Synchronistic Wanderings [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
With the arrival of the 1980s, Nancy Reagan was picking out new White House china, MTV was taking its first baby steps, and Pat Benatar was surging forward as a new kind of female rock star. Brassy, eye-catching, and possessed of a four-and-a-half-octave voice, the small-framed, big-voiced New Yorker first caused a stir in 1979 with the hits "Heartbreaker" and "We Live for Love," the latter penned by lead guitarist and Benatar's future husband, Neil Gerardo. In the early '80s, Benatar scored repeatedly with snarling rockers that combined new-wave energy with Middle American grit: "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Invincible," "Love is a Battlefield," "Shadows of the Night," and "We Belong" all charted before she began to lose her luster mid-decade. This three-disc retrospective reflects Benatar's commercial descent with a disc marked by her hits, followed by two discs dominated by lesser-known rock tracks and experiments (which include an unremarkable foray into old-school R&B). Some unreleased numbers are scattered in for good measure. Casual fans would be well advised to leave this one to the devotees and opt for the more-to-the-point Best Shots. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

Heartbreaker
We Live For Love
My Clone Sleeps Alone
I Need A Lover (Live)
In The Heat Of The Night
You Better Run
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Treat Me Right
Wuthering Heights
Hell Is For Children
Fire And Ice
Promises In The Dark
Precious Time
Shadows Of The Night
Little Too Late
Looking For A Stranger
Anxiety (Get Nervous)
Love Is A Battlefield (Demo Version)

Tracks:

Love Is A Battlefield
Ooh Ooh Song
We Belong
Painted Desert
Outlaw Blues
Invincible (Theme From 'The Legend Of Billie Jean')
Sex As A Weapon
Le Bel Age
New Dream Islands (Session Outtake)
Run Between The Raindrops (Live)
One Love (Song Of The Lion)
True Hearts (Session Outtake)
Let's Stay Together
All Fired Up
Shooting Star
La Cancion Ooh Ooh (Ooh Ooh Song) (Spanish Version)

Tracks:

Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss
True Love
The Good Life
I Feel Lucky
Please Come Home For Christmas
Tell Me Why (For For Our Children)
Crying (Session Outtake)
Sometimes The Good Guys Finish First (From The Motion Picture Soundtrack 'The Secret Of My Success')
Somebody's Baby
Everybody Lay Down
Rise (Part 2)
Rise (Part 1)
Temptation (B-Side to Somebody's Baby)
Every Time I Fall Back (Remix)
The Effect You Have On Me
Rescue Me (From The Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Speed')
Strawberry Wine
I Don't Want To Be Your Friend
Here's My Heart (From The Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Metropolis')

Amazon.com

With the arrival of the 1980s, Nancy Reagan was picking out new White House china, MTV was taking its first baby steps, and Pat Benatar was surging forward as a new kind of female rock star. Brassy, eye-catching, and possessed of a four-and-a-half-octave voice, the small-framed, big-voiced New Yorker first caused a stir in 1979 with the hits "Heartbreaker" and "We Live for Love," the latter penned by lead guitarist and Benatar's future husband, Neil Gerardo. In the early '80s, Benatar scored repeatedly with snarling rockers that combined new-wave energy with Middle American grit: "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Invincible," "Love is a Battlefield," "Shadows of the Night," and "We Belong" all charted before she began to lose her luster mid-decade. This three-disc retrospective reflects Benatar's commercial descent with a disc marked by her hits, followed by two discs dominated by lesser-known rock tracks and experiments (which include an unremarkable foray into old-school R&B). Some unreleased numbers are scattered in for good measure. Casual fans would be well advised to leave this one to the devotees and opt for the more-to-the-point Best Shots. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

A Great And Easily Affordale Boxed Set.......2005-12-19

Pat Benatar is, in my mind, the greatest female rock singer of all time. She had an amazing voice, was incredibly sexy, and made some great music. Up until now, my only introduction to her was the single disc "Greatest Hits" album released this past June. It had some amazing stuff on it. But I wanted more.

So, I went searching through Amazon, and I found the three disc boxed set "Synchronistic Wanderings". I saw it and went, "I got to get this". And when I saw how cheap it was, I said, "I have to get this now.

Well today, I finally found it. I popped it into my cd player. My thoughts? Read on for the practically inevitable positives and negatives.

Positives:
-Three discs filled with nothing but Pat! What more can you ask for? This cd has all the big hits, including "Heartbreak", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", "Hell Is For Children", "Shadows Of The Night", "Love Is A Battlefield", "We Belong" and "Invincible" are all included.
-Many underrated album cuts and rarities are incuded as well, including b - sides, demos and live performances.
-Fantastic liner notes.
-Great remastering job.
-No edits! All songs are in their original length.
-This set is CHEAP! I thought I had to shell out a good sixty or seventy dollars for it, but I got it for less than forty bucks. That is one offer you should not pass up.

Negatives:
-While the remastering job is great overall, there are one or two songs that sound a little flat, namely "Ooh Ooh Song" and "Invincible. But other than that, everything sounds great.

Overall, this is the best Pat Benatar compilation on the market. If you're a casual or beginning fan, than this is the collection to own.

Sonically outstanding.......2005-09-27

Disk two and three are the best, after Pat and Neil had a chance to mature. (Steven Stolder, don't give up your day job.) Bolth ear candy and social commentary. can't get enough!! Best song is the Freeking Rocking All Fired Up.

It's all here.......2004-11-14

For my money this box set lacks nothing. In terms of extras, the demo versions and b-sides are very cool. My personal favorite inclusion is the song "Shooting Star" from the Harry Chapin Tribute. If you saw the concert on PBS, it was a moving night to begin with- and when she first appeared she seemed almost out of place with the folksy stars like Judy Collins and CSN. Then she belted out this tune and turned the theater upside down. Probably my personal highlight of the show and I'm thrilled to have a copy on something other than an old VHS tape. Well worth the relatively inexpensive box-set-price.

Enlightening insights from Pat and Neal..........2004-09-21

This is a 3 CD anthology covering 1979-1999. Everything that I like and dislike about Benatar is here. The early rock stuff sometimes makes me cringe with Neil Giraldo's simplistic but bombastic '80s power chords. Benatar has a great voice but never reached her potential due to working within the constraints of AOR radio...which paid off handsomely considering she had 19 top 40 hits. There are a fair amount of unreleased tracks and alternative versions here for the die hard, but what I enjoyed most were the liner notes. Every single song has very enlightening insights from Pat and Neal, who shared their feelings separate from each other, making for some very interesting contrasts. It's great from a music standpoint as it explains why they left some things in (that's John Lee Hooker laughing at the beginning of Rise) and what they were trying to accomplish with other things, what songs they still love and others that they can't stand anymore. Reading along also allows you to really feel what they have gone through the last 20 years, from making artistic compromises with Chrysalis, to the birth of their kids and the highs and lows of their careers. Interesting reading and usually good listening.

Twenty Wonderful Years Of Pat Benatar!.......2004-06-18

I have always been a Pat Benatar fan, and this three CD box set is well worth the time to listen! The great thing about this collection is the wide variety of music styles and how the years have matured her voice and song writing abilities. Obviously, Pat Benatar is a lot more than a "female rocker"!

All her Top 40 hits are included along with rarities and unreleased material. My personal favorites are "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (her signature song) and "Fire And Ice" (what a powerful rock song!). Even the demo of "Love Is A Battlefield" and the live track "Run Between The Raindrops" is something special and certainly would expect from a box set.

The packaging is excellent: exhaustive liner notes from the late Timothy White and personal comments for every song. There is plenty of pictures both in color and in B & W perhaps some that even the Benatar fan may have never seen before. Detailed discography including song credits and billboard chart positions.

Highly recommended to ALL Pat Benatar fans even if you have her studio albums. For casual fans, I recommend "Best Shots" or her most recent compilation "All Fired Up".

In the Heat of the Night (Original Release)
Average customer rating:
In the Heat of the Night (Original Release)
Pat Benatar
Manufacturer: Chrysalis Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000NFK912

Product Description

This is the original 1984 release on the Chrysalis label. Tracks are: 1. Heartbreaker 2. I Need A Lover 3. If You Think You Know How To Love Me 4. In The Heat Of The Night 5. My Clone Sleeps Alone 6. We Live For Love 7. Rated X 8. Don't Let It Show 9. No You Don't 10. So Sincere

Average customer rating:

Synchronistic Wanderings-Sampler
Pat Benatar
Manufacturer: Chrysalis Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000OANQDO

Product Description

1. Heartbreaker 2. Hit Me With Your Best Shot 3. Love Is A Battlefield 4. Shadows Of The Night 5. Rise (Part 1) (Session Outtake) 6. New Dream Islands (Session Outtake) 7. We Belong 8. All Fired Up 9. Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss 10. Invincible (Theme From The Ledend Of Billie Jean) 11. La Cancion Ooh Ooh (Ooh Ooh Song - Spanish Version)

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review