Thursday, September 14, 2023

The New Pretenders Record...

...is a tuneless slog. It made me angry, like being on hold with a cable provider and hearing the same 20 second music loop over and over. Jesus! What a horrible record. It's bad! BAD! I said "BAD" out loud to no one at least six times before it was over. BAD! What the hell are these critics listening to?

Carry on.

12 comments:

Shriner said...

No really -- what do you think of it?

(I have not listened to it yet, but it's near the top of my pile...)

Cmealha said...

What happened to “ Now I take my time with music, allowing a new piece of work by a favorite artist to reveal itself over several plays.”? 😄
Myself, I think you’re being too kind.
I already had misgivings when I saw that the title ended with what looked to me like SS bolts. Did she become a Nazi?

Sal Nunziato said...

"What happened to “ Now I take my time with music, allowing a new piece of work by a favorite artist to reveal itself over several plays?"


@cmealha
Pretenders do not fall into the same category of favorite artists that Costello, Bowie, Rundgren, McCartney, etcetera do. Aside from the debut, which is perfect, there's more I don't care for than do. This new one really shocked me after the hype.

Anonymous said...

Listening to paint dry on Ripple, Oxy and Reds, jonesing for Honeyman's fix. There is no joy in Mudville. WTF is this shit!

VR

pmac said...

Not the biggest Pretenders fan, but your post did prompt me to give this a listen. I should have heeded your warning and my ears would have thanked you.

Troy said...

Woof! Even though I haven't liked their last few albums at all, the positive press for this new one had me thinking about checking it out. Guess I will pass. I have the vinyl box set that goes up through Viva el Amor, plus the Pirate Radio box on CD, and that's going to have to be enough (it is!).

Thanks for the warning.

hpunch said...

I read that all the songs were co-written by current guitarist, the great James Walbourne, and I had high hopes.
The Rails, His Lordship have yet to let me down. Shockingly disappointed to learn of your disgust.

kevin m said...

Sal, I remember you giving me a free copy of "Loose Screw" at NYCD about 20 years ago. You didn't like that album either. Personally I thought it was OK. And that's pretty much what I've thought of most of The Pretenders' catalogue since "Learning to Crawl". But this latest one; YECH. No wonder why Martin Chambers stayed away.

Still a great live act though.

Anonymous said...

I like "Let the Sun Come In" which starts with an REM jangle. However several start like they're trying to be Soundgarden.

Anonymous said...

On the plus side, encouraged me to race back to the first 3 albums (and the EP). They all still hold up solid - I like Learning to Crawl more now. Had forgotten Billy Bremner’s involvement. A week of Six Degrees of Rockpile.

Christine said...

Sorry to hear! Both that it was BAD and that you had nobody to scream BAD at!

Shriner said...

OK -- I finally listened to it. It's...not very good and very disappointing with maybe only a couple of decent tracks.

Down there with the forgettable "Packed", IMO.


But I like "Loose Screw"! "I Should Of" is a lost-classic, IMO.