Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Pretenders are For Real, October 7, 2008
I want to be clear: This is not a mind-blowing album. It doesn't reinvent rock and roll or even just The Pretenders. But it does confirm and remind us why we've loved Chrissie Hynde for all these years. Great singing, song-writing, and playing. It's not complicated, and it doesn't have to be.
Like the classic Pretenders albums of the early 80s, the production is lean, this time working in slide guitars and Bo Diddley shuffles, but maintaining the sound and feel of a live band. The songs speak for themselves, and Hynde's voice and signature hard-nosed attitude come across clearly. There aren't any songs here that match up with Brass in Pocket, Back on the Chain Gang, Middle of the Road, or The Pretenders' other classics, but the songs are smart and feel honest. The album is focused and real and plays to Hynde and co.'s strengths. And Chrissie's voice hasn't lost a bit of its range or power. She'll always be THE greatest woman in rock for my money.
My only complaint about The Pretenders is that I wish they (well, she, really) were more prolific. It'd be great not to have to wait so long for Hynde to give more of her singular talent to the world. So, in short, I think this a good, solid album, one that will appeal to longtime fans, even if it doesn't reach the peaks of past glories.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Is Why The Pretenders Are In The Rock Hall Of Fame, October 7, 2008
"Break Up The Concrete" is a flawless and diverse CD that vindicates why Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Hame. Hynde has always been the heart and soul of this band and her wondrous and versatile vocals resonate with grandeur throughout a CD that includes rock, punk, country, folk and ballads. Her voice can be as forceful as an angry punk icon and as a tender as the most ethereal angel. "Boots Of Chinese Plastic" is a compelling and frenetic hit and the highly emotional and yearning "One Thing Never Changed" is one of the greatest songs in Pretenders' history only to be topped by the endearing and gorgeously sung "Love's A Mystery." When Chrissie Hynde was busy with her vegetarian eatery in Akron, Ohio she also managed to somehow even enhance her sound as the greatest front-woman in Rock and Roll.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Pretenders still tight as ever, Chrissie Hynde's voice still amazing, October 9, 2008
I knew I was going to love this the moment that I heard the first track was called "Boots of Chineese Plastic". For a brief moment, I hoped that she had done some sort of back-handed cover of Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather". Then I started the disc and was smacked in the face by the Pretenders stompin, rockin, blisteringly tight playing. They tear this music up--all of it--like this is their first and only chance to get heard. Not all the tunes are as in your face as that first track, but in every circumstance, this band is committed to delivering great music. How many bands with the longevity of the Pretenders can put out a disc this good? Not many, folks, not many.
Check out the wonders that this music holds: sharp guitar playing, driving drums, really melodic bass parts, and holding it all together, Chrissie Hynde's vibrato, alternatively husky and plaintive, round and full as an overripe plum, dripping with anger, sadness, and an all-knowing sense of understanding of itself. Chrissie understands that she makes the music something more than it is on paper when she sings.
Do you love the Pretenders already? Well then, you've probably already bought this disc. Go ahead and get a second copy to give to a friend. Do you like "Brass in Pocket" but haven't thought much about the band since the 80's? Well, give this a little chance. This is too good to miss.
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~ Lucinda Williams
~ Lindsey Buckingham
~ Bob Dylan
~ The Pretenders
~ Jackson Browne
is The Pretenders' 
