I’ll stick with the underrated and underappreciated 80’s bands. The Cars are the ultimate New Wave band. Guitarist/singer Ric Ocasek’s songs are near perfection as far as what they try to accomplish. Tight, concise New Wave rockers with a cynical lyrical bite (with the occasional synth-heavy ballad thrown in for variety), the jittery guitars from Ocasek and Elliott Easton weave around the minimalist 80’s synth lines from Greg Hawkes. David Robinson provided the solid backbeats, while bassist/vocalist Ben Orr provided a smoother vocal alternative to Ocasek, as they split the vocal duties. This was Ocasek’s band, though. They were his vehicle for his unique songwriting that so perfectly defines a genre. Worth at least a Rock Hall nomination, don’t you think? The 80’s-hating Committee hasn’t thought so.
The Cars (1978) *****
Ric Ocasek once jokingly referred to the debut as “The Cars Greatest Hits,” and to quote Spinal Tap, “every song on here is a hit” (or could be). More than any other record (including releases from Talking Heads or Devo’s debut), The Cars is the ultimate New Wave album, the one that shows what is best about the shortlived (but influential and far reaching) genre, with pop hooks galore, clipped and jittery guitars, and a witty songwriting laced with a healthy dose of cynicism which still remembers to have a good time.
Candy-o (1979) *****
Seen by many critics as leftovers from the debut, real fans know better. They know that it is just as catchy, just as innovative, even more lyrically sharp and that you are cooler if you prefer to pop it in over the debut (since everyone has heard The Cars about five thousand times).
ABOVE: The Cars wisely figured out that their album covers looked better with hot chicks vs. their ugly mugs
Panorama (1980) **
What happened here? It starts off strong, with the first three tracks hinting that another five star record has arrived, but then the quality takes a nosedive. I like it, but only because I have forced myself to. Ocasek wanted to strip the sound down for a rougher edge, but when you do that, you better have the songs to back it up, because there is less window dressing to hide behind.
Shake It Up (1981) ****
Learning from the minimalist mistakes of Panorama, Ocasek goes the other direction here, dialing the guitars back and pouring the synthesizers on like a thick 80’s flavored neon sauce. At times, it sounds so early 80’s that it verges on parody in hindsight, but fortunately, he has a real strong and off kilter (in that good Cars way) set of songs.
Heartbeat City (1984) ***
Heartbeat City made them, briefly, one of the biggest bands in the world. While it does contain three of the defining singles of the decade (“You Might Think,” “Drive” and nothing says summer of ’84 to me like “Magic”), as a whole it is also their most dated sounding record, as it is drenched in 80’s era trappings, production and indulgences.
Unlocked: The Cars Live (live) (2006/1985) **
Live performances were never this band’s strong suit, as their songs are best presented with the precision a studio provides. They also had notoriously dull stage presence. Finally, the sound quality here sucks. For completists only.
Greatest Hits (compilation) (1985) ****
As an 80’s singles band, the Cars were probably second only to Duran Duran. For a single disc collection, this does the job. Just be aware that there is much more to hear.
Door To Door (1987) **
Much maligned and it is so eclectic sounding that it borders on chaotic (some tracks date back to before the debut in composition, while others are new), but I don’t think it is as bad as its reputation. It is clear, however, that they had reached a dead end and Ocasek was ready to move on.
Just What I Needed: Cars Anthology (compilation) (1995) ****
Superb double disc anthology which includes some worthy rarities, yet I can’t give it the fifth star as it is missing “Heartbeat City” and the demo version of “Nightspots” included, for one of their most essential album tracks, is inferior to the studio version. Those serious caveats aside, this is near perfect.
Complete Greatest Hits (compilation) (2002) *****
The best single disc compilation available, it is packed to the brim with killer New Wave classics.
Move Like This (2011) ***
Hell froze over. Ric Ocasek swore the Cars would never reunite, but he had a new batch of songs and they just screamed “Cars” to him, so to his credit he buried the hatchet and reunited the band. Although Ben Orr is missed (he died in 2000, and Ocasek freely admits that about half of these songs would have sounded better with Orr singing them), this is much better than most expected it to be. A friend of mine commented that it sounds the band procured a time machine and went back to about 1986 and made the real follow-up to Heartbeat City (instead of the haphazard Door To Door). It falls in seamlessly with the rest of their discography, as opposed to sounding like the different era coda that it actually is.
Bottom Line: Love this band, and they absolutely mastered a certain genre within the late 70’s and early 80’s. The debut is essential stuff, the sophomore effort is a personal favorite of mine, and the rest of their records each have essential songs on them (well, maybe not Door To Door). For a one stop, Complete Greatest Hits is hard to beat.
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