Pat Benatar - Precious Time

Released in 1981

Hot on the heels of the remarkably successful Crimes of Passion came Pat Benatar's third album, Precious Time. With it she blew through the charts and scored a coveted number one ranking, but the irony is that while this was her most commercially successful album, it was not her best album insofar as content.

Oh sure, she still knew how to formulate solid and pleasing rock songs, and yes she was still the queen of the arena rock scene due in large part to her powerful vocals. But despite her clear strengths there was one thing most of the songs on the album lacked: passion. The album felt like a paint-by-the-numbers affair, as if Benatar was more concerned with riding the wave of her present commercial popularity rather than spending the precious time needed to make the album truly memorable.

Some of the album highlights are:

• Promises In The Dark – One of the successful singles off the album that begins as a slow piano-driven ballad before suddenly kicking into overdrive with furious guitars.
• Fire And Ice – This was the second single responsible for selling copies of Precious Time like hotcakes, and upon listening to it you can quickly see why it was an album seller. Fire and Ice is one of the best rock songs of the genre.

Normally I try to select three album highlights in each review, but honestly none of the others stood out enough for me to define them as a highlight. Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly serviceable and should please any arena rock or Pat Benatar fan, but they're not inspired or representative of her best work.

That being said, the two highlights listed are in themselves well worth the price of admission… or in this case, a copy of Precious Time.

Rating: 6 stars

Track List Promises in the Dark Fire and Ice Just Like Me Precious Time It's a Tuff Life Take It Any Way You Want It Evil Genius Hard to Believe Helter Skelter

CD

DVD

Additional Resources:

• Crimes of Passion Review
• Get Nervous Review
• Live From Earth Review
• Tropico Review
• Seven the Hard Way Review
• Wide Awake in Dreamland Review

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