****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This British two-fer is a very good collection, sans the editing choices. I never bought these albums when they originally came out because I was a little kid, though my older sister did own "Heat", "Crimes", and "Precious Time." I never heard the original versions, so I don't know how much I'm missing: You can tell that "Diamond Field" is cut off before it could be over, which is unfortunate...other reviewers are correct, good song, great vocals! "We Belong" we all know about..."Painted Desert", excellent song (great guitar intro by Neil Geraldo), why wasn't this a single?! "Temporary Heroes" great vocals...there are no bad songs on the album..."The Outlaw" has great guitar work and vocals..."Suburban King" seems like probably the most shortened song in the group, still, what's here is good to listen to...This album, "Tropico" also has to have the best cover art of all the Benatar albums. I love evocative, theatrical covers like that (don't think I've ever seen an album with an owl on the cover); the liner notes say it's "Kate Bush-like"; to me, it's more "Stevie Nicks-like" -- look at "Belladonna", then look at "Tropico." Surprised that more hits didn't come from the album. It's a mellower album, and a welcome change from the concertedly- "New Wave" "Get Nervous"(still, a pretty good album)...it was good that Pat went for a more adult-contemporary, pop-rock route, which expanded her range...remember, people, she was not originally training for Rock N' Roll at Julliard. Note: The one drawback of the Brit. Two-fers is that they don't feature lyrics for both albums...only the first album, "Tropico" gets printed lyrics, due to lack of CD space, which is so annoying for any music lovers in to lyrics, or what the singer was saying. But, that's better than the great new domestic remasters (mindblowing sound!) that don't feature any lyrics whatsoever, WHY??? The sound is great for both albums. "Seven The Hard Way" is just as good an album, but more rocking...Pat's voice doesn't age from 1979 to 1985 at all, it's only stronger! Highlights, "Le Bel Age", "Walking...Underground" "Seven Rooms" (Note, this song was probably covered, at the suggestion of Mike Chapman, since he was already familiar with Blondie's live cover from the 70s (who he was producing while working with Pat), not an attempt at falling back on R&B because she was at a loss of what to do.) Yet, again, the b-sides or album tracks are just as good, if not better than the singles released, remember that. Enjoy!
