Search - Pretenders :: Loose Screw

Their best work since their debut album 20 years ago . . .

Barry Ritholtz | NY | 03/28/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Pretender's first disc is one of the finest rock and roll albums ever made (and probably the first album to have "Play Loud!" written across the cover). After that startlingly raw and powerful debut, the band never managed to achieve a perfect, complete album again (no surprise). This CD -- over 20 years later -- is the closest Chrissie Hyndes & Co. has ever come. She is in full voice, with biting lyrics, and a snarling sensuality. Her ever-present anger lies just below the music's surface, while a reggae beat infuses most of everything else. These are probably the most accessible songs Hyndes has ever written.   



Bonus:  If we're lucky, someone will make a bio pic of the Pretenders/Chrissy Hyndes, and cast Gina Gershon in the lead."

Loose woman

D.A.C | widnes,cheshire,u.k | 05/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album failed to do anything in the UK as did the singles You Know Who Your Friends Are and The Losing but both songs are brilliant.In fact the only song that failed to make a mark on me was Complex Person it just doesnt work.



The rest of the album however is Hynde at her best.Loud,Proud and full of Passion that not many lead female singers can pull off anymore.pity it only made #55 in the UK."

"Sense of Purpose"

Rocky Raccoon | Boise, ID | 01/19/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It has been clear to me since The Pretenders recorded a version of "I Got You Babe" with UB40 and later when they made "How Do I Miss You?" on 1990's `Packed!' that the group could do a whole selection of reggae songs. The only thing that surprises me is that it took until their latest studio album `Loose Screw' to bring that prospect into fruition. Consisting of leading edge New Wave riffs brought to the New Millenium and half hybrid reggae, Chrissie Hynde and her crew (by now with the greatest longevity) mostly succeed while providing one of the most middle of the road albums in their nearly thirty year history. (Almost 25 if you're counting from the time of its release.)



Not as eclectic nor matching the vitality and quality of its predecessor `Viva El Amor!,' `Loose Screw' has plenty of tracks to treasure. Refusing to retreat into rehash, Chrissy's hypnotic admonition in the opener "Lie to Me" is edgy and singularly arty for its vocal demonstration of a pathological quest for the truth. Reggae pulsates with real resonance in "Time" and "Complex Person". If titles tell the whole story, then "Fools Must Die" (rock) and "Clean up Woman" (reggae) are quintessential Pretenders' tracks. While "Clean up Woman" is the least engaging of the reggae pop songs, it rings true to Chrissie Hynde's character and lyrics. "Fools Must Die," on the other hand, is arguably the C.D.'s best. Whether waxing about love or politics or both, Chrissie bluntly lets us know about War or her last boyfriend--or both.



Hynde, whom I can only describe as "The Wife of Bath of Rock N' Roll" (and that's indeed trifling given the "complex person" we've come to know), has always excelled with toughness and tenderness, innovation and tradition. Here it's no different. Sweetness excels with pop on "You Should Know Who Your Friends Are," "I Should Of," and (especially) "Saving Grace". "The Losing" is in the same vein, but, while not entirely expendable, is the weakest link on the chain gang. Ending the engaging album is "Walk Like a Panther," which does more than demonstrate the finesse of the band and the confidence of its leading lady.



I tried to be objective with this review. If you're like me, you take your Pretenders' music intravenously, so it's hard not to give full accolades for the band. Even as the C.D. reverberates in my head, nothing can take away the fix it gives me, even if objectively it isn't their best. (3.5 *'s)



(A couple of notes: The only other album comparable to this one in the Pretender files is `Packed,' which leaned more heavily on the sweet side, but lacked the edge of this work. I also have a rare contention with the Amazon review. It states: "Seldom does Chrissie Hynde lose her cool..." While most Amazon descriptions are a model of succinctness and integration, I respectfully disagree. I can think of at least one angry song from every Pretenders' album. Also, this album surprisingly has the most expletives of any Pretenders' albums. Taken in context, the delivery doesn't have near the pungency, however, of their debut.)"