What was supposed to be my last
normal day before a busy social calendar from Wednesday through Saturday
instead ended up being a bit crazy when a windstorm knocked a tree down in my
front yard. Nature’s not one for minding your weekly schedule.
Disc 801 is….Crimes of Passion
Artist: Pat
Benatar
Year of Release: 1980
What’s up with the Cover? Pat stretches on the ballet bar
in her sparkly 1980s dance outfit. Observant viewers will note how high up her
waist the ballet bar comes, showing just how incredibly short she is.
Incredibly short, but incredibly sexy.
How I Came To Know It: I grew up with this album, but I
only recently purchased it because I always felt that her album before this one
(“In the Heat of the Night”) and after it (“Precious Time”) were both better.
How It Stacks Up: My youthful recollection was correct. Of the
three Pat Benatar albums I own, this is my least favourite. Here’s the full
recap:
- In the Heat
of the Night: 4 stars
(reviewed back at Disc 667)
- Precious
Time: 3 stars (reviewed back
at Disc 784)
- Crimes of
Passion: 2 stars (reviewed
right here)
Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3
“Crimes of
Passion” is Pat Benatar’s best-selling record, but for me it represents a bit
of a sophomore slump.
All the elements of her other early albums are
there, including the pure rock power of her voice, the hard rock music edged
with pop (or vice versa, depending on who you ask) and the brief forays into
New Wave. For some reason it doesn’t inspire me the same as her other records.
Fortunately, there is “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” This is probably her most famous song
and if you don’t just want a Pat Benatar compilation album, you kind of have to
own “Crimes of Passion” just to have this one song. Sure it is the height of
cheese-ass, but it is so good at
being cheese-ass. The riff is nothing creative, but it is instantly recognizable
and writing those kind of riffs is harder than it seems. Also, Benatar is at
her best when she is doing “tuff rocker girl,” inviting some guy to romantically
duke it out it is hard to resist.
And just to remind you about how solid her pipes
are, Benatar lets the last round of the chorus climb up to another level as she
fires away will singing “fire away.”
It is good fun, and a staple at high school dances in my day. Guys and girls
would pantomime the song as they got playfully and mutually excited about each
other.
Unfortunately, the other songs on “Crimes of Passion”
don’t live up to the same standard. Similar tracks like “Treat Me Right” and “You
Better Run” are pretty good songs, but they feel like pale imitations to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
When Benatar gets serious on “Hell is for Children” her intentions are pure, and the emotion she
puts into this song about child abuse is real and present. Unfortunately, the
lyrics let her down in places. For example:
“Because Hell, Hell is for
children
And you know that their little
lives can become such a mess”
And:
“It's all so confusing, this
brutal abusing.”
This weird mix of cutesy expressions (“it’s all so confusing,” “such a mess”) with serious subject
matter is jarring and not in a good way. It’s too bad, because the tune could
work with some more care put into the words.
“Out-A-Touch” feels like it is trying a
bit too hard to do New Wave, and Benatar’s rock growl is a bit too organic for
the style of music the song is trying to pull off. If anything, she sounds too
real for the mod detachment that New Wave needs.
“Prisoner of
Love” is a distinct pleasure, and a very guilty one. It is a kitschy love
song from a time in music which featured far too many. Silly and pointless,
this song could be recorded today by Katy Perry without anyone blinking an eye,
but I can’t seem to care. It makes me want to dance (swinging my arms eighties
style) and I like it.
I also enjoyed Benatar’s cover of the Kate Bush
song, “Wuthering Heights.” Kate Bush’s
version is gloriously wacky (with video to match – check it out here). Most
would be hard pressed to sing this song’s high notes, but Benatar not only does
it, she infuses it with power very different from Bush’s more folksy and fay
delivery. I can’t decide which version I like better, and that’s always a good
sign for a cover song.
If you don’t know, this song is inspired by the Emily
Bronte novel of the same name. I’m not one for the Bronte sisters’ work (I
prefer my 19th century Gothic novels with more murder and vampires),
but I like it when a long and arduous Bronte novel can be delivered in a four
and a half minute pop song.
While overall I wanted this album to be better, it
is sharply produced and has enough in the way of good harmless fun to stay
interesting. I’ll be keeping it in my collection and even sneaking it into the
rotation once in a while.
Best
tracks: Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Wuthering Heights,
Prisoner of Love
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