The Pretenders Album: “Packed!”

Welcome to the great "lost" Pretenders album. I'm always amazed by the dismissal of this record by most reviewers (honorable exceptions - Spin alt rock guide, and Robert Christgau. Plus Q.)

After 11 years, I never get tired of listening to these songs. Is this the best Pretenders album? Maybe not, but I seem to play it more than any of the others. It has an emotional honesty (let's say 'soul') and streaks of world-weary humour that repay endless listening. Oh, and 98% of the songs are great. Despite the impossibility of describing music in words, here's my track assessment.

Side 1 (yep, I'm listening on vinyl):

OK, this isn't a slick record. For various reasons, the "band" here is Chrissie plus session musos, and the production and playing are often basic and simple. And many of the songs are downbeat. But if this puts you off, it's your loss. What counts are the songs and the performance of the leading lady - which at least match anything else she's ever done; it's also as musically varied as any of the other albums.

So please give this obscure record a chance to get into your bloodstream, even if you have to pay import prices. (I promise it won't take 11 years.)

This is a notoriously bad album. Out of print for years, most people seem to think it was the essence of everything that "went wrong" with the Pretenders when it became a pseudonym for "Chrissie Hynde and various musicians." But honestly it's one of my favorite Pretenders albums! Sure it's more produced and more ballad-friendly than early Pretenders albums, but it's not bad at all. Nothing terribly schmaltzy like "I'll Stand by You," and a few really great songs like "Never Do That," "Criminal," and "Sense of Purpose."

"Packed!" was only disappointing compared to what came before from The Pretenders. Chrissie Hynde dismissed the rest of the band (only drummer Blair Cunningham who appeared on "Get Close" appears here)and worked with a stellar series of session players and while "Packed!" might lack the punch of previous Pretenders albums, it has a number of worthwhile songs on it to make it worth checking out for fans of the Hynde. This has been reissued as part of Rhino's "Encore" series using the same original mastering (near as I can tell) as the original album which is a good thing since many remasters from Rhino have often been too loud and compressed squeezing the life out of the music.

"Never Do That" became the big single for the album along with "Sense of Purpose. There are other solid tracks throughout the album as well such as "No Guarantee" and "How Do I Miss You" the main flaw with the album is that there's a bit too much filler and Hynde isn't really working with a "band". That was one of the benefits of the first three Pretenders albums and the ones after this when guitarist Adam Seymour (former guitarist for The Katydids) and Martin Chambers rejoined the band. Some artist don't need the same players from song to song but Hynde's songs really benefit from a band.

Billy Bremner who played on "My City Was Gone" and "Back on the Chain Gang" and the former guitarist in Rockpile appeared on the album playing lead guitar on most of the tracks. Mitchell Froom's production isn't as obtrusive as some of the other albums he worked on (many people hate the work he did on Richard Thompson's albums but I for one like his work)during the same time frame and compliments most of the songs.

A good, solid album from Hynde who was no longer pretending that there was a band with this effort.

I have been a Pretenders fan since day one. I cannot give this album 2 stars, but it probably deserves it.

For me anyway, worth the price for "When Will I See You" Just brilliant, an emotional power house that contrasts a gorgeous ache of loneliness with a naive burst of hope. And a great version of "May This be Love", a seldom played innovative and beautiful Hendrix tune. "Millionaires" is kind of weird and cool, the rest probably should be out takes.

Far and away the weakest Pretenders album. Most of the songs come across as little more than Chrissie Hynde with a bunch of studio musicians and while a few songs such as the glorious "Sense of Purpose" manage to shine through the otherwise mundane proceedings there is a good reason why this remains the sole Pretenders album out of print.