2005 marked a couple of major career milestones for the Pretenders. The band was deservedly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the superb DVD retrospective Greatest Hits finally hit U.S. store shelves five years after its U.K. release. (A companion Greatest Hits CD was also issued... [+] Expand

2005 marked a couple of major career milestones for the Pretenders. The band was deservedly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the superb DVD retrospective Greatest Hits finally hit U.S. store shelves five years after its U.K. release. (A companion Greatest Hits CD was also issued there separately.) Vocalist/rhythm guitarist/founder Chrissie Hynde touched upon the group's tumultuous history in her Hall of Fame speech when she said each latter-day lineup has been a "tribute band" ever since the drug-overdose deaths of lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bass guitarist Pete Farndon. She's too hard on herself. Certainly the band struggled at times, and drummer Martin Chambers was out for several years before returning, but Hynde and company still made some terrific music. The DVD collects 20 videos made between 1979 and 1999 as well as a revelatory 1995 U.K. television documentary cleverly titled No Turn Left Unstoned. Hynde's prickly, tough-chick personality often contrasts with the emotional vulnerability laid bare in her lyrics. She claims that she hates making videos, but that's a surprise since she's so good at it. (She does discuss "hideous" unseen early versions of "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" and "2000 Miles.") The Pretenders embraced the medium early on and helped usher in the MTV era. The groundbreaking "Brass in Pocket" clip depicts Hynde as a love-starved waitress, although her initial concept differed from that of director Mark Robinson. Other standouts are "Message of Love," "Back on the Chain Gang," "Middle of the Road," "Don't Get Me Wrong," "Hymn to Her," "Popstar," "I'll Stand by You," and Hynde's collaborations with Moodswings on "Spiritual High (State of Independence)" and UB40 on "I Got You Babe" and "Breakfast in Bed." No Turn Left Unstoned features interviews with U2's Bono, Motörhead's Lemmy, Elvis Costello, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh, the New York Dolls' David Johansen, the Damned's Rat Scabies, the B-52's' Kate Pierson, producer Chris Thomas, and others. Although some videos are missing, and sequencing the included videos chronologically would have made more sense, Greatest Hits, especially with the No Turn Left Unstoned documentary, is an important rock-history DVD. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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