Customer Reviews

Best Shots

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent collection for any fan. I have been a Benatar fan for 20+ years and I love this set. Originally I was going to skip the "Best Shots" CD, because I all ready purchased the "Synchronistic Wanderings [BOX SET]". But then I was looking for the DVD and I ran across this. The CD contains 15 of Pat's incredible songs, such as, "Hell Is For Children" (which is not on the original release of "Best Shots"), "One Love", "Painted Desert", "We Belong" and others. The DVD is the "Choice Cuts" DVD. With the 25 videos, 4 extra concert videos, and both the audio and video option commentary form Pat and Neil. This is a must have for fans who do not have the "Best Shot" album yet or for the new Benatar fans coming in off of her new album "Go" which also ROCKS!!!!! So for the price of this set you really are getting the best of both worlds.

Pat Benatar was the rock-chick of the 80's. I remember waiting for this album to come out to have all her hits in one place-well they weren't. Her top-50 hits LITTLE TOO LATE, YOU BETTER RUN, TREAT ME RIGHT, LOOKING FOR A STRANGER,& SEX AS A WEAPON AREN'T INCLUDED. they should have and other songs such as ONE LOVE, OUTLAW BLUES AND THE LIVE VERSION OF HELL IS FOR CHILDREN SHOULDA BEEN DROPPED. THANKFULLY THE ALL FIRED UP 2-DISC SET HAD IT ALL.BUT 5 YEARS AFTER THIS RELEASE.

I recieved this cd as a Christmas gift and had the original cd when it was first put out in 1989 and since I have been a fan since 1980 when I first heard "Heartbreaker" and bought In The Heat Of The Night and everything up to her newest Go cd - I was very happy to see that there was a DVD attached to this collection. It also made me mad at Capitol in that in 2002 Blondie released a new Greatest Hits cd and DVD and the dvd isn't as good as this collection. You get 25 classic videos with commentary both just audio and also visually with Neil & Pat making fun of themselves ,bandmembers,costumes and hairstyles for added fun. The videos are somewhat dated in look but not in sound or style. There is also 4 live tracks- "Heartbreaker" and "I Need A Lover" from 1980 that showcase a somewhat rawer and tougher looking Pat that really was a highlight for me. The 2 other videos are newer performances of "Hell Is For Children" and "Heartbreaker" from 2001. So if you are a new fan or an older one the cd if you don't have it is great but it is the DVD that really makes this collection special. Pat still rocks!

Pat Benatar is the pinnacle of a woman rocker. She has a stunning voice that can hits those high notes with proficiency meanwhile she has all the grit and edge that a hard rock fan is seeking. This collection of her hits is a great introduction for folks that aren't overly familiar with her work. I am not one of those people. Although I like this CD, I miss a lot of the songs such as "You Better Run", "Sex as a Weapon", "Treat Me Right", all of which are just as important as "Heartbreaker" and/or "Love is a Battlefield." Two versions of Hell is For Children was unnecessary, but the unfamiliar last two tunes on the album, especially "Outlaw Blues" are excellent songs. A great introduction for potential fans, this CD is not quite enough for us diehard Pat Benatar fans.

Having just graduated high school when Benatar hit the scene with "Crimes of Passion," I was transfixed with her powerful voice and aggressive delivery. Listening to this great compilation, I'm as impressed as ever. A few notable tracks are not here - most importantly "You Better Run," and "Wuthering Heights," but nitpicks aside, this is a great disc.

Pat's classical opera training is quite evident in her amazingly powerful vocals. Quite unlike any rocker before or since. Husband Neil Gerardo's guitar work is of the highest order as well.

Worth noting is the fact that Benatar walked away from her career at the absolute height of her success to stay at home and raise her new daughter(s). She's recently returned with some new material, which demonstrates that her voice is as strong as ever. She deserves the greatest respect not only as an artist, but as a woman with the moral character and courage to do what few in show business ever do: put their careers on the back burner for their kids' sake. Hats off to a great artist, and more importantly, a great mother!

An essential CD for anyone without the original albums in their collection.

As most reviewers have said, this is probably the best place to start your Benatar collection. Most of the hits/high radio-play songs are here.

The good things are: well, all the hits are terrific -- obviously the reason why they _were_ hits; sure, there are good album tracks (two -- "Painted Desert" and "Outlaw Blues" from TROPICO -- were included here), but songs like "Love is a Battlefield," "We Belong," "Invincible," "We Live For Love," and "Shadows of the Night" -- among others -- are great. Another plus is that all of those hits are in their album versions (until this, I'd only heard the 7" version of "Love is a Battlefield" -- they cut out that guitar solo for what?!).

The minuses: well, no, "Treat Me Right" and "You Better Run" aren't here. Or "Sex as a Weapon," or "Anxiety (Get Nervous)," or--- This could go on, but then you'd be skirting the "hit" criteria. And then it could still go on since "Desert" and "Blues" weren't hits either. Also, the sound is good, but hasn't been fully upgraded to 24-bit mastering. (But then, have any of the albums?)

Still, it's the best place to start -- and there's much to enjoy.

(P.S. It's worth noting that the UK version of BEST SHOTS -- released 1987, and still available on CD (and at amazon.co.uk)-- is a very good compilation as well; it's not even up to "All Fired Up" yet, but as a result it includes "Sex as a Weapon," "Treat Me Right," "You Better Run," [can you believe it?] and "If You Think You Know how to Love Me"[yay!]. However, it drops "Blues," "Desert," "Promises in the Dark," and "Hell is for Children"; it also uses the 7" version of "Battlefield." Another plus is that its version of "We Live For Love" is that really new-wave-y version -- my (probably blind) guess is that that version may be "We Live for Love '85," included on the UK-only 12" single of "We Belong" -- it wouldn't have sounded that out-of-place on TROPICO, really.)

I have a soft spot for '80s music and Pat Benatar's music from that decade is no exception to that statement. After catching her on VH1's Behind the Music, I almost forgot how good her music sounded to me now. Pat Benatar is certainly one of the most influential female artists in rock 'n roll. Pat could rock just as hard as the boys can with songs like "Invicible" and "All Fired Up". However Pat wasn't all about rocking out. She also spoke out against child abuse in "Hell is For Children" which many conservatives mistakenly assumed the song had something to do with satanism and children. Then there is the tender ballad "We Belong" written by Lowen and Nevarro, which is probably one of my all time favorite Pat Benatar songs, next to "Shadows of the Night". The only two songs I wasn't really familiar with on this album were the last two tracks "Painted Desert" and "Outlaw Blues" but otherwise I remember hearing most of the songs on this album at one point of my life back in the '80s. How can anyone not have heard of "Love is a Battlefield" or "Heartbreaker"? Those songs were all over radio and still are today. They are timeless.

Pat Benatar launched one of the most amazing careers in pop music in the last 25 years with a barrage of hits that just kept coming. Starting with songs like "Love Is A Battlefield", "Promises In The Dark', and "One Love", she forged her way up the charts and was one of the first female rockers who, Like Joan Jett, became main concert draws in the early 1980s. She delivered a hard rock sound that was combined with quite provocative and driving lyrics, which gave each of her songs a particular kind of punch which was both a crowd pleaser and a reason for her sustained success commercially.

She adopted a number of social concerns, for which she spoke very forcefully and effectively, including battered children and women's rights. In songs like "Hell Is For Children", she sang with great passion about the way in which children are victimized and emotionally damaged by violence. Pat left us with quite a legacy of hits, and included here are the above-mentioned songs as well as "We Live For Love", "Shadows OF The Night", "we belong", "Invincible", "Fire And Ice", "Heartbreaker", and "Outlaw Blues". This is a great compilation of her hits, and makes for a great listening experience. Enjoy!

Thumbs up to Capitol for putting this nice collection together. The 'Best Shots' is a nice introduction to Pat's music before 1989. Although the liner notes don't mention the album being remastered, the audio sounds much better than on some previous releases, including certain selections from the
'Anthology' released in 1999. So I'm assuming it has been remastered again. But perhaps that's just my ears! It's nice having this 'Best Shots' disc for the brilliant live version of "Suffer The Little Children/Hell Is For Children."

Now on to the DVD. Capitol did a good job putting this together. While the picture quality isn't the best from the earlier videos, this is to be expected since the material is rather old. So I have no complaints here. The DVD has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Stereo. I was blown away while watching the "We Belong" video with the audio on my 330-watt stereo system. The sound quality is amazing, much better than on the CD itself, which I found surprising. I never knew the song had so much bass. The audio has been very well restored here.

As for the videos, it's nice being able to see a lot of these older videos from the 1980's, along with the videos from the 1990's - most of which I've never seen before, considering I was born in 1981! Some of the earlier videos are extremely cheesy, which is expected of most early 80's videos. Pat and her husband, Neil, definitely make note of this, making the "video/audio commentary" option a plus! We get to hear their thoughts about each video! I found myself laughing several times.

Pat and Neil seem to be very proud of the "Somebody's Baby" video, and I can see why. It's a very underrated video and one of my favorites. The same goes for "Strawberry Wine (Life Is Sweet)" which they give praise to as well! It's nice to have these videos on DVD, since they got such little airplay at the time of release.

A nice bonus are the live cuts of "Hell Is For Children" and "Heartbreaker" from 2001!

Seeing this DVD makes me want to run out and buy Pat's entire catalog. I think I'll work on doing that!

Now it's time for Capitol to remaster and re-issue all her albums with bonus tracks! I've never heard the extended remixes of some of the earlier recordings like "We Belong" and "Invincible" - which are listed in the liner notes of the 'Anthology.' Time for Capitol to reissue these!!!

If you like Ms. Benatar's stuff, this is a great compilation of her "best shots." There are, of course, a few good ones missing, but not so much as to take away from this being a great release. I would have liked to have seen A Little Too Late and Let's Stay Together instead of Painted Desert and Outlaw Blues.

This CD really packs in her great stuff, All Fired Up, Hell Is For Children and Heartbreaker rock you while One Love, We Belong and We Live For Love roll you. This one's a keeper.