Blackhearts

Joan Jett: By playing pure and simple rock & roll without making an explicit issue of her gender, Joan Jett became a figurehead for several generations of female rockers. Jett's brand of rock & roll is loud and stripped-down, yet with overpowering hooks – a combination of the Stones' tough, sinewy image and beat, AC/DC chords, and glam rock hooks. As the numerous covers she has recorded show, she adheres both to rock tradition and breaks with it – she plays classic three-chord rock & roll, yet she also loves the trashy elements (in particular, Gary Glitter) of it as well, and she plays with a defiant sneer. From her first band, the Runaways, through her hit-making days in the '80s with the Blackhearts right until her unexpected revival in the '90s, she hasn't changed her music, yet she's kept her quality control high, making one classic single ("I Love Rock 'n Roll") along the way. ~Allmusic

Fit to Be Tied was intended to be the definitive Joan Jett hits package, and it nearly succeeds. Since Jett's Blackheart label only secured the rights to her first four solo albums (her most consistent work), the singles from the uneven Up Your Alley – "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (one of Jett's best originals and biggest hits) and "Little Liar" – had to be presented here in alternate versions…

Fit to Be Tied was intended to be the definitive Joan Jett hits package, and it nearly succeeds. Since Jett's Blackheart label only secured the rights to her first four solo albums (her most consistent work), the singles from the uneven Up Your Alley – "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (one of Jett's best originals and biggest hits) and "Little Liar" – had to be presented here in alternate versions. While the re-recording of "Hate Myself" and the live version of "Little Liar" are executed faithfully, they may bother fans who want the original recordings.

I Love Rock-n-Roll, Joan Jett's first record with the Blackhearts, was a tougher, louder album than Bad Reputation, primarily because her new backing band gave her a more coherent sound. That dynamic, hard rock crunch is what made the title track into an international hit, but it also gives the album dimension – not only can Jett & the Blackhearts tear up heavy glam rockers, but they also pull off the mock psychedelia of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" with aplomb…

I Love Rock-n-Roll, Joan Jett's first record with the Blackhearts, was a tougher, louder album than Bad Reputation, primarily because her new backing band gave her a more coherent sound…

Released in conjunction with the major motion picture The Runaways, 2010's Greatest Hits is a double-disc, 21-track set that offers a basic overview of her hits with the Blackhearts and the work she did afterward, then adds re-recordings of her Runaways hits for good measure. These re-recordings were made for the movie, and are by and large heavier than the originals, so they get the collection off to somewhat of a leaden start, but once they give way to the original recordings, this is a good overview of Jett's basics…