The Cars

Heartbeat City

The Cars' Signature Album and Masterpiece

Review Score:

(10/10)
In the early 1980s, the Cars were beginning to gain significant popularity. Their syntho-pop/new-wave sound and looks fit perfect with the trend of the early 1980s. By the time the Cars would release "Hearbeat City" in 1984, the timing couldn't have been better for a monster hit album. The syntho-pop/new-wave sound of the 80s was reaching its peak. The Cars had been knocking on the door for several years with albums such as "Candy-o", "Panorama", and "Shake it Up". 1984's "Heartbeat City" would not only bring commercial success to the group, but the group would really show their strongest work to date.

Up until 1981, the Cars would be produced by Roy Thomas Baker. Following 1981's "Shake It Up", the band went on a 3 year hiatus and would bring in a new producer - Robert John "Mutt" Lange (better known as Mr. Shania Twain). Baker had done a solid job with the Cars, but it would be Lange who would really show his strength that would put the Cars over the top. The Cars would now cross-over as full-fledged Superstars and in addition continue to maintain strong to their New Wave roots. Lange had been more known as Def Leppard's "Pyromania" producer and would prove he would have a lot of diversity as well (he would go on to produce artists such as Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, and Billy Ocean).

Despite Lange's presence, the Cars themselves deserve an enormous amount of credit. Top to bottom, this is one heck of an album. Lead singer and guitarist Ric Ocasek writes all ten songs (9 of the 10 are written by himself with the other co-written by Keyboardist Greg Hawkes). Ric Ocasek does the lion's share of the lead vocals, but bassist Benjamin Orr gets the opportunity to do lead vocals on three of the most interesting tracks on the collection. It's Orr's vocals on what is perhaps the album and group's signature song "Drive". This is the song that really showed the crossover as it hit big on the pop and adult contemporary charts. In this song, The Cars take their syntho-pop sound and basically take it down to a ballad level. While Orr's stirring vocals really make the song, Ocasek writes a masterpiece about someone fighting for a chance to keep a relationship going. The Cars have their more traditional sound on "Stranger Eyes". This song has more of a tech-rock sound. This was a song largely ignored by the radio, but still is a solid song. Orr takes lead vocals on this song, but sometimes it almost seems as if his voice is "fused" with Ocasek's even though Orr has a solo lead on this. Greg Hawkes on keyboards and David Robinson on drums are really going to play a key role on this song. The third Orr led "It's Not the Night" song has more of a haunting feel (it could have easily have been a Halloween song). Orr provides some great haunting lead vocals. Excellent background vocals and excellent guitar work by Ocasek and Elliot Easton on this track.

The Cars gained a lot of popularity through the very pop like hits "Magic" and "You Might Think" in which Ric Ocasek does lead vocals. These songs fit very well on the radio and are good songs, but Ocasek lends vocals to much stronger tracks. The first two tracks "Hello Again" and "Looking for Love" are prime examples of this. "Hello Again" is another techo-rock song. This did get radio airplay, but by the time it did - the album had already peaked. The keyboards take a strong lead on the intro to the song. There is some great keyboards on this song by Hawkes - especially during the chorus. The techo feel of the song really takes center stage after "you leave it all, to fade to blue" - a computer like sound is played, with some nice guitar work. The background vocals of "Hello" also compliment Ocasek's lead perfectly. The second track, "Looking for Love", should have got some more airplay - but didn't. This song has a great intro with some nice bass work by Orr, and Ocasek's spoken vocals of "Come on Lover, make the switch". Finally, the title cut of the album "Heartbeat City" deserves a lot of credit. Along with "Drive", this is another masterpiece on the album. It has a techno rock theme to it with a futurist "car and garage" sound at the beginning. The song overall seems to show how the Cars have taken their syntho pop roots and showed how they can stay true to them while maturing as a group. Sometimes this song is referred to as just "Jacki". Ocasek also provides some stirring vocals and Hawkes again comes alive on keyboards. The only weak song on this album is the song "Why Can't I Have You". I'm surprised that this was released as a single when there was so much more this colleciton offered.

A word on the music videos. This album produced some of the most imaginative and creative music videos of all time - including the award winning "You Might Think" that really made the Cars a pioneer in using technology in their videos. "Drive" is another classic with Paulina Porizkova (Ric's wife) playing the role of a woman going insane. There were other videos, but it is important to note that this album stands on its own and if there were no videos, this album should still be considered a classic.
Liner notes are outstanding with all lyrics included on this album as well as songwriting and instrument credits of the band.

Following "Heartbeat City", as the music landscape in the 80s changed to a more hard rock sound, the Cars would have trouble gaining commercial success on the follow-up album "Door to Door". This album however stands the test of time.

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