Pat Benatar - In The Heat Of The Night CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Lou Gramm), flexing and strutting and snarling and swaggering. So what if girls can be just as obnoxious as boys?

Producer Mike Chapman clicks with bands like Blondie and the Knack because these groups are mannerists. Working with pop rituals and roles is what interests such musicians – and amuses them, too. Unfortunately, Benatar's no mannerist, though it seems she'd like to be at times. Every song here is clogged with misplaced seriousness and sincerity. As soon as the star gets done beating a lyric to death, the band goes blundering off into bigness and badness, reminding us that too much of In the Heat of the Night is scavenged and second-rate. Only the singer makes a mark, almost in spite of herself.

Because Pat Benatar is a bona fide soprano who can sing hard without being harsh, she brings something distinctively female to a rock lyric. Her basic equipment is grade A – the opening bars of "Don't Let It Show" prove that. But raw talent that's misdirected is just another tired tale. The concubines have known for years that great equipment by itself isn't very interesting for very long. (RS 314)

LAURA FISSINGER