Precious Time (album)

Last updated

Precious Time
Pat Benatar - Precious Time.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 6, 1981
Studio Sound City Studios and Goodnight LA Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre Hard rock
Length35:30
Label Chrysalis
Producer Keith Olsen, Neil Giraldo
Pat Benatar chronology
Crimes of Passion
(1980)
Precious Time
(1981)
Get Nervous
(1982)
Singles from Precious Time
  1. "Fire and Ice"
    Released: July 6, 1981
  2. "Promises in the Dark"
    Released: September 25, 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Smash Hits 4/10 [3]
Sounds Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Precious Time is the third studio album by American singer Pat Benatar, released on July 6, 1981, through the Chrysalis label. The album peaked at number one on the United States' Billboard 200, [5] her only album to do so in any country, and was certified as Double Platinum in sales in the US.

Contents

Its lead single was the mid-tempo "Fire and Ice", which was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 [6] and a number 2 hit on the Mainstream Rock chart. [7] It became her largest hit to that point in Canada peaking at number 4 on the RPM Singles Chart but only made the Top 30 in Australia and New Zealand. The song won Benatar the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1982. [8] Precious Time's second single, the rapid guitar-driven "Promises in the Dark", one of the few Benatar singles written by her and husband Neil Giraldo, was most successful in France, where it reached number 16, while reaching number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. [6] [7] It also made the Top 30 in Canada but did not chart in any other countries.

Peaking at number 2, Precious Time was Benatar's third straight Top 3 album in Canada, although its Double Platinum sales certification in that country was less than her first two albums. It was another major hit for Benatar in France, rising to number 3, and was the first of two number 2 albums she would attain in New Zealand. It was her first Top 10 album in Australia and Sweden (her only one there) and was her first album to reach the Top 30 in both the United Kingdom [9] and Norway. The album was remastered and reissued on Capitol Records in 2006.

Record World called the title track a "volatile rocker" and said that "the opening drama explodes with guitar fire." [10]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Promises in the Dark" Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar4:48
2."Fire and Ice" Tom Kelly, Scott St. Clair Sheets, Benatar3:19
3."Just Like Me" (Paul Revere & the Raiders cover)Rick Dey, Roger Hart, Terry Melcher 3:30
4."Precious Time" Billy Steinberg 6:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."It's a Tuff Life"Giraldo3:17
6."Take It Any Way You Want It" Martin Briley, Giraldo2:49
7."Evil Genius"Giraldo, Benatar4:34
8."Hard to Believe"Giraldo, Myron Grombacher3:26
9."Helter Skelter" (The Beatles cover) John Lennon, Paul McCartney 3:50

Personnel

Production

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [27] 2× Platinum200,000^
France (SNEP) [28] Gold100,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ) [29] Gold7,500^
United States (RIAA) [30] 2× Platinum2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

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Bibliography