The Pretenders - In the Still of the Night - Non-Album Tracks (2003-2004)

Here's the next in a long series of stray tracks albums from the Pretenders. 

However, I should note this is really more of a Chrissie Hynde album. By this time the Pretenders had basically become Hynde plus a revolving group of supporting musicians. All but one of the songs here are credited to "Chrissie Hynde" with or without others instead of the "Pretenders" anyway. But I'll call this a Pretenders album to keep it consistent with all the other stray tracks album in this series.

The songs here are good, but stylistically, they're all over the map, from a cover of a 1930s ballad to a techno hit. By the way, speaking of that techno hit, "Straight Ahead," I'm not a big fan of it (or that style), but it was a hit and Hynde did sing parts of it, so I've included it. It's at the very end, so it's easy to leave off if you want to do that. I found an interesting acappella version that apparently was created by someone isolating just Hynde's vocal track, so I've included that as kind of an intro, or alternate.

During this time period, it seems Hynde took a prolonged break from the Pretenders. From early 2004 until early 2006, the Pretenders basically didn't play any concerts, and didn't release any new music. Instead, Hynde got very interested in Brazil and its music. She actually lived there for much of 2004. You can see this musical influence with some songs in the middle of this album, especially the two she did with Moreno Veloso (who is the son of the great Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso).

In terms of sound quality, five of the songs come from concert bootlegs. The sound quality of those isn't great, but it's plenty good. The rest are all officially released, from a wide variety of sources.

01 Something to Believe In (Pretenders)
02 Big Bad Cat (Bruce Willis & Chrissie Hynde)
03 In the Bleak Midwinter (Chrissie Hynde & the Blind Boys of Alabama)
04 Never Be Alone Again (Russell Crowe & the 30 Odd Foot of Grunts with Chrissie Hynde)
05 As Time Goes By (Rod Stewart & Chrissie Hynde)
06 Don't Let Me Down (Chrissie Hynde)
07 The Empty Boat (Chrissie Hynde)
08 Nenhuma (Chrissie Hynde & Moreno Veloso)
09 I Get Along without You Very Well (Chrissie Hynde & Moreno Veloso)
10 Cry [If You Don't Mind] (Jarabe De Palo with Chrissie Hynde)
11 In the Still of the Night (Chrissie Hynde)
12 Straight Ahead [Acapella Version] (Chrissie Hynde)
13 Straight Ahead (Tube & Berger with Chrissie Hynde)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16700861/TPRETNDRS2003-2004_InStllofNght_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo comes from a Pretenders concert in Dublin, Ireland, in 2003.