Artist: Pat Benatar
Title: Crimes of Passion
Format: LP
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1980
Songs: 10
Another free record I've never listened to all the way through before today, Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion is mostly the kind of fun '80s hard rock cheese that I enjoy for a couple of songs and then wish something else would come on. This came to my collection via a friend's uncle. I think he must have lived in Japan for a time, because this, like several of the other records I ended up with when my old housemate moved out, is the Japanese version. It only differs in that there's a band of paper around the jacket with Japanese characters on it, so it's not really all that special or different, but sort of interesting I suppose.
The record is made up mostly of songs of love and lust, with Benatar's powerful voice dramatically singing some fairly ill conceived lyrics (e.g. "You're a real tough cookie with a bad history, of breaking little hearts like the one in me..." is that reall the best rhyme they could come up with?) over a competent metal-ish band. The one thematic exception to this is "Hell is for Children," a song about child abuse which was apparently somewhat controversial in its time. While not the best written song, the delivery of it feels a little more heartfelt than some of the other material, and it is interesting as the one topical song on a record otherwise known for chart hits like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Treat Me Right."
I don't really have a lot to say about this record, because I don't feel that strongly about it one way or the other. While the musicianship is competent, nothing really stands out as excellent or particularly innovative, but I don't hate it either. It's mostly just kind of silly and might be fun to play (at least part of) at a party some time.
Here's "Hell is For Children," if you haven't heard it and want to check out the one somewhat serious song on the record.
Total songs listened: 541
No comments:
Post a Comment