THE PRETENDERS – PACKED LP – EXC/VG+ 1990 ROCK CHRISSIE HYNDE

The Pretenders – Packed
(WEA Records  1990  WX346)
Matrix No’s: A3/B2

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners and 4 inch split in spine
Inner Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear but no splits

Vinyl in Excellent/Very Good+ condition
(there are quite a few surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall)

The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England, in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Following the drug-related deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon, the band has experienced numerous subsequent personnel changes, with Hynde as the only consistent member, and Chambers returning after an absence of several years.

Hynde launched a solo career in 2014, and the Pretenders were dormant as a band between 2012 and 2016. However, The Pretenders are once again active, having issued an album and toured in 2016.

Packed! is the fifth studio album by rock group Pretenders, released in 1990.

Besides band leader Chrissie Hynde, no other person is pictured anywhere within the album package. At the time the album was recorded, the only other remaining official member from the band’s previous album was drummer Blair Cunningham, who plays on all tracks, though he is not credited as part of the band. As all other musicians appearing on the album are session musicians, some observers have characterized the album as a Hynde solo recording using the Pretenders name to satisfy contractual obligations. However, the lineup that recorded the album has some consistency with past studio lineups of the band: guitarist Billy Bremner, who had previously played with the band as a session musician on their “Back on the Chain Gang”/”My City Was Gone” single, appears on most of the tracks, as does bassist John McKenzie, who had played some bass on the band’s previous studio album, Get Close (1986).

All songs by Chrissie Hynde, except where noted.

1. “Never Do That” – 3:20
2. “Let’s Make a Pact” – 3:18
3. “Millionaires” – 3:04
4. “May This Be Love” (Jimi Hendrix) – 2:43
5. “No Guarantee” – 3:47
6. “When Will I See You” (Hynde, Johnny Marr) – 4:53
7. “Sense of Purpose” – 3:03
8. “Downtown (Akron)” – 2:43
9. “How Do I Miss You” – 4:21
10. “Hold a Candle to This” – 3:37
11. “Criminal” – 3:49

• Chrissie Hynde – guitar (1–3, 5–11), vocals (1–11), backing vocals (6, 7)
• Blair Cunningham – drums (1–11), backing vocals (1, 8)

Additional personnel

• Billy Bremner – guitar (1–6, 8, 9, 11), backing vocals (1, 3, 8)
• John McKenzie – bass guitar (2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11), backing vocals (8)
• Tchad Blake – guitar (4,5)
• Mitchell Froom – keyboards (2, 4–6, 9, 11)
• Dominic Miller – guitar (7, 10), bass guitar and backing vocals (7)
• David Rhodes – guitar (3, 11)
• Tim Finn – backing vocals (6)
• Mark Hart – backing vocals (6)
• Will MacGregor – bass guitar and backing vocals (1)
• Teo Miller – backing vocals (3)
• Tony “Gad” Robinson – bass guitar and backing vocals (9)
• Duane Delano Verh – bass guitar (4)
• Adey Wilson – backing vocals (3)

Technical

• Tchad Blake – engineer
• Geoff Foster, Rob Jaczko, Teo Miller – studio assistants
• Jill Furmanovsky – photography