Music Discussion - The Cars

For this blog, the 3 of us will discuss music (mostly rock related) in it's many forms. It might be strange oddities, horrible audio bombs, underrated classics, or just stuff we like. For the first edition, I'll write about one of my personal favorite albums. I won't post download links, but it's not like this stuff is too hard to find. A search on youtube or google will yield results quite easily.

The Cars self-titled debut, released in 1978 (Arguably the greatest year in rock) is the perfect rock album, in my opinion. Capturing the spirit of the 50s, the dynamics of the 60s, and the just plain oddness of the 70s, The Cars basically invented the 80s music scene before it came to be (much like Devo). They represented a long forgotten time, when it was the strength of your songs that got you airplay and not the size of your record company's wallet. That's how the Cars gained their fame, they self-released 'Just What I Needed' and gained a cult following and had a hit all by themselves. A record deal soon followed, but no one can deny the band (as was the norm in the late 70s and early 90s) earned their success.

The Cars balances classic rock n roll ('Good Times Roll', 'My Best Friend's Girl', 'Just What I Needed'), crafted some of the first punk-influenced new wave ('I'm In Touch With Your World', 'Don't Cha Stop', 'Bye Bye Love'), were not afraid to rock out ('You're All That I've Got Tonight' in particular, fucking RUMBLES), and even managed to get a bit spacey ('I'm In Touch With Your World', 'Moving In Stereo', and the proof that new wave could fill arenas in a better world 'All Mixed Up'). The Cars had it all.

It's no wonder after the band called it quits in the late 80s, so many bands wanted to work with Ric Ocasek. The man knew how to write a quality song, and knew how to make it sound GREAT on top of it. The band released a few other albums (the poppier but almost as rocking 'Candy-O' and the pure 80s zeitgeist 'Heartbeat City' being almost on par with the debut, quality wise), but nothing managed to surpass this effort.

There's a reason most of the songs from this album still get radio play (on classic rock radio, of course) while the forgettable shit from that era faded away. These guys showed what rock was all about in the late 70s, and even hinted where it was going years before the music scene did. Few other bands represented such a gateway and manage to sound so fucking good.

Tracklist:

1. Good Times Roll
2. My Best Friend's Girl
3. Just What I Needed
4. I'm In Touch With Your World
5. Don't Cha Stop
6. You're All That I've Got Tonight
7. Bye Bye Love
8. Moving In Stereo
9. All Mixed Up

Note: Image credit to Allmusic.com

Also, from now on the music blog will be titled "Follow The Sound", for future reference.