Precious Time [To Find a Different Album To Listen To?]

Overall Album Score: 6.9 out of 10

Well ... this is their third outing. Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo are feeling comfortable on top of their little magical mountains of success. Unfortunately, they deliver an album that has less good-n-passionate hard rocking numbers than the predecessors.

For one, there is nothing on here that manages to rub noses with Benatar's ultimate classics "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Heartbreaker." Absolutely nothing. There are precious few tracks on here that even pushes Pat's vocals quite to the limit she used to. WHERE DID THEY GO? That's not even to mention Neil Geraldo. He must have been getting lazy! Even the songs he penned aren't as guitar heavy as they had been in the days of yore. Where are his nice guitar solos! There aren't too many on here that's for sure. He's still very prevalent on this album, but he's not as show-offey as he used to be. AND I LIKE IT WHEN HE USED TO SHOW OFF! Just look at that stupid picture of him on the main page of mine. (That fish-looking guy behind Pat.)

OHHHHHHHHHHH! IT'S LIKE MY SOUUUUUUUUUUL HAS EXITED MY BODY!!!!!

Oddly enough, this was Pat's only album to hit #1 on the charts. Though I suppose one could logically derive why that's the case. For one, in spite of my dramatics, the album is not that bad. So it's not like it got bad press or anything. Plus, by 1981, the public was probably infatuated by those mega radio hits of hers. Probably some decent promotion went into this, and like mindless cretins, everyone flocked to the record stores, but down their hard-earned AMERICAN BUCKS on it, and took it home. (And then Roseanne Barr came around to everyone's houses and ate them.)

Alright. According to me, there are a total of three pretty darn good songs on here. The first is "Promises in the Dark." It's merely a pale shadow of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," etc., but it manages to kick in the right places. The second is "Fire and Ice," which is the album's best track. It's an exception in that it is the only song that utlizes Benatar's and Geraldo's talent to the fullest. Lastly, I really like the cover of the Beatles song "Helter Skelter" on here. Sure, the original was better ... and SURE Benatar/Geraldo/Whomever didn't do anything new or different to it ... but at least when Pat & Neil nail down a decent song, they know what to do with it.

AND EVERYTHING ELSE ON HERE IS CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! (Or, if it's not total crap, it's mediocre.) There are some awful melodies on here. "Evil Genius" and "Precious Time" are particularly bad. "It's a Tuff Life" is a stupid reggae song. And I hate stupid reggae songs. Especially when they don't have anything to do with murdering cops. And the deputy part. (I think he musta killed himself.) Oh never mind.

Overall Album Score: 6.9 out of 10 (This album definitely isn't BAD. After all, I haven't been giving too high scores to Pat Benatar albums anyway. If you enjoyed either of her two previous efforts, then this one might be worth it to you as well. Unfortunately, however, you'll also have evidence that Geraldo and Benatar were already growing mellow at this early age.)

Average Song Score: 7.2 (There are a few good songs on here ... there are even more boring ones.)

Album Tilt: 7.0 (Ohhhhhhhh... I would probably have been willing to dock the overall album points here, but I don't really think that the album's overall score deserves to be too far below a 7.)

Artist Rating: 6.5 (A letdown! While Pat and Neil still give in good performances, they aren't as blistering or passionate as we've become used to.)

Track Reviews

Promises in the Dark 8.5/10

This is one of the album's good songs. Benatar and Geraldo do actually give a good performance on this one. (Nick has an impressive solo on this one.) However, it just doesn't seem to be as spirited as they have been in the past. Nevertheless, this is a strong song. It was written by the band members, even!

Fire and Ice 9/10

This is a very good song. The song is catchy enough and toe-tapping friendly ... and Pat Benatar gives such an inspired performance that I can hardly bear to dislike it. Just for comparison's sake, it's MUCH more spirited than the last track, which seemed quite calculated. Even Nick chimes in for a moment and gives a good guitar solo ... which was much better than the relatively generic solo he did on the last one.

Just Like Me 7.5/10

Oooooooooh. Um. Hm. This is a fairly solid cover of an old Paul Revere and the Raiders song ... but it's darn awful calculated. (Obviously, the buzzword for this album is "calculated.") Pat turns in a decent performance, certainly. The song is entirely unremarkable, however. It's on the verge of making King Don Ignacio yawn. And King Don Ignacio *only* likes to be amused.

Precious Time 5/10

This song is very dull until the choruses strikes up ... and the chorus isn't even that good. Whoever wrote this also submitted a track to Benatar on their previous album, which was "I'm Gonna Follow You." That was one of that album's worst bits! This songwriter does it again! Geraldo turns in a fine guitar solo, but the song he's playing it to is so boring that his brief moment doesn't do a whole lot. And would somebody tell me why they decided to drag this one on for over six minutes! It was not only a waste of talent, but a waste of vinyl! Okay ... perhaps I spat out too much venom for a song that I gave a 5 to. Nevertheless, it's pretty awful.

It's a Tuff Life 6/10

Pat's ballad about the life and times of a piece of volcanic tuff ... HAHHAHHAH! ... Oh ... sorry. Like I said in the introduction of the review, I hate stupid, generic reggae numbers. It's not straight-reggae; it's a Police-esque song. And I'm like ........ BLAH. Oddly enough, this one was written solely by Geraldo, yet he doesn't even manage to turn in a prominent guitar solo anywhere. Double Blah.

Take it Any Way You Want it 8/10

Well, at least they come up with a song that kicks. It's a fairly strong song from Pat Benatar. It's nothing we haven't seen from her. (But that's probably a good thing.) It's appropriately hard rocking. The tune isn't bad. I like it.

Evil Genius 6/10

Remember what I said in my earlier Pat Benatar reviews about how the Benatar/Geraldo team made a fine songwriting duo. Well, let's forget that, shall we? This Benatar/Geraldo composition STINKS! IT'S POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The melody, for one, is really awful. The subject matter is laughable. The arranging, however, does have some good aspects to it, I'll have to admit. The layers of tasteful instruments being used (including the piano, a horn section, and some nice Geraldo-going-ons) are the only reason I'm keeping this track's score out of the gutter.

Hard to Believe 7/10

When this track starts up, it sounds like it might be decent. But the song progresses, and such hopes are largely let down. Neil gives a good guitar solo ... but oh gilly! It didn't even SOUND like it belonged where he played it! Overall, however, it's a nice undemanding piece of pop.

Helter Skelter 8.5/10

The Beatles hard rock classic is COVERED! (It sounds like they took some Beatles sheet music, however, and played it to the letter.) However, the fact that it is so danged close to the original and manages to be of high quality does give us a good indication of these guys' talent. (The only thing different is that Neil Geraldo schedules in a few moment for an extra guitar solo here and there.) I'm not giving this one this one a higher score than this only because they were being so uncreative with it. I mean! Dude! Can't you make it sound at least a little bit different! (Then again, they might have been pelted with rotten vegetables by rabid Beatles fans had they done that.)

If you are feeling blue, you may e-mail me here and I'll make you feel red, again.