Search - Pat Benatar :: In The Heat Of The Night/Crimes Of Passion

Come on now, how great was Pat Benatar!

M J Heilbron Jr. | Long Beach, CA United States | 03/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At the height of my testosterone-storm adolescence came the perfect rock star for my state of being: Pat Benatar.

Just looking at her first album cover, I saw this sexy/pretty pouting tough-waif, and in the grooves of the record I found an operatic rock voice (dropping into a sexy growl from time to time) fronting a crack band playing contemporary new-wave power-pop rock and roll with gusto.

Everyone knows the single "Heartbreaker", but there are several other songs on the first album that are it's equal. Benatar has relied on covers throughout her early career, and here there are many, including Mellencamp's early song, "I Need A Lover".

The synthesizer rock element comes to the fore with the goofy "My Clone Sleeps Alone", and there's a sexy coquettish-ness to "Rated X".

"So Sincere", an exhilarating rocker, ends the first album proper with style.

This stupendous remaster includes BOTH albums on one CD, sweetly remastered.

"Crimes of Passion", for many their introduction to Ms. Benatar, is one of the iconic albums of the era.

The single "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was all over the radio, as MTV was only just getting started. Other singles likes "You Better Run" followed, and she went "topical" with "Hell is For Children" ( a better-than-you'd-expect tale of child abuse). To her credit, it worked.

She gets slinky with the sinuous bass and drum lines of "Never Wanna Leave You", and overly dramatic with "Wuthering Heights". She goes for old-fashioned bar-band rock and roll with "Prisoner of Love" and again ends her album with a lacerating pop-rocker, "Out-A-Touch".

This two-fer remaster is clearly one of the best deals available, and brought me back to my junior high/high school days with a vividness and clarity that was jarring. And terrific at the same time...I was both proud and embarrassed that I remembered every lyric, every musical cue or riff...I knew instinctively which song was coming next.

But I bet you I haven't heard this album in over twenty years...it just goes to show you.

Exactly WHAT it shows, I'm not sure...but it HAS to be something! There are brain synapses that formed a quarter of a century ago, that are still there, just waiting for that first chord of "Heartbreaker" to set them afire..."

Two of her best albums on one CD, with full length versions

Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 04/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm so glad that this CD did not make the error the Tropico/Seven the Hard Way CD made, which is to edit about 3 of the songs from those albums to squeeze the radio edit of Love is A Battlefield onto the CD. This CD instead offers all the full length album versions of her first two albums, which are probably her best because they lean more towards a melodic new wave, almost Blondie-esque sound. My only disappointment is that I was hoping that In the Heat of the Night would--by a fluke--have the impossible to get on CD mix of We Live For Love that was available on some of the initial pressings of the original album. It was a much more new wave sounding version that removed much of the guitar and had a more pulsing bassline. I've sampled every Pat Benatar CD I come across to see if any compilations features that version, and have yet to find one. I would love to have both versions of the song on CD so I could get rid of my old vinyl album. But, having said that, this is still a 5 star CD."

Remastered sound on this series is not as good as on other r

Just Fell In | LA, California | 09/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is an excellent buy as far as content. Both Pat Benatar's debut, In the Heat of the Night, and her sophmore effort, Crimes of Passion are excellent albums. Crimes is the best record she ever made and Heat isn't far behind. The only problem that I have with this release is that the remastering claimed by the manufacturer is only marginallly good compared with other remasters of Pat's work and with remastered products in general. If you don't care about the sound quality as much, then this is very highly recommended as you get 2 very good 80s rock albums for the price of one. As far as Benatar goes, these are the best ones along with her third release, Precious Time and 1993's Gravity's Rainbow. If you like quality remastered sound, then spend the extra money and get the single album remasters instead. The 3 stars are only for the remastering, with the content getting 4 and 1/2 stars."