The problem with this record

Review Score: (6/10)
In my humble opinion, the problem with this record (and I don't know if it's the reason why it sold relatively poorly) is that the Cars seemed to have lost some of their edge. There are just way too many gooey love songs on this record with no trace of quirkiness or irony to be found. I mean what kind of lyrics are "Everything you say just leaves me full of shine"? The Cars of old would not sing this line with a straight face (or at all, for that matter), but that's the impression I'm getting on this album. Or "You are the girl and you give me a twirl"? WTF? Don't get me wrong, these aren't bad songs but they are just played way too straight, either lyrically or musically or both. Take "Double Trouble". Decent song, but nothing special. Sounds like something Ric Ocasek could compose while snoozing. There's almost the sense that the Cars were trying to become more popular by playing these straighter tunes, perhaps forgetting it was their quirky, unique mix of pop and punk that made all their other albums go platinum (or multi-platinum). There are a few standouts on this alum. "Leave or Stay" and "Tata Wayo Wayo", which were written around the same time as their debut album - even here, however, I would say the earlier demo versions from 1977 (found on Just What I Needed) are truer to the classic Cars sound (and rawer and punkier than anything I've ever heard from the band). There's also the slightly above average "Strap Me In" and the title track which is, at the least, a dignified way to close out the album (and their recording career), in part offsetting the relative blandness of the rest of the album. It's kind of a shame really because it could have been so much better; they even played more "real" instruments on it. If only the songs themselves packed more punch. It's my overall impression that the general pop record buying public thought this an unimpressive follow-up to Heartbeat City and that even Cars fans either moved on or were also unimpressed.

One last note: they even ruined what might have been a cool cover by plastering their images all over it (breaking a tradition of NOT doing just that).

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