The Cars

Cars

One of the greatest debut albums of all time!

Review Score:

(10/10)
The Cars (1978.) The Cars debut album.

In the late seventies, rock was fast losing its grip on the music industry, and a new style of music was conquering - disco. It seemed rock and roll may finally have been beaten out after a quarter century in power - but then, the rock and roll revival began. Bands like Boston and Foreigner began bringing rock back to the mainstream, and in 1978, an interesting little new band entered the mainstream - The Cars. These guys were an interesting band because they were the perfect fusion of rock and the new wave stylings that would dominate the next decade. How does the band's 1978 self-titled debut album measure up? Read on and you shall see.

Good Times Roll - The opener is a good, solid classic rocker in which the band's new wave stylings are almost nonexistant. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. If you want straight-up classic rock, this song doesn't fail to deliver.

My Best Friend's Girl - Here the band serves up a typical one of those "pop songs about losing a lover." Fortunately, The Cars take on this styling was several times better than that of other bands of the day.

Just What I Needed - One of the biggest hits to emerge from the album. Though this one is, for the most part, straight-up classic rock, it's got that touch of new wave to it that makes The Cars so great a band.

I'm In Touch With Your World - Of all the songs on this album, two thirds (six out of nine) of them became big hits. This wasn't one of them, sadly. The real question is why? This song is every bit as good as the big hits are! Don't skip this one just because it "never got popular," because you'll only be hurting yourself.

Don't Cha Stop - Ditto.

You're All I've Got Tonight - While the songs by The Cars generally tend to lean toward either rock or new wave, this little tune just happens to be the happy medium between the two stylings. The keyboards and the chorus in this track are just killer.

Bye Bye Love - THIS IS NOT THE EVERLY BROTHERS SONG. While this one is, for the most part, straight-up classic rock, it's got keyboards backing it up - and they do a damn good job. An excellent song.

Moving In Stereo - Though this track was reasonably popular at the time of release, it wasn't until 1982, four years after the release of the album, that this one gained extreme popularity, due to its being featured in an extremely memorable scene in the film Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The stylings of this song are similar to those of the previous track, but this one generally has a "darker" feeling to it. Excellent track, don't pass it by.

All Mixed Up - THIS IS NOT THE THREE ELEVEN SONG. The album's closing track was one of its songs that never became recognized as a hit, which is a real shame, because it's an excellent closer. THIS is how every band needs to do their love songs, plain and simple.

To put it simply, The Cars 1978 self-titled debut album is one of both rock and roll and new wave's greatest masterpieces. Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, and all the rest certainly knew how to rock and roll, and this album demonstrates that beautifully, nine times over. If you don't like this album, you don't deserve to live!

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