This U.K. two-fer from the Pretenders includes a 22-track greatest-hits collection along with the band's well-received 2008 studio album, Break Up the Concrete. It's hard to find fault with Best of the Pretenders, as it's fully stocked with all of the hits and fan-favorite album cuts, and Concrete was as solid an effort as one could hope for from a band in its fourth decade, resulting in the perfect package for listeners looking for the best of both worlds. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music    [ read more ]

CD $22.78

Single from the upcoming album Break Up The Concrete. Break Up The Concrete is an authentic slice of rock Americana, ranging from blistering punk to the most delicate storytelling as told by the queen of rock royalty herself.

MP3 $1.05

Other people also bought:

The Greenhornes  Greenhornes, Last Match  1997 to 1999, Yes  The Yes Album

Single from the upcoming album Break Up The Concrete. Break Up The Concrete is an authentic slice of rock Americana, ranging from blistering punk to the most delicate storytelling as told by the queen of rock royalty herself.

MP3 $1.05

Other people also bought:

The Greenhornes  Greenhornes, Last Match  1997 to 1999, Yes  The Yes Album

VINYL FORMAT. Think of this long awaited studio album as if it were the first Pretenders record: musical turf that's defined by attitude, lyrical and melodic mastery, and the unexpected - and Chrissie Hynde's voice as you've always known it. Break up the Concrete is an authentic slice of rock Americana, ranging from blistering punk to the most delicate storytelling as told by the queen of rock royalty herself.

2x10"+CD $23.99

Other people also bought:

Band Of Skulls  Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, The Cure  4:13 Dream, Deer Tick  War Elephant (Reissue)

Think of this long awaited studio album as if it were the first Pretenders record: musical turf that's defined by attitude, lyrical and melodic mastery, and the unexpected - and Chrissie Hynde's voice as you've always known it. Break up the Concrete is an authentic slice of rock Americana, ranging from blistering punk to the most delicate storytelling as told by the queen of rock royalty herself.

CD $19.99

Other people also bought:

Do Make Say Think  Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, Do Make Say Think  You, You're A History In Rust, Why?  Alopecia

In the first edition of the Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde was a smart and streetwise rock & roller with just enough maturity to make something of what life had shown her by her mid-twenties -- and she had the rough-and-tumble band to match for her first two albums. The second version of the group cast her as an unwitting but unbowed survivor, determined to move on and keep rocking despite the deaths of two of her bandmates, and the tough, no-nonsense approach of her new collaborators on {^Learning to Cra   [ read more ]

CD $11.38

The Pretenders' 1987 collection, The Singles, did a fine job of assembling most of the group's finest tracks up to that point in their career, so after another decade passed, their record company felt it was necessary to compile a more "updated" collection, 2000's Euro-only release Greatest Hits. Although it contains a total of 20 tracks, Greatest Hits ultimately fails to improve over its predecessor, for the simple fact that the early '80s was the Pretenders' artistic and commercial peak, an   [ read more ]

CD $14.23

Essentially, Isle of View is The Pretenders' "unplugged" album. Chrissie Hynde runs through 15 of the group's songs, from hits like "Back on the Chain Gang" to more obscure numbers like "Lovers of Today." Occasionally, she is backed by a string quartet, including on a drastically rearranged (and poorly conceived) "Kid," but the the strings aren't as effective or startling as the piano of Blur's Damon Albarn on "I Go to Sleep." Even though it features a number of reinterpretations of some of {$Th   [ read more ]

CD $5.68

An "unplugged" set without the MTV brand name, The Isle of View (say it fast a couple of times to catch the pun) presents songs by the Pretenders -- that already were the softest ones in their repertoire -- now played on acoustic guitars and backed by the Duke String Quartet. Lead singer Chrissie Hynde's lyrics are slightly more discernible, and some of the songs are lovely. [WEA Int'l reissued the album as part of their Sight and Sound series in 2008.] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Musi   [ read more ]

CD $14.23

Chrissie Hynde rebounds from the directionless Packed! with Last of the Independents, a tough album that proves she can mature without losing her edge. Most of the record crackles with the lean power of Learning to Crawl, occasionally stopping for a lushly produced number recalling Get Close. Although the record goes on a little too long and there are a couple of weak songs, particularly the anthemic "I'm a Mother," Last of the Independents re-establishes Hynde as a powerful and insi   [ read more ]

CD $7.58

Chrissie Hynde took a long, hard road to rock & roll stardom, but when her band, the Pretenders, finally broke through in 1979, they wasted no time, growing from promising newcomers on the British music scene to major international stardom with a pair of smash albums to their credit in a mere three years. But the Pretenders' meteoric rise came to a crashing halt in 1982, when drug abuse claimed the life of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and forced Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers to du   [ read more ]

CD $11.38

The Pretenders' eighth studio album, Loose Screw, is their first on an independent label after 20 years with Warner, but the switch hasn't made any difference in the group's style. It may have seemed to listeners that later albums softened the band's mainstream rock sound in an attempt to restore commerciality, especially when professional songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly began writing with group leader Chrissie Hynde. (They co-wrote the Pretenders' comeback hit single, 1994   [ read more ]

CD $17.08