Kicking things off with 1990's "Sense of Purpose," Hynde immediately makes it clear that the focus of the evening is on melody and her voice. A soulful sound, Chrissie Hynde's singing has gained depth and subtlety over the years to match the snarling attitude that is present on their first album. She really makes the simple sound on this live set richer with her powerful singing. Ranging from a whisper to a wail, she can wring every last drop of emotion out of this music. She's particularly engaging on the melancholy "Back on the Chain Gang," the beautiful "2000 Miles" and the lullaby "I Go To Sleep," which Hynde performs with only Blur's Damon Alburn on piano for accompaniment.

There are some other surprises in the show, including a cover of Radiohead's "Creep," which benefits from Hynde's voice. It's also nice to see original Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers playing with the band. Most of the songs don't require complex drumming (except for the bizarre time changes of "Phone Call") but Chambers plays with an authority and efficiency that stands out. The rest of the musicians are great, as is the string section employed for the show. They add a really nice atmosphere without taking attention away from the songs or the main stars. Overall this is a fine performance from a punk original.

Song List (The songs not on the CD are marked with *):
Sense Of Purpose
Chill Factor
I Hurt You
Back On The Chain Gang
Kid
Private Life
Creep*
Criminal
Brass In Pocket
2000 Miles
Hymn To Her
Lovers Of Today
The Phone Call
I Go To Sleep
Revolution
Night In My Veins*

VIDEO:
The non-anamorphic widescreen video is not particularly pretty. It's dark, murky and shows some banding from poor compression. I even noticed a video glitch at one point. Oh well.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital stereo sound is fine, if modest. This isn't home theater demo material but the simple instrumentation is well reproduced and sounds good.

EXTRAS:
There are no extras.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
While no great shakes as a DVD, Isle of View contains a great performance. Fans of the band must check it out and rock fans of all stripes should as well.