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Precious Time (album)

album by Pat Benatar

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ1612477 ↗
Source-derived summary

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, 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 and reached number two on the Mainstream Rock chart. 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.

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. 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 and Norway. The album was remastered and reissued on Capitol Records in 2006.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Precious Time (album)” as album by Pat Benatar. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1981, 1982, 2006—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981. The account is most persuasive where Precious, Time and album can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as album by Pat Benatar. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1612477. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1982 and 2006.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Precious Time (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Precious Time (album) primary sources, Precious Time (album) archive and Precious research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Precious Time (album)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Precious Time (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.