure she got into a spiky mood after 1999's Viva El Amor failed to impress radio or her U.S. label of 20 years. Where that album demonstrated the emotional utility of a comfortable tune, here the Steinberg-Kelly plush is down to two tracks and doesn't quite go with material that finds its spirit in the persistence of punk and its soul in reggae basslines. For a 51-year-old who refuses to act her age, pretty convincing. Stick her on one of those diva specials and watch her snarl. (Grade - A-)