i see they released half of this album as singles and a sixth in the UK. wow!
― Bee OK, Thursday, 26 September 2019 00:11 (four years ago) link
pretty sure i'm voting for "Magic" but going to spin again before voting.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 26 September 2019 00:12 (four years ago) link
"Magic," "You Might Think," and "Drive" are all unreal — dunno if I can choose
― Non stop chantar (crüt), Thursday, 26 September 2019 00:33 (four years ago) link
"I Refuse" is the only album track worth a damn
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 September 2019 00:42 (four years ago) link
Stranger Eyes has always been one of my favorite Cars deep cuts, so I'll throw it a vote
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 26 September 2019 02:56 (four years ago) link
"You Might Think," easily.
Beyond the four big singles (I'm counting the title track because it was on the Greatest Hits record that my mom played nonstop when I was a kid), "Looking for Love" is the only thing I really think is above average--and even that feels kinda like a really pretty hook and production in search of a stronger song to attach itself to.
― Herman Woke (cryptosicko), Thursday, 26 September 2019 16:55 (four years ago) link
This is of those extra-thick gatefold spines, like INXS' Kick, that I can pick out on my shelf from across the room.
― A breezy pop-rock feel fairly typical of the mid-'80s (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 26 September 2019 17:18 (four years ago) link
man, i wish i liked the cars.
but i just. . . don't. idk.
i like the singles from this album, but even then they're "just okay." i just don't "get it man."
also: what does everyone think of them reissuing this with a *GASP* altered cover under the guise of it being the actual intended artwork? icymi
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 26 September 2019 21:08 (four years ago) link
didn't realize they'd done that. an improvement I think actually.
― akm, Thursday, 26 September 2019 22:54 (four years ago) link
The b-side 'Breakaway' from the era is very strong - I think it got relegated to b-side because of the barely veiled drug references.
― aphoristical, Thursday, 26 September 2019 22:56 (four years ago) link
huh same designer as the second strokes album
― brimstead, Thursday, 26 September 2019 22:56 (four years ago) link
heh put this on to refresh myself w the album tracks and the intro to Hello Again sounds straight off Hysteria. looked and sure enough, Mutt Lange - producer
― A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Chooglin (will), Thursday, 26 September 2019 23:18 (four years ago) link
Indeed, both Hysteria and this album kind of gave me anxiety as a kid.. or they kind of scared me or something. They are so big and in your face, and Hysteria is so packed with layers, listening to it is like watching a space shuttle lift off from 10 ft away or something I do love the singles. I agree with the word “unreal”
― brimstead, Friday, 27 September 2019 00:22 (four years ago) link
kinda weird how Vargas-esque the cover is. he had passed on a few years earlier, maybe they really wanted another Vargas painting.
― brimstead, Friday, 27 September 2019 00:26 (four years ago) link
The cover’s kinda like candy-o 2.0sorry I’m kind of a Cars newb, I’m sure this has all been discussed to death
My take on Heartbeat City's reissue last year: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-cars-shake-it-up-heartbeat-city/
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 September 2019 00:53 (four years ago) link
“Hello”s that cold-open “Hello Again”? A first draft of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
:)
― A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Chooglin (will), Friday, 27 September 2019 01:00 (four years ago) link
voted drive but probably should have voted the title track now that I think about it.
― akm, Friday, 27 September 2019 03:21 (four years ago) link
i voted with my heart - Magic all the way
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 27 September 2019 05:17 (four years ago) link
The title track is by far the best song on the album.
― Bloody Snail, Friday, 27 September 2019 07:53 (four years ago) link
I got off the Cars train with this record as a wee lad so I had to refresh my memory with a relisten and man, this record is garbage... everything is paper-thin & plastic-y and every hook is telegraphed. Was hoping for some redemption in the deep cuts, but nah.
They were such an organically quirky band in 1979-1980, the quirks here are just subpar songs dressed up in crass marketing/dated-production ("let's make this one sound like a Corey Hart b-side!"). Such an unbelievable contrast to their incredible debut which still sounds fresh.
Voted "Drive".
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 27 September 2019 17:12 (four years ago) link
title track for me, my favourite song by them iirc
― the creator has a mazda van (NickB), Friday, 27 September 2019 17:38 (four years ago) link
Title track, just slightly more than Why Can't I Have You
― doug watson, Friday, 27 September 2019 18:03 (four years ago) link
but ya, the production on this album so brilliantly recalls the overblown and shiny mid 80s
― doug watson, Friday, 27 September 2019 18:05 (four years ago) link
Voted "Heartbeat City". The way Ocasek phrases the "Oh, Jacki" at 2:02 kills me, as does the mournful "I thought you knew the way" line. One of those albums that's tied to a particular time and location in my life.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Friday, 27 September 2019 19:16 (four years ago) link
I coulda sworn I had the debut, Panorama, and HC on vinyl but apparently I sold off the latter two during a purge a few years ago. Going back through all these I don’t think I made the wrong decision. Definitely a “singles band” for me after Candy-O (which is p dope and I’m not sure I’d ever heard it all the way through).
― A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Chooglin (will), Friday, 27 September 2019 20:38 (four years ago) link
both Hysteria and this album kind of gave me anxiety as a kid.. or they kind of scared me or something.
Just watched the Warhol-directed "Hello Again" video for the first time in forever. Curious what the Warhol/Ocasek connection was (one of only two other Warhol-directed videos was for a solo single). Also remembered that Ocasek was one of the only men on MTV with an earring in his right ear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXpJ0bM5zbM
― ... (Eazy), Friday, 27 September 2019 22:33 (four years ago) link
this probably isn't the best place to start with them tbh
up til my mid 20s I only knew Drive, and associated that with horrible 80s MOR music that was about the naffest thing I could think of at the time, like I thought of them being like Chris DeBurgh or something
try their first 2 albums and if you don't like those then OK fair enough you don't like the Cars. now I know their other stuff I don't mind Drive and Magic that much any more (I've never actually listened to this album, just have the Greatest Hits)
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 27 September 2019 22:41 (four years ago) link
I did give this a repeat spin and agree with others in this thread. Very much a product of the time and sounds dated. Keeping my original instance and voting "Magic."
― Bee OK, Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:01 (four years ago) link
Every album is a product of its time. "Dated" is not an insult.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:04 (four years ago) link
What about "Aged badly"?
― The Hillbilly Chespirito (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:05 (four years ago) link
(Not that I am saying that about this particular recording)
― The Hillbilly Chespirito (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:06 (four years ago) link
I'm not sure what that means, but I can tell you that synthesizers and drum machines for some reason "date" albums while guitars never do because they speak the eternal verities of rock.
Now, if the songs on HC suck -- an opinion I'll accept -- then the production is irrelevant.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:06 (four years ago) link
Drive is a flawless song.
People in my musical orbit a lot the last while, as if in tribute to Ocasek, often without knowing it was Orr's vocal.
― Instant Carmax (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:16 (four years ago) link
People in my musical orbit *have been playing it* a lot.
― Instant Carmax (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:17 (four years ago) link
The canonical example of the production choice irrelevancy is Marshall Crenshaw's Field Day, I think.
― The Hillbilly Chespirito (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:19 (four years ago) link
Lillywhite's cavernous productions helps the album, actually.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:28 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that's true. Maybe that's more of a case of production choice that initially seems to be wildly inappropriate turns out to be suitable and then some after all.
― The Hillbilly Chespirito (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:30 (four years ago) link
Albums don't really "date" if they do something interesting, imo. It's the albums that try to ape fashionable sounds or styles - the same DX7 preset, the same compressed snare sound - that age the worst. The gated marshmallow sound of the '80s (for example) is totally dated specifically because everyone was trying to sound the same. That's one reason why a great song like "Dancing in the Dark" sounds very much of its time and "When Doves Cry" still sounds (imo) like something from the future.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:39 (four years ago) link
But no one sighs about a particular Fender Rhodes sound from 1977 -- on the contrary, you'll get scowls if you say, "Billy Joel sounds dated."
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:40 (four years ago) link
Again, y'all have to re-think your preconceptions.
i actually don't have a problem with most New Wave production and most of it doesn't alienate me like this did. and i don't have an issue with the three big hit singles from this album. but when i played this album off of YouTube through computer speakers, the album just felt flat and really lacking other great songs. i was really let down with my recent re-listening and this is after owning it on cassette, back in the day, and i remember playing it to death. i guess overall is, i was expecting to like this a lot more then i did.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:41 (four years ago) link
xpost Yeah, but I'd still say it often comes down the sound of the drums first and foremost. For sure the keys on "Just the Way You Are" sound dated, but maybe just in the context of that contemporaneous style of soft rock schmaltz (that Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" transcends, imo).
I dunno, maybe Kirk put it best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UYPpOYXYWc
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:43 (four years ago) link
there's no "transcending"! The keyboards on "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" sound like 1973, and what's wrong with that?
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:48 (four years ago) link
again, y'all are wedded to an unexamined idea of transcendence, i.e. Great Music Transcends Time and Space.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:49 (four years ago) link
xpost Nothing, because the song is good and interesting.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 28 September 2019 22:49 (four years ago) link
It'd be one thing if the production was the only problem with this record... but these are just lower-tier songs compared to the previous records. The well began running dry and they dressed up the dregs in Fairlight and Prophet 6 presets.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 29 September 2019 00:33 (four years ago) link
Mutt Lange produced much better songs.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 September 2019 00:36 (four years ago) link
I think Mutt's AC/DC and Def Leppard stuff has aged super well!
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 29 September 2019 00:52 (four years ago) link
dated always means "old stuff i don't like"classic or timeless means "old stuff i like"subjective takes. i don't like drum machines or up-front synths but i do like harpsichords and mellotrons, which are as rooted in a specific time as any 80s sound. although i do like Heartbeat City, so consistency and nostalgia fight it out and produce unexpected results.
― buzza, Sunday, 29 September 2019 02:55 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 30 September 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
i've used the descriptor "dated in a good way" a lot more times than i have used just "dated" as a negative critique.
i like music that sounds "dated" —especially from the 80s— because it sounds like my childhood.
yes, i'm a walking cliche.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 30 September 2019 17:16 (four years ago) link
"Drive" is stunning!
― Blue Room, Monday, 30 September 2019 23:45 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
This result is correct not only because Drive is the best song, but also because it deserved to get some competition from the other strong songs on the record. I wanted it to win but I didn't want it to be a blowout.
― Instant Carmax (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 1 October 2019 01:20 (four years ago) link
This album is also good, just finished a listen. I was half expecting to hate this. It turns out it has some good songs on it and doesn't wear out its welcome with 10 quick songs.
I want a Cars poll!
― Bee OK, Sunday, 26 February 2023 05:28 (one year ago) link
tbf we've polled pretty much all the albums *and* the greatest hits
― mookieproof, Sunday, 26 February 2023 05:50 (one year ago) link
That's not really fair, we polled all the Police albums and the recent poll did very well.
I'm just going thru a Cars kick at the moment shot me and maybe I need a break from this place as I'm being attacked on everything.
― Bee OK, Monday, 27 February 2023 18:16 (one year ago) link