The Cars - The Cars - Greatest Hits

The Cars' blend of New Wave experimentation and trad-rock values made for nearly ubiquitous radio presence in the late '70s and early '80s. Often jumpily ambivalent and marvelously pop-wise in the same moment, Ric Ocasek captured the zeitgeist for people to whom even Talking Heads didn't matter much. Kicking off with one of the all-time great singles, "Just What I Needed," then winding its way through seven more years of singles including the then-brand new "Tonight She Comes," Greatest Hits is one, um, well-oiled pleasure machine. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

The Cars / Greatest Hits

Classic Cars, pun intended. The only song I didn't care for was Heart Break City, all the other the songs are fantastic. You won't go wrong buying this one. Highly recomended. March 8, 2008

Cars Greatest

If you like the Cars at all , Get this CD. It has all the hits. Does not miss any Cars songs you may know January 8, 2008

classic

if you're not a fan of singing with the classics something's wrong with you. buy this album, listen to it, become a better person. November 19, 2007

Horribly outdated compilation, missing far too many songs

The Cars: Greatest Hits

INTRODUCTION:
The Cars were one of the finest classic rock bands ever. With their mixture of rock and roll and new wave pop elements, they won over a number of fans during their decade or so together. There are countless compilations out there for the band. Let's take a look at Greatest Hits.

OVERVIEW:
Complete Greatest Hits spans the Cars career 1978-1987. It features 20 tracks.

REVIEW:
I love the music of the Cars, they're one of my favorite bands of all time. But this compilation shows its age. Nearly every track on here (plus a whole lot more) is on the newer Complete Greatest Hits compilation. The omissions on here are far too great in number.

THE CARS (1978): Just What I Needed, Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl.
COMMENTS: You get THE SINGLES from the first album. Nothing more. That means this album is missing the non-single hits Bye Bye Love, You're All I've Got Tonight, and Moving In Stereo. That's just the beginning of the atrocities of this inferior compilation.

CANDY-O (1979): Let's Go
COMMENTS: ONE TRACK from this album!? ONE TRACK!? Blasphemy, I say! What compilation omits Dangerous Type and It's All I Can Do? Well, my friends, THIS ONE DOES.

PANORAMA (1980): Touch and Go
COMMENTS: Again, an album only gets ONE TRACK on here. That means no Don't Tell Me No or the title track.

SHAKE IT UP (1981): Shake It Up, I'm Not The One, Since You're Gone
COMMENTS: This is it. The ONLY album that gets perfect representation on this compilation. No complaints.

HEARTBEAT CITY (1984.): You Might Think, Drive, Heartbeat City, Magic
COMMENTS: Glad to see the underrated title track made the cut here, as well as most of the other big hits. But why were Hello Again and Stranger Eyes omitted!?

NEW TRACK (1985): Tonight She Comes
The band recorded this single new cut for the album. It's not one of the band's best ever, but still a solid tune.

DOOR TO DOOR (1987): NO TRACKS
COMMENTS: This compilation was released prior to this album.

OVERALL:
Get Complete Greatest Hits instead. Everything this compilation does, that one does several times better.

Thumbs down.

EDITION NOTES:
This compilation has always been readily available so I doubt you'll have any trouble finding it or the superior Complete Greatest Hits. October 15, 2007

Now surpassed by "Complete Greatest Hits"

Making a case for The Cars as brilliant singles band, this 1985 "Greatest Hits" is 13 songs that are all incredible. From 1978 till they dissolved in 1987, this Boston band helped to define what American New Wave music sounded like. A touch of Roxy Music, a dash of David Bowie, a really strong helping of melody and top that off with two solid lead vocalists in Ric Ocasek and the late Ben Orr, and you had the formula for the albums from "The Cars" classic to the hit packed "Heartbeat City." This CD was released while "heartbeat City" was still in its phenomanal commercail run, thus missed the singles from "Door To Door" (which is to say, not much).

As brilliant as the debut was, it is represented CD on this collection by three were singles, with "Just What I Needed" being one of the most important top 40 records of 1978. (Oddly enough, this was about the same time Van Halen's cover of "You Really Got Me" cracked the charts - both of these bands arguably changed the state of radio.) The simple handclaps and harmonies of "My Best Friend's Girl" were irresistible.

When the sophomore album arrived, it was with the brash mix of Buddy Holly and The Beatles that collided on "Let's Go." That probably remains my favorite Cars single, exploding from the radio in the summer of 1979. The underrated "Panorama" followed. Ocasek had become interested in experimental music, like the art duo Suicide, and "Panorama" reflected that. The tricky key changes in "Touch and Go" were not the average hit single fare. Ocasek's solo albums often had more of a "Panorama" feel to them, and I guess he needed to get it out of his system.

Then it was a return to popland. "Shake It Up," with its cheesy picture-disk styled cover art, produced the first top ten single for the group. "Shake It Up" (the single) was a prefect mash of Beach Boys sunniness and new wave dancablity. It also became a harbinger of the next album, as the moody ballad "I'm Not The One" set the stage for the band's biggest hit. On this greatest hits set, "I'm Not The One" is a different mix from the "Shake It Up" version.

When "Heartbeat City" arrived in Spring of 1984, it matched the artiness of "Panorama" with the pop splendor of "Shake It Up" and the debut. Jumping from producer Roy Thomas Baker to Robert Lange, the sound went from arthouse to dancehouse, and the pop sheen was unmistakably Cars. Ben Orr rode that sound to the band's biggest single, "Drive," climbing to number three that summer. The videos for that song and the giddy "Magic" and "You Might Think" (remember Ocasek as a human fly) were all over MTV that summer, and The Cars had their greatest success to date. I also liked that the "Heartbeat City" title song graced this CD.

The success also came with strain. Easton, Ocasek and Orr each releasing solo albums (with Orr charting a single with "Stay The Night") and only convening to record a one-off single for a Christmas best of in 1985. "Tonight She Comes" was a great double-entendre of a lyric, as were many of the best Cars songs. It was also their last top ten single.

The Ocasek produced "Door To Door" was released in 1987, after the release of this "Greatest Hits," and found the band in a non-cohesive state. Only "You Are The Girl" managed to chart, and it is not on this CD.

"Greatest Hits" is pretty close to a five star set. But with "Cars - Complete Greatest Hits" containing seven more songs (along with "Hello Again"), I would tend to steer - no pun intended - to the 2002 collection. That CD also sports better mastering. Still, if you were a radio-geek (or an MTV geek) in the early 80's, this CD will take you back. February 6, 2007

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