Search - Pretenders :: Get Close

Unfortunately, the Pretenders' weakest album.

R. Josef | New Haven, CT United States | 06/14/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"After the death of two of the original Pretenders, the band was, of course, in major disarray. However, Chrissie Hynde perservered with replacements, and was able to reemerge. With the help of producer Chris Thomas, the band was able to come up with a pretty good approximation of the original Pretenders sound on their third album, the successful "Learning to Crawl". The following tour had them playing to the biggest crowds they had yet seen.



However, Hynde then proceeded to blow it. First, she replaced Thomas with U2 producer Steve Lillywhite, which in itself wasn't a bad sign. After completing only one track, she then fired him, as well as her rhythm section. To replace Lillywhite, she enlisted Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain, the team behind the mega-smash "Once a Upon a Time", the hit album by then-hubby Jim Kerr's band Simple Minds. She and guitarist Robbie MacIntosh then went through a bunch of session men during recording before settling on two of them, bassist T.M. Stevens and drummer Blair Cunningham, as official Pretenders (although they actually appear on only about half of the cuts).



However, what's good for a synth-pop band like Simple Minds isn't necessarily good for a band like the Pretenders. Iovine and Clearmountain seemed to have forgotten that the Pretenders are a guitar-based band. Instead of the powerful rock guitar attack of Thomas, they instead slicken up the sound and go too way heavy on the keyboards in the mix. A lot of the songs are undermined by either gloppy synthesizers ("When I Change My Life", "Light of the Moon") or annoyingly tinkly pianos ("My Baby", "Don't Get Me Wrong").



More importantly, though, is that Hynde's songwriting took a big dip. She felt that she had to branch out, but the problem is that she wasn't particularly good at what she tried. For instance: funk with obnoxious, obvious social commentary ("Dance", "How Much Did You Get For Your Soul?"), melding hard rock with Indian sounds ("Tradition of Love") or reggae ("I Remember You"). "Chill Factor", which combines a 50's-type doo-wop melody with a moving lyric about single motherhood, is the only one of these experiments that succeeds. The more pop-oriented songs ("My Baby", "When I Change My Life", the boppy hit single "Don't Get Me Wrong") were a bit more listenable, but pale considerably when compared with previous work.



Hynde always included at least one cover on her albums. Here, she includes three, and it's telling that two of these are the best songs on the album. "Light of the Moon", by David Bowie guitarist Carlos Alamar and two New York jazz musicians, is forgettable. But "Hymn to Her", by a high school friend of Chrissie's, is a gorgeous ballad about the ambiguity of the female role in relationship. Beautiful, with the ethereal keyboards applied appropriately for once. However, the Lillywhite track, a version of Jimi Hendrix's "Room Full of Mirrors", blows everything else here away. The band had been using it as a wall-of-noise part of their encore, and I think they really do it justice here, rocking hard like they did on their earlier (and later) albums.



The lack of cohesiveness of this, their worst album, carried through to the tour -- Stevens was fired before it even started and MacIntosh quit at the end.

Fortunately, Hynde rebounded again, but the band wouldn't be stable again for years.



Pretenders hardcore fans will want this album for the strongest songs, but everyone else will probably just want the hits on a collection. Get any other album (definitely the first should be the top choice) before this one.



"

The middle of the road finally got her

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 12/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After the breathtaking rise from adversity that was Learning to Crawl, Chrissie Hynde did an abrupt 180. She decided she wanted to grow beyond what she saw as a preconceived "Pretenders" sound and experiment with the formula. Unfortunately, she violated an old rule about not fixing what ain't broke, and the result was "Get Close."



There is nothing dreadful about this album, but it essentially is a Chrissie solo adventure. Two of the "Pretenders" in the credits, bassist TM Stevens and drummer Blair Cunningham, barely appear here. Session cats fill most of the slots other than Chrissie and "Crawl" holdover Robbie McIntosh, and the lack of a band chemistry is obvious throughout. The songs are staid sounding, something nothing on those first three albums would ever have been accused of. Just as a 'for instance,' think of the explosive entrance "Middle Of The Road" made on "Learning to Crawl," then compare it to the MOR sounding "My Baby" here. When the band does pack a punch on "How Much Did You Get For Your Soul," the song's anger at Michael Jackson lessens the urgency. It seems more petty than need be.



However, the songs are still uniformly decent. There is even a bonafide Pretender's classic with "Don't Get Me Wrong," reprised here as a live bonus cut. The three covers also are standouts, with Carlos Alomar's "Light of the Moon" a lost single. The other cover, a stunning version of Jimi Hendrix' "Room Full Of Mirrors" highlights what is most likely what made this album so low on its impact. This was the one song salvaged from early sessions with Steve Lillywhite, and the production actually has the kick Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain seemed to suck dry from the rest of the album. (The live version of "Thumbelina" also shows up the studio tracks' lack of wattage.)



The other bonus tracks are worthy additions. The original take of "Dance" is rawer and benefits for it. "Hold a Candle to This" is a strong early version of what would eventually appear on the under-rated Packed!. The final two live cuts are valuable in showing just how great Chrissie was in front of a crowd. (They are not as invaluable as the live concert included on the re-issued Pretenders II, however.) Not as vibrant as those early CD's and a bit too middle of the road to really stick, "Get Closer" needed a bit more wildness and a little less stability. It is a good album that was preceded by three greats, and suffers accordingly in perception."

Uneven album improved with bonus tracks

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 10/29/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Learning to Crawl" found The Pretenders coming back with a terrific, powerful album that equaled their debut. The follow up "Get Close" is more polished with a nice pop sheen but is inconsistent with great songs standing beside ordinary songs or material that should have been a B-side to a single. Producers Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain were aiming for a more funky feel with the band's fourth album. They achieved that aim but sacrificed much of what made The Pretenders great in the first place in the process. It's still an appealing album but the rhythm section which includes drummer Blair Cunningham just can't take the place of skin basher Martin Chambers (who appears on only one track--one of the best--the Hendrix cover "Roomful of Mirrors").



The album opens with a pair of great mid-tempo ballads "My Baby" has the infectious melody that has become a hallmark of Hynde's best work. "When I Change My Life" is a reflect ballad that more than holds its own with some of Hynde's best work. The filler starts with the third track Carlos Alomar's "Light of the Moon" sounds like second rate Hynde and is arranged (without a dose of irony I'm sure)like a Simple Minds cast off tune. "Dance!" has a nice funky groove and a witty lyric. It's probably the best example of what Iovine and Clearmountain were after and comes closest to integrating the funk element into The Pretenders sound.



Much of the rest of the album has filler but there are occasional gems that crop up. The arrangements aren't quite as tough as previous Pretenders albums but they do highlight Hynde's oft praised melodic sense. Guitarist (the only hold over from the previous edition of the band that appears on the entire album)Robbie McIntosh plays some scortching solos that breathes much needed life into some of the songs.



The bonus tracks are a mixed bag. The alternate version of "Hold a Candle to This" is good (the song would eventually show up on "Packed!")while the remix of "Tradition of Love" isn't substanially better than the original. "Dance!(Take One)" is a rough and ready version of the same song and I find it superior to the final version. It works better without the overproduction of Iovine and Clearmountain and is just as funky. "Worlds Within Worlds" is a song that was dropped from the running order featuring Chambers and bassist Malcolm Foster. It was part of the earlier rejected sessions produced by Steve Lilywhite and is tougher than much of the rest of the album. It would have worked well as part of the original album.



We get two live tracks with the new line up of Hynde, McIntoch, Cunningham and Stevens. "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Thumbelina" are from an Austin, Texas appearence. The former sounds tougher than the album version. The latter from "Learning to Crawl" proves that this edition of the band could rock live pretty convincingly. It's a pity that we don't have a full disc of these performances (a flaw with the "Learning to Crawl" album as well which only features two tracks from the US Festival appearence).



While this album isn't quite as essential as the first three albums, it does have some terrific material mixed that suffers from the production sheen of Iovine and Clearmountain. "Packed!"(probably the weakest Pretenders album ever relying primarily on studio players and former Rockpile member Billy Bremmer to give life to Hynde's songs)would follow then there would be a long silence from The Pretenders. After that, Hynde would form a new line up with Adam Seymour and returning member Martin Chambers that would capture the spirit of the original band)."