The Hunter

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The summer Tracks Across America Tour '82 was set to promote the album but turned out to be unsuccessful. Debbie's lyrics on "The Beast" are so snarky and biting, I love that side of her songwriting: "For the first time in my life, the bouncers would greet me/the doormen would escort me/managers adored me.

It ain't the worst thing I've heard in a while, but it's easily the worst Blondie album I've checked out so far, with potential strong cuts like "Dragonfly" getting tarnished with dumb moments, though I do like the Bond film toss-off. At this point in their career it's obvious the band was going to break up soon enough unfortunately; I'm of the mind that believes they still had more to deliver in the early 80s, but perhaps The Hunter isn't that bad of a send off in hindsight. Some might say that the band went at the material halfheartedly or without much passion, with Harry enjoying solo success with 1981's KooKoo.

War Child" is another highlight, (the music is stellar) and this album also contains an extended version of this song. There are many pop culture references and then modern issues mentioned throughout the album, such as The Beatles being referenced in “ English Boys” in response to John Lennon's death and military conflicts in Cambodia and the Middle East being referenced in “ War Child. It's dark and menacing, but strangely beautiful and a glimpse into the little-known talents of bassist Nigel Harrison, who also co-wrote the similarly dark "War Child. The album concludes with a cover version of Smokey Robinson's " The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game", originally recorded by the Marvelettes in 1967. I adore the story, it's about a woman trying to play games with a man, and the woman ends up getting "played" by the man.

I also feel like this is another reason why some Blondie fans don't care for it, but I find the sound/various themes very refreshing. Soon, you catch the tantalizing fragrance of sin and temptation: it’s there in the forbidden fruit found on “Island of Lost Souls” and “Orchid Club”; in the city hustler’s patois of “The Beast”; in the paranoid daydreams of violence that undergird “War Child”; and in the speed-freak sci-fi fantasy of “Dragonfly.In the liner notes to the 2001 reissue of The Hunter, producer Mike Chapman stated, "I knew that we were in a different and far less accessible artistic space. It's not really a gem, but it's certainly underrated and also hugely diverse (the intense jungle rock of "Orchid Club," the sci-fi "Dragonfly," reggae of "Island of Lost Souls" and "Little Caesar," low-key jazz of the Smokey Robinson cover "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game"), which makes for an adventurous listen.