Precious Time (album)

Precious Time is the third studio album by American singer Pat Benatar, released on July 6, 1981 by the Chrysalis label. The album peaked at number one on the United States Billboard 200,^[5] her only record to do so in any country and was certified Double Platinum in the US.

Its lead single, the mid-tempo "Fire and Ice", was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100^[6] and reached number two on the Mainstream Rock chart.^[7] It became her biggest hit in Canada, peaking at number four on the RPM Singles Chart, though it only reached the Top 30 in Australia and New Zealand. The song won Benatar the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1982.^[8]

Precious Time's second single, the rapid, guitar-driven "Promises in the Dark", one of the few Benatar singles co-written by her and husband Neil Giraldo, was most successful in France, where it reached number 16, while it reached number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.^[6][7] It also made the Top 30 in Canada but did not chart in other countries.

Precious Time peaked at number two in Canada, marking Benatar's third consecutive Top 3 album there, though its Double Platinum sales certification was less than her first two albums. The album was also a major hit in France, rising to number three, and it was the first of two albums to reach number two in New Zealand. It was her first Top 10 album in Australia and Sweden (her only one in the latter), and it reached the Top 30 in both the United Kingdom^[9] and Norway. The album was remastered and reissued on Capitol Records in 2006.

Record World called the title track a "volatile rocker" and noted that "the opening drama explodes with guitar fire."^[10]