The Cars

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
American art-rock was often stilted and lacking in humor until the New Wave arrived. Liberated by the influence of the Velvet Underground, Roxy Music and punk-era fellow travelers like Blondie and Suicide, the Cars methodically linked hookiness (enough to produce three hit singles and several other FM favorites from this debut album) and at least one raised eyebrow. The result still plays as a rock & roll classic. And if charm wasn't their aim, the fact is, it's undeniable. --Rickey Wright

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-11-17 rating:
They Don't Make Music Like This Anymore
So, I'm driving home with my girlfriend after a wonderful dinner out, and out of no where Just What I Needed comes on the radio. So I turned it up real loud and started singing along. I'm really not a very good singer but there is no way you can hear this song and not be moved to sing along with it. My girlfriend who is 15 years my junior even loved the song (but not my singing). Before we got home I said to her, "I've got to quickly throw up a review on Amazon when we get home!"

I was only 10 years old when the Cars debut album was released. I didn't actually listen to the album until two years later during my freshman year in junior high. I remember instantly falling in love with the entire album, every song. To my ears it still sounds as fresh as the day it was released. Take a trip down memory lane and put this album on for a listen and you to will realize why the saying "they don't make em like they used" is more true now regarding the music industry than ever more.

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review by: date: 2008-10-07 rating:
How can you walk away from a classic at this price
Front to back, this has to be one of the best debut albums of all time. You'll want to surf this new wave again and again.

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review by: The Vindicator date: 2008-07-10 rating:
The other reason that '78 was great
While Van Halen were redefining metal with their debut album in 1978, The Cars did something even more improbable the same year -- they invented a new kind of rock: "new wave". This weird album could have stiffed at the cash register, but for some reason it took off. Five nerds from Boston reinvented pop music, and people dug it? So why did it work? You can choose melody or lyrics, and either way you win. Upbeat tunes, catchy arrangement, and instrumentation that we now take for granted (choppy guitars and synths) added up to hummable music. No matter that the lyrics were often dark, cynical and depressed. That just added to things. (When the local metal cover band is bellowing "let's party!", the Cars sophisticated world view seemed more appealing, especially if you were as big a nerd as the band seemed to be. Of course, Ocasek ruined that by marrying a super-model, but no matter.) Together, the hiccuping guitars and yearning vocals added up to a musical tension-and-release that perfectly mirrored the bedroom fantasies of the nerds who were listening. The Buzzcocks were more obviously about that connection, but the Cars were better. One of the greatest rock albums of all time. Five stars.

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review by: date: 2008-06-19 rating:
"When you're standing oh so near/ I kinda lose my mind/ Yeah"
"Just What I Needed" was already an oldie by the time I was a high school sophomore, but that didn't stop it from being one of the most relevant songs I could get my hands on. It simultaneously fulfilled all of my most pertinent musical cravings, serving up a flawless three-and-a-half-minute cocktail of crunching power chord heroics, sharp melodic hooks, hopelessly clever lyrics, and vocals that were both quirky and impassioned. It was the perfect pop song, but with enough spiky alt-new wave attitude to imbue it with a sense of genuine cool. Every time I cue it up, it takes me back to tenth grade, to that joyful year that saw me fall helplessly in love with my best friend. "Just What I Needed" is the sound of pure, hopeless joy, of butterflies in the stomach and lightness in the head, of wry, knowing angst and cheekily self-deprecating humor. It's the sound of smart people letting their emotions sneak up on them. Beautiful!

But the most mind-boggling thing about "Just What I Needed" is that it's not even my favorite song here! That honor would probably go to "Bye Bye Love," which is a brittle, cynical masterpiece. It's a simple breakup song that somehow manages to turn the whole notion of love inside out, and every one of its hooks is stuffed with bitterness and paranoia and caustic wit. In fact, I'd say that this album is worth the price of admission purely on the basis of Ric Ocasek sneering "you think you're so illustrious/ you call yourself intense." It's one of the most withering putdowns in the history of pop music, rivaling even the more acidic moments of This Year's Model and Highway 61 Revisited.

The other seven songs are icing on the cake. I love icing. There are sweet, gooey gobs of it all over this disc, in the form of such irresistible classics as "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Don't Cha Stop." "I'm In Touch With Your World" is marvelously quirky, and "Moving In Stereo" is endearingly creepy. "You're All I've Got Tonight" is desperate and paranoid and surprisingly fun, "Good Times Roll" is a panicked (anti-) party anthem, and "All Mixed Up" is really atmospheric and kinda sultry. And the chorus is beautiful, sort of. Yeah. This album'll blow your mind with its inescapable wonderfulness. Treat yourself to it.


review by: the q is slient date: 2008-02-12 rating:
Worth a ride
Strong debut for the Boston post-punk/new wave band, fronted by the legendary Ric Ocasek (though bassist Benjamin Orr could almost be considered a "co-frontman"). Snide charm and effortless hooks dominated this effort, with several deserved hits along the way (and at least a couple more that probably could have been smashes as well). Heavily influenced and influential, its flavor is dulled a bit by time--their fusion of punk/new wave with catchy hard rock is no longer quite as new.

"Just What I Needed" is, of course, the standout of the bunch, but the underrated minor hit "You're All I've Got Tonight" is nearly its equal. Meanwhile, the hit track, "My Best Friend's Girl" hasn't aged quite as well, but it's got such a goofily fun hook that it's nearly irresistible. Surprisingly, one of the weakest tracks, "I'm in Touch With Your World," is the one that works hardest to stand apart; unfortunately it falls victim to a weak melody and the clichés of punchy psychedelia.

Best cuts: "Just What I Needed," "You're All I've Got Tonight," "Good Times Roll," "Moving in Stereo," "Don't Cha Stop," "My Best Friend's Girl," "All Mixed Up"

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