PAT BENATAR – Precious Time [2024 remastered reissue], MP3+FLAC

For many her finest moment, here’s the requested, out of print Japanese edition of PAT BENATAR 1981’s third album, “Precious Time“, fully remastered resulting in a pristine sound quality.

The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard chart and includes two favorite Benatar tunes; the top-20 hit “Fire And Ice” (Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1982) and the fantastic “Promises In The Dark”. The former was co-written by magician Tom Kelly, while his partner Billy Steinberg wrote other. Also talented Martin Briley contributed one song.
One of the key of success of “Precious Time” is Keith Olsen, without a doubt one of the greatest producers of the ’80s (Heart, Scorpions, Journey, Whitesnake, etc) although guitarist Neil Giraldo also co-produced.. And having some of the finest session musicians such as Alan Pasqua (Giant, Eddie Money) doesn’t hurt either.

The third time was indeed the charm for Pat Benatar.
”Precious Time” — released on July 6, 1981 — could well have been a pressure-packed affair for the singer. It followed a pair of blockbuster albums, 1979’s In the Heat of the Night and 1980’s Crimes of Passion, along with five Billboard Hot 100 hits. But all of that instilled confidence, more than anything else, into the making of her third LP.

“There was no doubt that we’d made strides,” Benatar wrote in her 2010 memoir, Between a Heart and a Rock Place. “The cushion of success that we’d earned was enough to make everyone relax a bit.”
That wound up paying great dividends, too. ”Precious Time” was Benatar’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard Top 200, went double platinum and added two more Top 40 hits (“Fire and Ice” and “Promises in the Dark”) to her resume.

This 24-bit remaster, coming 43 (!) years after, sounds amazing. The clarity, dynamics, and mix are perfect. This sounds like one of those High Dynamic Range albums. The soundstage is very wide and deep, making speakers nearly disappear. The sound can be as smooth as glass or as sharp as a razor, as the music dictates.
Seriously, this is one of the best sounding remastered albums from the era.
Excellent and extremely recommended.

 

01 – Promises In The Dark
02 – Fire And Ice
03 – Just Like Me
04 – Precious Time
05 – It’s A Tuff Life
06 – Take It Any Way You Want It
07 – Evil Genius
08 – Hard To Believe
09 – Helter Skelter

Pat Benatar – lead and backing vocals
Neil Giraldo – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Scott St. Clair Sheets – rhythm guitar
Roger Capps – bass
Myron Grombacher – drums
Alan Pasqua – piano
Tom Scott, Larry Williams – sax
Keith Olsen – tambourine on track 2\

MP3 FLAC