TROPICO was a marked departure from the hard rock of her earlier albums towards something a bit gentler. Neil Giraldo co-
writes most of these songs with Pat and other songwriters. His guitar playing is prominent on this record, but finds him
experimenting with different styles to add some new textures to Pat Benatar's sound. The album did enjoy decent commercial
success as it went platinum and reached #14 on Billboard.
In retrospect, TROPICO is a good album overall and contains enough likable songs to make up for it's less inspired moments.
The choral pop song "We Belong" was a huge hit for Pat, while making hard rock fans groan loudly. The organ fueled retro of
"Ooh Ooh Song" is something of a guilty pleasure. Another song that received some FM airplay was "A Crazy World Like This".
I'd also include "Painted Desert" and "Diamond Field" as highlights.
Upon it's release, I felt quite disappointed in Pat Benatar's gradual shift towards a softer, more playful pop/rock sound.
In retrospect, it's not as bad an album as I'd remembered and certainly a bit better than the following record - SEVEN AND
THE HARD WAY. While not as commercially successful in the period following this album, Pat enjoyed a greater creative
freedom and seemed content with keeping a somewhat lower profile.
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