Packed (Jewl)

The Pretenders | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Encore
• ASIN: B0018RKEM8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,604 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Never Do That

2. Let's Make A Pact

3. Millionaires

4. May This Be Love

5. No Guarantee

6. When Will I See You

7. Sense Of Purpose

8. Downtown (Akron)

9. How Do I Miss You

10. Hold A Candle To This

11. Criminal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Packed with good songs, November 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Packed (Audio CD)

After a drastic change in style on the 1986 "Get Close", 1990's "Packed" marked a return to the classic Pretenders sound. This isn't a must-have CD, but it's arguably the best of the Pretenders lot after what most would consider the two essentials: "Pretenders" and "Learning to Crawl". It doesn't rock quite as hard as the earlier albums, even when it tries, and the original band is completely gone, but there isn't a bad song here.

There are 3 periods to Chrissie Hynde's work, each producing 3 full-length albums. In the first, a youthful band rocks incredibly well, recording classics: "Pretenders", "Pretenders II", and "Learning to Crawl". The second sounds like a bit of a mid-life crisis as an ever-changing band tries with mixed success to explore new sounds ("Get Close") or to recapture the Pretenders' fading youth ("Packed" and "Last of the Independents"). Finally, there's a phase that finds dignity in maturity, first giving up the attempt to rock like 30-year-olds by unplugging ("Isle of View"), then recording two solid albums with no pretense of recapturing the glory of youth ("Viva El Amor" and "Loose Screw"). If you're not a die-hard fan, that first period may be all you care about. If you are, then there are some diamonds worth looking for in that rough middle period, and "Packed" contains most of them. It is by far the most consistent CD from that time, and I can only guess at why it's not even been rated here previously. Perhaps it's just that it didn't include radio hits like "Don't Get Me Wrong" or "Night in My Veins".

The CD opens with "Never Do That", a love/hate song featuring a self-plagiarizing reincarnation of the "Back on the Chain Gang" sound. It includes clever use of guitar effects, something characteristic of the early Pretenders, and equally clever lyrics. "Let's Make a Pact" is, for Chrissie Hynde then and now, an uncharacteristically hopeful and touching love song. Though not musically memorable, it is lyrically so, even with an overly-cute word play on altar and alter. The CD contains several songs in which she expresses painful vulnerability with regard to her love life, this being the first. "Millionaires" is a fun and forgettable rocker. Though it's an enjoyable song with interesting guitar effects at the bridge, there's something vaguely disconcerting about a millionaire singing as if millionaires are the enemy, however tongue-in-cheek. Still, it was good to hear Chrissie rocking again in a way she hadn't since the early 80s. The cover of Hendrix's "May This Be Love" adds nothing to the original, but is more successful than her version of "Room Full of Mirrors" on "Get Close".

"No Guarantee" tries to rock in the style of the first Pretenders album, as do several songs on this CD, and it gets close, though it fails to fully live up to that early sound. "When Will I See You" is a magnificently-performed, wistful, jangly-guitared love song, and is the first of several songs here that include the pleasures of summer as part of their theme. "Sense of Purpose" may be the best song on the album. Like "Let's Make a Pact", it seems to makes noises about wanting to be made whole by a man, but it also has the swagger of the singer knowing she's a woman in her prime, and it exudes the mature confidence of someone I'm guessing was about 40 at the time. This song rocks gently but powerfully, and the lyrics are sublime. There is genuine passion here, without any misguided attempts to recapture the energy of "Precious". "Downtown" is another really fun song that does try to capture the sound and fury of the first Pretenders album with good if incomplete success, while "How Do I Miss You" is reminiscent of the slow reggae-tinged songs on that album; it has aged well.

"Hold a Candle to This" is another rocker that aims for that original tough Pretenders sound. I think Chrissie does better with venomous lyrics about relationships than about animal liberation. But it's quite possible that her singing here doesn't sound quite as passionate to me as it might simply because I lack the strength of her conviction that eating meat is evil. Maybe I'm just projecting my own lack of passion on the subject. "Criminal" closes the CD with a slowly rocking ballad in which the vocals, if not the lyrics, are sophisticated. This is another of the "when can I see you" songs on the CD in which Chrissie openly expresses painfully pathetic vulnerability - it comes across as quite heartfelt.

This CD was a mixed blessing to a Pretenders fan 13 years ago, and remains so. On the one hand, we got back some of that original passionate rock sound from her early years, something that had been sorely missed. Yet Chrissie couldn't pull it off quite as well as 10 years earlier, leaving a bit of a sense of loss mingled with pleasure at the at-least-partial return of a very special sound. With the perspective of a decade having passed, perhaps what's most important is that these are all good songs, several of them truly excellent, rather than disappointment that 40 year olds don't have quite as much energy as 30 year olds.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hold a candle to this!, November 3, 2001

By 

Steve (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Packed! (Audio CD)

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):
Never Do That: A classic mid-tempo Pretenders sound, like a hybrid of Kid and Chain Gang. That's a recommendation.
Let's Make A Pact: With its beguiling melody and lyrical guitar lines, one of my favourite tracks. And typically soul-baring lyrics from Chrissie.
Millionaires: A great, witty rock song, which is more than it seems. She isn't just slagging off the rich, but all of us (and herself) for being so pathetic.
May This Be Love: Another of CH's Hendrix covers. Perfectly listenable, although doesn't add anything to Jimi.
No Guarantee: Great driving rocker with a propulsive 'don't-get-me-wrong' beat. And wonderful wild guitar, especially on the long outro.
When Will I See You?: Atmospheric, romantic, etc, but the only track I don't much care for, mainly due to some overblown lyrics (which we probably can't blame on co-writer Johnny Marr).
Side 2 (sounds best on vinyl, says Chrissie):
Sense Of Purpose: A jaunty song of desperation, this one really grows on you. And there's the Louie Louie ending again...
Downtown (Akron): With salacious, spat-out lyrics, guitar mayhem and a stunning bridge, this is one of the three greatest 100% rockers that Hynde has written. It's impossible to play this loud enough.
How Do I Miss You?: A total change of mood with this melodramatic deep-groove reggae, recorded with Tony Gad of Aswad. I love this, even though I'm not quite sure how seriously the song's meant to be taken.
Hold A Candle To This: Another great driving rocker, with Chrissie lashing out at everything angering her, which is quite a lot.
Criminal: A superb heartfelt ballad with typically soulful vocals. The chime of guitar at the end sounds like a perfect way to end the album.

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.)
(PS you CD people: stop using the skip button, or you'll never get to appreciate tracks that aren't immediately appealing.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bum Rap, October 6, 2008

By 

Kevin Kochanski (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Packed (Jewl) (Audio CD)

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."