The Pretenders – Learning to Crawl

There are just SO many reasons to recommend this album. Maybe it’s this lyric:

I’m not the cat I used to be
I got a kid, I’m thirty-three

Who else but Chrissie Hynde can make middle age seem rock n’ roll?

Maybe it’s the greatness of “Back on the Chain Gang” and its bittersweet backstory? This section:

The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they’ve done to you
But I’ll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They’ll fall to ruin one day
For making us part

Jesus. This is the geometric proof for rock n’ roll. This is why we have rock n’ roll.

But who am I kidding?

One recommends this album because of “My City Was Gone.” Because Billy Bremner delivers a 5 minute and 25 second long clinic on roots guitar.

And everything else.

The bassline, the vocal, the drum groove, the lyrics, bloody everything. It’s a rock n’ roll masterpiece.