The Cars - Heartbeat City poll

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.

People in my musical orbit *have been playing it* a lot.

The canonical example of the production choice irrelevancy is Marshall Crenshaw's Field Day, I think.

Lillywhite's cavernous productions helps the album, actually.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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

there's no "transcending"! The keyboards on "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" sound like 1973, and what's wrong with that?

again, y'all are wedded to an unexamined idea of transcendence, i.e. Great Music Transcends Time and Space.

xpost Nothing, because the song is good and interesting.

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.

Mutt Lange produced much better songs.

I think Mutt's AC/DC and Def Leppard stuff has aged super well!

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.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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.

"Drive" is stunning!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

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.

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!

tbf we've polled pretty much all the albums *and* the greatest hits

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.