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ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: The Cars’ “The Elektra Years: 1978-1987”

Cars

Find me a person who hasn’t somehow experienced the bubblegum-flavored majesty of the Cars and I’ll show you someone who’s truly been living under that proverbial rock of ignorance and/or denial. They scored a numberone hit with their first-ever single and didn’t stop dominating both the charts and the fi rst generation of MTV visuals until 1988.

Culling six records, all remastered by bandleader Ric Ocasek, this retrospective allows listeners to not only experience some of pop/rock history’s greatest gems (“Candy-O”! “You Might Think”! “Good Times Roll”!), but track the band’s spell of world dominance on the new-wave/rock scene. It also allows one to try and figure what the hell they were thinking on final album, Door To Door. Though, if you’re looking for greater context and information, The Elektra Years disappoints with a discouraging lack of liner notes. It’s a great collection, but a missed opportunity to shed brighter light on a fascinating story that spans generations.

—Kevin Stewart-Panko