Pat Benatar

Synchronistic Wanderings

Getting Reaquainted.

Review Score:

(8/10)
Pat Benatar has faded from the limelight over the years, and with the passing of time it gets more difficult to appreciate how fresh her sound was, coming on the heels of (ugh) disco. This box set brings those days back in fine fashion, documenting her rise -- and subsequent fall --with a near perfect selection of tunes. Many remastered, a welcome improvement over earlier greatest hits packages.

The first disk starts with a bang -- her first hit, "Heartbreaker". No student pieces here. The disc continues through the familiar hits, with a few novelites thrown in. Especially notable is the inclusion of a cover of John Mellencamp's "I Need a Lover". Biggest ommission: Another cover, "Just Like Me", orignally made famous by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I always felt this song captured Benatar's style and musical direction as well as any.

The second disc begins her middle (muddle?) period: some hits ("All Fired Up"), some misses. There are certainly gems, here, for the dedicated fan. The third disc presents an uneven experimental period -- everything from an unconvincing (though pleasant) blues attempt to Lisa Loeb-like stylings.

For the dedicated fan, the last two discs offer a good opportunity to reflect on what happened. In the booklet notes (which are very good overall, with insightful comments from Pat and husband-guitarist Neil Giraldo on each tune) Benatar places them blame on their record label at the time, Chrysalis. No promtion, poor management, the wrong singles were picked, etc. Personally, I found this a bit too self-congratulatory. Come on, guys, don't you think changes in taste and your style shifts had someting to do it with it?

To conclude, if you are new to Pat's music and just want to sample the hits, the "Best Shots" collection is probably the way to go. But for a fan from the 80's, this collection is worth the extra cost. You get the whole story -- and you'll have fun drawing your own conclusions.

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