Well, it’s 2025 and I’ve just now listened to my first Pat Benatar record. Not that I had any reason not to, it’s just that nothing from her was ever sandwiched between my Ryan Adams and Calexico records until now.
Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (along with her husband and musical partner Neil Giraldo) Benatar’s first three classic albums just received the reissue treatment on vinyl. Let’s start right at the beginning with 1979’s In The Heat Of The Night.
The thumping and globally-known “Heartbreaker” starts the listen with Benatar’s unmistakable, pretty yet fierce pipes that suit Glen Alexander Hamilton’s thumping drums. The melodic and bright “I Need A Lover” follows with playful bass from Roger Capps, and the energy continues with the powerfully sung, rugged “If You Think You Know How To Love Me.”
Rounding out the first half is the intimate “My Clone Sleeps Tonight,” where Giraldo’s pretty keys and the soft singing bursts into a scrappy rock tune, while Side B leads with “We Live For Love,, where razor sharp guitars and dreamy vocals take hints at the New Wave sounds that were in their infancy in the late ’70s.
Deeper into the 10 tracks, “Don’t Let It Show” leads gentle but quickly escalates into soaring moments of soulful ideas, as Benatar hits some really high notes. “So Sincere” is the last song, and, like many before it, starts calm before entering lively and charged areas that welcome Scott St. Clair Sheets’ meticulous guitar.
Benatar’s debut charted high in several countries and set in motion a very prolific time that resulted in an album a year until 1985. Her anthemic moments sure did strike a chord with listeners around the globe, and the hard-rock-meets-pop formula on display here is still appreciated today.
