Pretenders
by Pretenders

Pretenders by Pretenders
Year: 1980
Release date: 1980-01-04
Overall rank: 587th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 595 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1980 (9th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1980s (90th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (587th)

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Availability

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The Pretenders - Pretenders II (Deluxe Edition) [New CD] Oversize Item Spilt, De
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The Pretenders – Pretenders II CD 1981 USA Pressing Sire New And Factory Sealed
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The Pretenders - Pretenders (Deluxe Edition) [New CD] Oversize Item Spilt, Delux
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Pretenders bestography

Pretenders is ranked as the best album by Pretenders.

Pretenders album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (587th)
Pretenders
Lower ranked (1,651st) »
Learning To Crawl

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Pretenders track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Pretenders rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 587th | 1980s rank: 90th | 1980 rank: 9th

Pretenders collection

Pretenders ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 595 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 595 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 
05/08/2026 19:30 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,43470/100
 
100/100
 
04/21/2026 01:57 davidleewrong  Ratings distribution  2,35781/100
 
85/100
 
04/09/2026 19:39 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,81384/100
 
50/100
 
03/18/2026 11:17 BoxFL  Ratings distribution  2,76651/100
 
75/100
 
03/13/2026 17:48 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  11,41470/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.4/100, a mean average of 77.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.0.

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Pretenders comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 31 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
From 04/09/2026 19:39 | #313836
Gets even better as it goes.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/18/2025 15:52 | #307638
Chrissie Hynde's provocative band project rocks as hard as any male dominant group on The Pretenders alt-rock eponymous release. James Honeyman-Scott's multidimensional lead guitar playing is on par with the greats of the time. The bone crunching drumming of Martin Chambers and bassist Peter Farndon round out the rhythm section. "Precious", "Brass in My Pocket" and a Kinks cover song, "Stop Your Sobbing" are the highlights however each song on the album can stand on its own. One of the great debut albums of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 11/26/2024 00:30 | #306267
Really enjoyed this. Space Invader is one of my favourite instrumental tracks ever. I also liked Mystery Achievement, Private Life, Brass In Pocket and Up The Neck.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 08/06/2022 16:03 | #288172
Definitely unique album, I like instrumentals, vocals are hit (Brass In Pocket) or miss (The Wait) for me, some tracks are too long (Lovers Of Today, Private Life).
Best tracks: Brass In Pocket, Up The Neck
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 12/02/2021 13:54 | #276976
decent guitar etc and the iconic bass in pocket pop
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/25/2021 00:33 | #267704
So damn good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 12/11/2020 18:17 | #262560
Simple, catchy, enjoyable, my favorites are tracks 5 and 8.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/11/2020 16:49 | #262539
Honestly, I like learning to crawl better. In term's of appreciation, this and learning to crawl are the same.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/27/2020 16:04 | #261496
It takes a lot of confidence to stick the strongest tracks at the end of your debut album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/10/2020 15:59 | #255367
Meh! Brass In Pocket is a great throwback. Rating (72.92)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1980
1. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
2. Closer by Joy Division
3. Back In Black by AC/DC
4. Scary Monsters by David Bowie
5. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys
6. Peter Gabriel (1980) by Peter Gabriel
7. The River by Bruce Springsteen
8. Permanent Waves by Rush
9. Pretenders by Pretenders
10. Seventeen Seconds by The Cure