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Crimes of Passion (Pat Benatar album)

1980 studio album by Pat Benatar

Summary

1980 studio album by Pat Benatar

Field	Value
name	Crimes of Passion
type	studio
artist	Pat Benatar
cover	PatBenatar-CrimesOfPassion.jpg
alt	half-length photo of Pat Benatar in black top holding ballet barre behind her back, in thought
released	August 5, 1980
studio	Sound City (Van Nuys, California)
genre
length	37:35
label	Chrysalis
producer	Keith Olsen
prev_title	In the Heat of the Night
prev_year	1979
next_title	Precious Time
next_year	1981
misc	{{Singles
name	Crimes of Passion
type	studio
single1	You Better Run
single1date	July 8, 1980
single2	Hit Me with Your Best Shot
single2date	September 15, 1980
single3	Treat Me Right
single3date	December 29, 1980

Crimes of Passion is the second studio album by American singer Pat Benatar, released on August 5, 1980, by Chrysalis Records. It is Benatar's first album to feature Myron Grombacher on drums, beginning a long tenure in her band that would last into the late 1990s.

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 for the week ending August 23, 1980, and remaining at number two for five weeks in January 1981, behind John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy.

Crimes of Passion spawned three singles. "You Better Run" was the second music video ever aired on MTV in 1981, and peaked at number 42 in the US and New Zealand, as well as number 33 in Australia. "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", considered to be Benatar's best-known song, became her first top-10 entry in the US, and entered the top 40 in Australia. "Treat Me Right" became a top-20 entry in the US. The album also contains a cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights".

Crimes of Passion was critically well-received and became Benatar's best-selling album, having been certified four-times Platinum (for shipments in excess of over four million copies) in the United States and five-times Platinum (for shipments of 500,000 copies) in Canada. It placed at number five on Billboard magazine's 1981 year-end album chart. It peaked at number two in Canada and number six in New Zealand. It was also Benatar's highest-peaking album to that point in Australia (number 16) and her first album to chart in Sweden (number 27).

In 1981, Crimes of Passion earned Benatar her first Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The album was reissued and remastered on Capitol Records in 2006.

Critical reception

Crimes of Passion was generally well-received. Billboard wrote in a 1980 review that the album "finds Benatar in an even more rock vein with her powerful yet sensuous vocals blazing a ferocious rock path" and called it "a most credible follow-up to Benatar's near-platinum debut." J.D. Considine, writing in (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide, awarded the album 3 of 5 stars, saying that "Hell Is For Children" "proves [Benatar's] mettle as a writer" and offered praise for her vocals and the album's production. Eric Deggans, writing as part of MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it one of Benatar's most consistent albums, and said that its singles such as "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" "cemented her reputation as a toughie with pipes of solid brass".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Crimes of Passion.

Musicians

Pat Benatar – vocals
Neil Giraldo – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, background vocals
Scott St. Clair Sheets – guitar
Roger Capps – bass, background vocals
Myron Grombacher – drums

Technical

Keith Olsen – production, engineering
Chris Minto – engineering
Jo Hansch, Greg Fulginiti – mastering at Artisan Sound Recorders

Artwork

Ria Lewerke-Shapiro – art direction, cover design
Billy Bass – direction
Leon LeCash – photographs

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1980–1981)	Peak
position	Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
16

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)	Position	Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
25

Chart (1981)	Position	Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)	US Billboard 200
29
5

Certifications

References

"Pat Benatar Chart History: Hot 100".
"Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Female".
"Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion Review".
Larkin, Colin. (2007). "[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]". [[Oxford University Press]].
Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'', Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1995; {{ISBN. 0787610372), p. 57.
Cohen, Debra Rae. (November 13, 1980). "Album Reviews: Pat Benatar – Crimes of Passion".
(2004). "[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide". [[Simon & Schuster]].
. (16 August 1980). ["Billboard's Top Album Picks Ending 8/16/1980"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-08-16.pdf). *Billboard Publications, Inc.*.
(1980). "Crimes of Passion". [[Chrysalis Records]].
Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
(December 20, 1980). "Top 100 Albums".
(December 26, 1981). "Top 100 Albums of 1981".
"Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1981".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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