Pat Benatar
(Capitol/EMI)
The idea that Pat Benatar, reigning queen of all things tangentially related to either the ‘80s, leather pants, awkwardly unnecessary dance moves in music videos (really, how else to describe the “Love is a Battlefield” breakdown? Michael Jackson would be ashamed) or the word “awesome,” turned 55 this year, is a hard one to grasp. Easy to understand, however, is how timeless she sounds on the 40-track Ultimate Collection: Pat Benatar.
The woman who once won four Grammy Awards in a row (count ‘em – from 1980 to 1983, Benatar had the “Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female” category on lock), shows us her all on this album, from the pissed-off babe she was in the beginning of her career to her current, more mellow form. The first disc kicks off with “Heartbreaker,” released almost 30 years ago in 1979 but still as hard-rocking as ever, and ends with “Love is a Battlefield,” the deliciously infectious slice of pop-rock that dominated MTV back in the day. The second disc similarly includes some of Benatar’s best (I mean, it’s kind of the collection’s point), with “Invincible,” “Sex as a Weapon,” “All Fired Up,” “One Love” and “Let’s Stay Together.”
But while all these songs are almost all enjoyable, there’s a slight problem here – the tracklist for each disc goes in chronological order, picking a few songs from each of Benatar’s albums, from In the Heat of the Night to Gravity’s Rainbow. If you already own those, there’s nothing new here – just a random smorgasbord thrown together for collection’s sake.
That’s not to say the music is bad; to speak against Benatar would be blasphemy. But if you already love the singer, you probably have her albums; Ultimate Collection: Pat Benatar is for the newbies, and newbies alone.
Standout Tracks: “You Better Run,” “All Fired Up” ROXANA HADADI
