Best Shots

When Pat Benatar tore onto the scene in the late 1970s, her stage presence and attitude were just as formidable as her talent. One of the new breed of women in rock, Benatar, a trained opera singer, assumed all of the rock poses from her male lead singer counterparts and delivered each song with a take-no-prisoners attitude. "Heartbreaker", her first single, was a big monster of locomotive hard rock. Its throaty, growling, and suggestive vocal style established Benatar as a contender in an arena championed by the likes of Robert Plant. Benatar also took cues from the hard rock catalog of tricks with "Hell Is for Children", building the song from a near-ballad into an all-out ballsy rocker. "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" had her combining her edge with a knack for strong melodies. "Promises in the Dark" and "Fire and Ice" continued in the same vein with guitarist Neil Giraldo's furious fretwork holding up to Benatar's vocal pyrotechnics. Best Shots also chronicles the less stellar singles, with the annoying "Love Is a Battlefield", and "We Belong to the Night". Benatar's fire burned brightest in the beginning and it seems best to remember her that way. --Steve Gdula