Pat Benatar - Seven The Hard Way

Released in 1985

Another year, another album… with Seven the Hard Way Pat Benatar unleashed her seventh album in as many years. You would think with so many albums in such a short time that her work would suffer as a result, but she defied the odds and made what I consider to be her best album of the decade.

Pat Benetar maintained the pop sensibilities inherent in the previous album Tropico, but she also upped the intensity significantly, bringing the work back firmly into the realm of hard rock. Seven the Hard Way was the perfect balance between the naked aggression of her first four albums and the melody and pop of the previous album.

Some of the album highlights are:

• Sex As A Weapon – Wicked catchy opening rocker that was scored a Top 40 position, but should have done so much better.
• Invincible – A simply awesome anthem that just pulls the listener in and almost forces them to sing along.
• Walking In The Underground – A very dark and haunting piece that features a light bluesy touch.

In my opinion as great as Pat Benatar is, all her albums were inconsistent. When she was hot, she ruled the airwaves and arenas with an iron fist, but her smash hits were scattered throughout each of her albums, thereby leaving many average rockers to fill in the holes in each release. Seven the Hard Way comes as close as one can to being a filler-free album – it's a must-own piece.

Rating: 8 stars

Track List Sex as a Weapon Le Bel Age Walking in the Underground Big Life Red Vision 7 Rooms of Gloom Run Between the Raindrops Invincible (Theme from The Legend of Billie Jean) The Art of Letting Go

CD

DVD

Additional Resources:

• Crimes of Passion Review
• Precious Time Review
• Get Nervous Review
• Live From Earth Review
• Tropico Review
• Wide Awake in Dreamland Review

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