Pretenders II

❤️

It would make more sense I suppose for Learning to Crawl to be the natural follow up to the band's debut, but this album veers off to a slower place, a more intricate place for a band that was already not quite "punk" in sound. This album is a classic, and Pack It Up is probably the best Pretenders song (and one of the best break-up songs ever).

One critic wrote that this album was a weaker followup to the sensational eponymous release of the Pretenders first album featuring the original line-up. Listening to these tunes, I can't imagine what he was thinking. There are so many exquisite songs, and some good rockers. Every song on this album is solid. There are FOUR radio hits on this album, and the rest is good Pretenders music. Plus this is the original line-up as two of the original members died of drug overdoses and are not on any subsequent Pretenders release. However, "Learning to Crawl" is also excellent to buy in the deluxe with extra disc/tracks version! It doesn't matter to me if I buy this one or the remastered deluxe with extra tracks as long as I have access to the majority of the excellent songs on this album. The first Pretenders album is now available in a deluxe with extra disc of tracks on it, and it is excellent. The reason I need to have this particular LP of Pretenders II is for the excellent album cover photo with the group dressed in goth-punk type lace and leather jackets. This album is so recommended in any form you can get your hands on!!!

There are so many great melodies on this album, and they range from slow to fast and from haunting to rageful. The songs showcase Hynde's amazing vocals and the strong musicianship of the band. This album holds up so well after repeated listenings over 30ish years.

This Album is as Good as the Pretenders (Debut Album): Rich Chords,Great Effects,Excellent guitar leads,Great harmony,Every Album should be different..Good musicians are not Cloning Cows!

Great Stuff, I love 'The English Roses'. The last album with all of the original band members, they had it all together on this one.

Although not as exciting as her first album, the 2nd is very good despite the critics' ratings.

And it is no truer then this follow-up to their self-titled debut. The Pretenders were a complex band. Sure they could produce great pop songs that seemed to appeal to the audience at large; but, when it came to letting it all out in the studio, no one was doing it better at the beginning of the New Wave Era then this band. Standouts on this album: The Adultress starts off with the swagger and pomp Chrissie has always been known for; Message of Love and Talk of the Town are the two great pop songs that this album is known for; Waste Not Want Not is a "hauntingly" great song; and The English Roses is a sad but powerful song about love. If you have already listened to the first album, then I hope you will give this album a chance. Bands, like critics, don't always get it right either...especially for their sophomore effort. Thank goodness this one did.

This album was no sad follow-up, it was as good or, some might say, better, than the first album. Some of these songs changed the way that people play music now, like "Waste Not, Want Not" for the ache & the iambic pent... you know what I mean...something that The Pretenders, & C. Hynde always delivered, but it is very much refined for this album. Forget the 'hits'... "Day After Day" is superb. "Pack It Up" is what I sing and play when I have had it with where I am at the moment and need to be on the road. "Jealous Dogs" and "The English Roses" give you one of the tightest rhythm sections ever and her voice in truly rare form. Critics rag forever about second albums. So what. Don't listen to critics, listen to fans. a.w.