''Crimes of Passion'' is the second studio album by American singer

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

, released on August 5, 1980, by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

. 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 held at number two for five weeks in January 1981, behind

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

's '' Double Fantasy''. ''Crimes of Passion'' contains the singles "

Hit Me with Your Best Shot "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" is a song recorded by American rock singer Pat Benatar and written by Eddie Schwartz. In 1980, it was released as the second single from her second album ''Crimes of Passion'', which became her biggest-selling album. ...

", which became Benatar's first top-10 entry in the US, and is considered to be her best-known song, and " Treat Me Right", a top-20 entry in the US. Neither song was very successful in other countries, aside from "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" reaching the top 40 in Australia. The first single released from the album was "

You Better Run "You Better Run" is a song by the Young Rascals. Written by group members Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere, it was released as the band's third single in 1966 and reached the top 20 in the United States. This song is noted for its repeated rolle ...

", the music video for which was the second music video ever aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in 1981. It peaked at number 42 in the US, and New Zealand, and did not chart in Canada, although it rose to number 33 in Australia. ''Crimes of Passion'' also contains a cover of Kate Bush's " Wuthering Heights". ''Crimes of Passion'' is 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' 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 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

. The album was reissued and

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in 2006.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Crimes of Passion''.

Musicians

* Scott St. Clair Sheets – guitar * Roger Capps – bass, background vocals * Myron Grombacher – drums *

Neil Giraldo Neil Thomas Giraldo (born December 29, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for art ...

– lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, background vocals *

– vocals, background vocals

Technical

* Keith Olsen – production, engineering * Chris Minto – engineering * Jo Hansch, Greg Fulginiti – mastering at

Artisan Sound Recorders Artisan Sound Recorders was one of Southern California's premier disk mastering facilities. It was founded by Robert M. MacLeod Jr. in the 1960s, and acquired by Kent Duncan in 1979 when MacLeod retired. In the early 1990s, it was sold to Jon Lo ...

Artwork

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1980 albums Albums produced by Keith Olsen Albums recorded at Sound City Studios Chrysalis Records albums Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Pat Benatar albums