Simone Appolloni's Album Reviews
The perfect synthesis, the perfect mix of styles (Heavy Metal, Pop Punk and Synth Rock) and the perfect synchronicity? Many artists have struggled to make the perfect album by trying to perfect the defects and pushing up the excellence. They completely missed the point. What makes an album perfect is not the greatness of their melodies, since not all the songs can be constantly engaging or constantly fantastic: The Cars' debut album is slick, polished, and obviously a pair moments don't work as the highlights ("I'm in Touch with Your World", "Don't Cha Stop"), but it would be stupid to have great expectations. Hell, it barely lasts 35 minutes, so it serves as a party record, the kind of work it does perfectly. The loud rockers "My Best Friend's Girl" and "You're All I've Got Tonight" have everything a loud rocker should have: careless riffs, strong hooks and a creamy synth surface: the smooth numbers "I'm in Touch With Your World" and "All Mixed Up" keep the suspence very well (although the first recalls a bit too much café music): there are even moments when The Cars go close to dissonant Post-Punk artistry ("Let the Good Times Roll" and "Moving in Stereo, the first graced with an irregular rhythm) with dancing results. All these gems however can't match the sublime melody of "Just What I Needed", a song so excellent that its chorus riff was copied by Eddie Schwartz for writing Pat Benatar's hit "Hit Me With Your Best Shot". He pretended to be the new Ric Ocasek, but time won over him rightly.
The Cars don't deserve the destiny to be pushed into the 80's corner, and not because the album was released in 1978, but because this album has everything a listener would want: catchiness, simplicity, clever wordplay ("You get the diplomatic treatment / You get the force fed future / You get the funk after death / Get the Wisenheimer brainstorm") and storming intelligence and even humility ("I don’t care if you hurt me some more / I don’t care if you even the score / You can knock me and I don’t care / Well, you can mock me and I don’t care / You can rock me just about anywhere"), chameleon-like attitude and a strong sense of economy (how many bands would close an album with an epic like "All Mixed Up", which feels anything but?) and pragmatism. The Cars keep the groove going on without repeating themselves: on "Moving in Stereo", the producer put a bit of tridimensional spacey effects to justify its length, while only on "Don't Cha Stop" they raise the tempo (and perfectly, since it's a song a bit deficient of hooks). Everything is exactly on its place and every element contributes to make the album an authentic meteor shower. If all the songs were great like "Just What I Needed" and "You're All I've Got Tonight", The Cars would have made a miracle: as it is: their debut is simply a stunner.
Highlights:"Just What I Needed", "You're All I've Got Tonight", "Moving In Stereo", "All Mixed Up".
The Cars don't deserve the destiny to be pushed into the 80's corner, and not because the album was released in 1978, but because this album has everything a listener would want: catchiness, simplicity, clever wordplay ("You get the diplomatic treatment / You get the force fed future / You get the funk after death / Get the Wisenheimer brainstorm") and storming intelligence and even humility ("I don’t care if you hurt me some more / I don’t care if you even the score / You can knock me and I don’t care / Well, you can mock me and I don’t care / You can rock me just about anywhere"), chameleon-like attitude and a strong sense of economy (how many bands would close an album with an epic like "All Mixed Up", which feels anything but?) and pragmatism. The Cars keep the groove going on without repeating themselves: on "Moving in Stereo", the producer put a bit of tridimensional spacey effects to justify its length, while only on "Don't Cha Stop" they raise the tempo (and perfectly, since it's a song a bit deficient of hooks). Everything is exactly on its place and every element contributes to make the album an authentic meteor shower. If all the songs were great like "Just What I Needed" and "You're All I've Got Tonight", The Cars would have made a miracle: as it is: their debut is simply a stunner.
Highlights:"Just What I Needed", "You're All I've Got Tonight", "Moving In Stereo", "All Mixed Up".
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