Pretenders (Deluxe Edition)

Curated by Chrissie Hynde, Pretenders’ eponymous debut album in a striking 3CD deluxe book.

Pretenders is widely regarded as one of the greatest debut albums of all-time. Featuring Chrissie Hynde’s incredible vocals and guitar, James Honeyman-Scott’s glistening guitar, Pete Farndon’s driving bass and Martin Chambers’ drums, the album is quintessential new wave, and a defining album of the 80s.

Curated by Chrissie Hynde, Pretenders (Deluxe Edition) features the original album remastered by Chris Thomas, alongside demos, rarities, and many live performances. These include BBC sessions on The Kid Jensen Show, and performances at The Paris Theatre, London and Paradise Theater in Boston. The package contains a high-quality book, featuring several rare, unseen photos as well as brand-new liner notes from acclaimed music journalist Will Hodgkinson.

It started with the release of their first single, a cover of The Kinks’ Stop Your Sobbing, produced by Nick Lowe. It would end up a top 40 hit in the UK, with their follow up single Kid also reaching the top 40. They then released one of Pretenders’ most famous tracks, Brass In Pocket. Leading with a glorious guitar rhythm embodied by luscious chorus, Brass In Pocket launched Pretenders onto a different level, with the track finishing reaching #1 in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and South Africa, as well as top 5s in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand and more. It was also a success in the US, reaching #14 and becoming the 7th music video aired on MTV. The album continues to be highly acclaimed to this day, regularly featuring amongst best of the 1980s lists.