|
Now without wanting to sound like a teacher - heaven forbid
- to get a good look at a real singer, go out and pick up
The Pretenders' Greatest Hits and just let it run.
I did - at least five complete cycles in one day.
In it is a collection of 20 videos and live performances
from one of the great rock groups and a female lead who can
sing, play guitar and has a lot of attitude.
Hynde can sing hard rock, soft ballads and, whether it be
from a recording studio or in front of a live audience, her
vocals are charged with self-belief. Outfitted (usually) in
black leather pants and with that mass of black hair, she
is also raunchy and has an appeal that makes calling the current
crop of virginal-would-be temptresses sexy the stuff of schoolboy
comics.
How about this for a line-up of songs. Brass in Pocket,
Message of Love, Don't Get Me Wrong, I Go To Sleep, I Got
You Babe, Talk of the Town, Hymn to Her, 2000 miles (unplugged
version) and Back on the Chain Gang.
And that's not all the songs on this DVD. Hynde also sticks
it to the budgie brigade with a fantastic sledge in Popstar,
which has her laughing at the demise of real women of rock
and their leggy, talentless replacements.
For anyone who is between 30 and 40, The Pretenders' Greatest
Hits will be a trip down memory lane. For those who like
the currents superstars of pop - check this out and see what
it's all about.
And, close those gaping mouths, there are extras in the way
of a 45-minute doco that looks at The Pretenders. Mostly interviews
with Chrissie Hynde, the doco also co-opts music legends for
their ideas about a band that was a major part of the late
1970s and early '80s. A warning, Chrissie does let go of that
word that can mean quite a few different things, but, hey,
with a rock gal like her - what do you expect!
Conclusion: Rating: 90%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
|
