The Pretenders - Pirate Radio: 1979-2005 (4CD + DVD, Box Set 2006) RESTORED

In March 2006, the Pretenders released their first-ever box set, Pirate Radio, via Rhino. The five-disc package included over five hours of music plus a DVD of rare performances. Pirate Radio, the comprehensive, long overdue Pretenders box set, helps support that case. Spread out over four CDs are studio recordings, demos, live material, and alternate versions recorded between 1979 and 2005. In addition to the obvious inclusions ("Brass in Pocket", "Back on the Chain Gang"), the full range of the Pretenders is represented, from rip-it-up rockers ("Precious") to gorgeous balladry ("2000 Miles"). And, finally, a bonus DVD of television appearances makes the case complete.

The Pretenders are a band that's easy to take for granted, yet every time one of their excellent singles – and there are lots of them – hits the radio, the response is invariably, "Oh my God, I love this song". When you begin to peel back the layers of the band itself – the alternately jangly and punchy guitars, the hard-as-nails rhythm section, and Chrissie Hynde's impeccable songcraft and unbelievably sensual alto – it's easy to make a case for the Pretenders as one of the best American rock bands of the post-'60s pop landscape.

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The Pretenders - Pirate Radio: 1979-2005 (4CD + DVD, Box Set 2006) RESTORED

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There have been many Pretenders, but there is just one Chrissie Hynde: a walking combination of Fifties rockabilly, Sixties girl-group soul and Seventies punk who created some of the greatest rock and pop of the Eighties and beyond. The five-disc box set Pirate Radio documents the fluctuations of the Pretenders – through good albums and bad, and through a series of lineup changes – with Hynde serving as the immovable object. Blessed with an emotional range as broad as her musical interests, this Ohio-born, London-based songwriter possesses one of rock's most charmed voices and a no-bullshit charisma that has inspired nearly every female rocker who has followed in her path.

Tracklist - CD 1:

01. Precious (Regent Park Demo) #
02. Stop Your Sobbing
03. The Wait (Single Version)
04. Kid
05. Tattooed Love Boys
06. Mystery Achievement
07. Brass In Pocket
08. Porcelain
09. Talk Of The Town (U.K. Single Version)
10. Message Of Love
11. Cuban Slide
12. What You Gonna Do About It
13. The Adultress
14. Bad Boys Get Spanked
15. I Go To Sleep
16. Day After Day
17. Birds Of Paradise
18. The English Roses
19. Time The Avenger
20. Watching The Clothes (Denmark Street Demo) #
21. Show Me



Tracklist - CD 2:

01. Back On The Chain Gang
02. Thumbelina
03. Thin Line Between Love And Hate
04. My City Was Gone
05. Middle Of The Road
06. Tequila #
07. 2000 Miles
08. When I Change My Life (Alternate Version) #
09. My Baby
10. Worlds Within Worlds
11. Don't Get Me Wrong
12. Hymn To Her
13. Tradition Of Love
14. Room Full Of Mirrors
15. Reconsider Me (Monitor Mix)
16. Hold A Candle To This (Alternate Version) #
17. Windows Of The World (Original Mix)
18. Never Do That
19. No Guarantee
20. Not A Second Time



Tracklist - CD 3:

01. Sense Of Purpose
02. Downtown (Akron)
03. How Do I Miss You
04. Bold As Love
05. When Will I See You
06. Hollywood Perfume
07. Night In My Veins
08. 977
09. All My Dreams
10. Angel Of The Morning (Original Version) #
11. Money Talk
12. Rebel Rock Me
13. Ill Stand By You
14. Every Mothers Son (Demo) #
15. Love Colours
16. Private Life (Live)
17. Lovers Of Today (Live)
18. Creep (Live)
19. Criminal (Live)
20. Revolution (Live)



Tracklist - CD 4:

01. Everyday Is Like Sunday
02. Human (Class Mix)
03. Popstar
04. Back Down
05. California #
06. The Needle And The Damage Done
07. From The Heart Down (Alternate Version) #
08. Whos Who
09. Biker
10. Nails In The Road
11. Legalize Me
12. The Homecoming (Live) #
13. Up The Neck (Live) #
14. Fools Must Die (Live) #
15. Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
16. Lie To Me
17. Complex Person
18. You Know Who Your Friends Are
19. I Should Of
20. The Losing



DVD content:

01. Talk Of The Town
02. The Adultress
03. The Wait
04. Hollywood Perfume
05. Brass In Pocket
06. 977
07. Never Do That
08. Thumbelina
09. 2000 Miles
10. Night In My Veins
11. My City Was Gone
12. Tattooed Love Boys
13. Middle Of The Road
14. Don’t Get Me Wrong
15. Criminal
16. Room Full Of Mirrors
17. Louie, Louie
18. Stop Your Sobbing
19. Tattooed Love Boys/Up The Neck


# - previously unissued songs
Recorded between 1979 and 2005

The Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde (vocals, guitar); James Honeyman Scott, Robbie McIntosh (guitar, background vocals); Adam Seymour (guitar); Malcolm Foster, Pete Farndon (bass guitar, background vocals); T.M. Stevens, Andy Hobson (bass guitar); Martin Chambers (drums, background vocals).

Release Date: March 14, 2006
Number of Discs: 4CD/1DVD
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Catalog No.: R2 73270