The Cars Album: “Cars”

THE CARS (1978) is the The Cars' greatest work ever. Sure, '80's Top 40 pop enthusiasts would probably say that about HEARTBEAT CITY (which did sell more records upon release), but real rock fans rate their debut at the top. Why? Because, just like most great rock debuts (such as BOSTON and VAN HALEN), it shows The Cars in hungry mode, pulling out all the stops to create a hard, edgy, and energetic record that was different from anything else out at the time. This band combined hard guitar-rock with a spacey keyboard-driven New Wave sound (that only then was beginning to emerge) in equal amounts, with straightforward, simple lyrics--and created a sound that was raw yet sleek, edgy but commercially accessible, and totally fresh at that time. Between Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr's similarly cool, unaffected lead vocals, Greg Hawkes' incredibly cool, futuristic keyboards, and Elliot Easton's slicing, awesome guitar-work, this album was truly unique. It influenced countless other New Wave/rock bands afterwards. It has since stood the test of time, and that's what makes it a true classic.

When I first heard THE CARS on a cassette tape 22 years ago, I was already quite familiar with "Just What I Needed." Then, I really got hooked on "Good Times Roll" and "Best Friend's Girl." It wasn't until 1982 that I really started liking "You're All I've Got Tonight" and "Bye Bye Love." The following year, I got into "I'm In Touch With Your World." But it has only been in the past couple of years that I have totally fallen for the medley of "Moving In Stereo/All Mixed Up." Talk about a true classic; over the years, every now and then, it's given me something new to love about it! MOST RECOMMENDED

My Life Started basically with "The Cars"... nuff said.

Tragically, while traveling here in Europe, Moscow Russia (to be exact), I opened the Moscow Times Newspaper, and there she was...

Who was that Sexy Girl, with the incredible smile-laugh Behind the Steering Wheel of the Cars first album?

Natalya Medvedeva, and the sad note, she passed away, February 3, 2003, Dead at age 44. (Birthday was: June 14, 1958, Was married to Edward limonov, possed for Playboy too)

I must say, it was as if my mission, to travel to Moscow, in order to pick up the newspaper, and to find an article on her, with the '78 album cover in the paper.

That album cover, was what attracted me to purchase the album. I'm sure it worked on others too. Naturally, I fell in love with The Cars, and have all their albums. Album Covers used to be highly magnetic...

How I miss those years shopping around music stores, looking at album covers.

The album, I will definitely reccomend to all. If you love the 70's music, and new wave style, this is worth the trip...

This CD was viewed as something of a curiosity by those of us in high school during the late 70s with sworn allegiances to arena-rockers like Led Zeppelin. As Page/Plant's creativity fizzled, Eddie Van Halen arrived simultaneously with the Cars, and two camps formed. Some of us wanted to continue to air-guitar our way into the 80s, and Eddie Van Halen was our musical messiah du jour. Others were growing tired of power chords and bombast, and the Cars' sound was fresh, pristine, and catchy in the best pop tradition.

No guitar-wanking here; no gratuitous banshee-wailing by the lead singer. This was pure ear-candy songcraft, with the focus on keyboard-driven melody rather than axe-slinging. I guiltily admit that I kept my nose turned stiffly upward in resistance to the insidious trend spawned by this album; at some point, however, I discovered a convergence amidst the Cars' debut, the Police's "Outlandos D'amour", and the Talking Heads "Remain in Light" that converted me. And when I finally had the courage to blare "The Cars" on my Camaro's 8-track with the T-tops off, I was almost disappointed to realize that each of my friends already counted this album as a favorite guilty pleasure. Simply put, it's insidious, irrisistible, and each cut is a classic.

I never owned a skinny tie, however. A line has to be drawn somewhere.

There are precious few flawless albums in rock and roll history. This is one of them. Just as Nirvana's "Nevermind" singlehandedly turned Grunge into a mainstream phenomenon, so it was for New Wave with the Cars' debut album - And just like Nirvana fostered countless unlistenable imitators, so did the Cars. But I have a choice not to listen to all of the bad New Wave that followed this, and I also have a choice to listen to this impossibly catchy album as long as I have functioning ear drums.

For those who are only familiar with the Cars through classic rock radio, this is the Cars CD to get. It's a rare instance where one of the band's original albums is the first choice over a greatest hits package.

The music magazine Q recently compiled a list of the 100 best debut albums ever. The Car's debut was NOT on that list. It was, however, on the Top 10 Debuts We Love To Hate list. From my standpoint, they were in good company among artist such as Queen, Dire Straits and Boston. Being a British magazine, Q may have simply missed the influence this album generated since it wasn't that big in the UK (#29). My Best Friend's Girl (#3) became a major hit but in great part due to the single being among the first singles (if not the very first) released as a picture disc (shaped like a car). Just What I Needed (#17) barely crawled into the top 20 and that was practically it for the Cars until they stroke gold internationally with songs from their Heartbeat City album.

In the States this album would hardly be treated similar compilations. My Best Friend's Girl (#27), Just What I Needed (#35) & Good Times Roll (#41) became radio staples and really much more popular than their Billboard top 100 rankings indicate. During its release it was still common on late night radio shows to play whole sides. The three songs already being hits on side A, side B became a popular choice for such occasions. The album didn't set the charts on fire, barely sneaking in the top 20 (#18). With continuous airplay of many of the album's tracks sales were consistent, which in the States matters much more than in most other territories. It wound up being among the top 30 sellers of the decade, selling 6 million copies, an incredible achievement for an album not even close to cracking the top 10. The Cars, both band and album, thus became huge in the States.

There are a few things special about this album. At the time of its release, 1978, its producer, Roy Thomas Baker, was in huge demand, mainly due to his work with Queen. With Queen, the production was full of sound effects and bombastic vocalizations (Bohemian Rhapsody is a prime example). The production on The Cars is, however, sparse on most of the album (the intros of My Best Friend's Girl and Just What I Needed are especially good examples). This made the use of synthesiser more prominent in a sense. The texts were filled with Ric Ocasek's irony which he delivered in a dead panned way; along with the late Benjamin Orr's more emotional approach in singing. In between this sparse production came forceful harmonies, e.g. on You're All I've Got Tonight and Good Times Roll. Combined, this gave the Cars a punkish feel, what today would be labelled as post-punk rock. This sounded very fresh from the typical rock sound which at that point dominated the airwaves as some kind of alternative to balance the popularity of disco.

Actually, it is remarkable how fresh the music still sounds today, more than 25 years after its release. Many groups today are basically doing similar things but now it is viewed as being retro. There is, however, one major drawback on buying this CD (meaning 4 instead of 5 stars). The sound quality is below par, which becomes more evident listening to their Just What I Needed Anthology. Despite being 10 years old, the re-mastering job on that release draws forth the sloppy transfer to CD. The sound is very low although not being muddled as many other badly transferred records. This album really could use some re-mastering (there is one available, a deluxe version from 1990 with an extra demo disc; there have, however, been many albums re-mastered originally released later with clearly audible results so that version does not cut it in my books). Given the sonic achievements that have been done with old Queen releases (the recent 30th anniversary edition of A Night at the Opera could have been recorded yesterday), this album should have tremendous potential in being a major re-release. Not only would a re-mastering job be welcome but a hybrid SACD version would have the potential of making these classics fresher than ever.

Ric, are you reading this?!