Description

The Cars Self-Titled 1978 Debut Is a Veritable Greatest Hits Album: Classic Album Includes Just What I Needed and My Best Friend s Girl

Let the Good Times Roll with Mobile Fidelity s 180g 33RPM LP: Mastered from the Original Master Tapes, Audiophile-Quality Reissue Epitomizes the Meaning of Moving in Stereo

1 4 15 IPS analog master to analog console to lathe

One of the most successful and enjoyable debuts in history, The Cars self-titled album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. That s because not one song here is unrecognized or unknown. A huge reason why the Boston quintet became America s most popular new-wave band, The Cars launched eight tracks still regularly heard on radio stations everywhere. Consider the hit list: You re All I ve Got Tonight. Good Times Roll. Just What I Needed. Moving in Stereo. My Best Friend s Girl. Don t Cha Stop. If you re a fan of pop music, this album is mandatory. Just call it the best new-wave rock album ever made.

And now, The Cars sounds better than it has in any previous incarnation. Mastered from the original analog tapes, Mobile Fidelity s numbered-edition LP allows the music s oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, panned stereo images, and rippling textures to be experienced like never before. The songs take on a surreal quality, the Cars manipulating the vibrant music at will to mesmerize the listeners senses and hold them at bay. Mobile Fidelity s pressing epitomizes the sensation of moving in stereo.

Led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, the Cars managed to unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum pop melodies, angular art rock, progressive arrangements, and terse minimalism. Orr s low, understated singing and Ocasek s cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by orchestral keyboard flourishes and electronic beats. The brilliant arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the over-the-top world of mainstream music. Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced its tunes with delightfully quirky accents—country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses.

The results are the sounds of a creative landmark. At once accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. It s impossible not to get caught up humming and singing along to every song, an appeal that comes courtesy of Roy Thomas Baker s stellar production. The legendary producer, best known for his work with Queen, ensured that the record seamlessly packed a smooth midrange, spacious imaging, and call-and-answer choruses in one tight package. Baker s trademark touches with harmony vocals abound.

The MoFi disc is much better than the original in every way. It s more dynamic, much more natural on top, and all three dimensions have a lot bigger space. This disc is great from start to finish, but Moving in Stereo will blow you away on a great system in a big room.
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio