If you had never heard of Ric Ocasek and The Cars prior to 1984,
Heartbeat City and the videos from this album opened your
eyes really quick.
The Boston band was quickly recognized by a wider base of fans
(thanks in no small part to MTV) for their pop sensibility and
catchy songs. Even fourteen years later,
Heartbeat City remains an enjoyable, but dated album.
Ocasek leads the band through ten solid numbers, ranging from
the solid rockers (“You Might Think, “Magic”) to the introspective
ballads (“Why Can’t I Have You”, “Drive” – featuring vocals from
Benjamin Orr), all the while keeping their same level of balance on
all the tracks. The shift in styles is almost perfect, even
occasionally allowing one track to begin seeping onto another as
the latter track ends (e.g.: “Magic” kicking off just as “Looking
For Love” ends).
Listening to this album again, the one thing about The Cars that
sounds dated on
Heartbeat City is the use of (oh, my God) electronic drums.
While this was all the rage in the ’80s, nothing – I repeat,
nothing – takes the place of the real thing when it comes to the
skins.
Surprisingly, many of the hits still sound as good today as they
did back then. “You Might Think” will always be a killer track (and
is one that I wish someone I know would take a close listen to –
might explain some things), while “Magic” is an enjoyable little
ditty (even if you don’t see the Christ-like images of Ocasek
walking on water without the TV in front of you). I never was a fan
of “Drive,” though I can appreciate it without it being hammered
into my head all the time (peaking at number 3, it was the highest
charting single for The Cars). Two other minor singles, “Hello
Again” and “Why Can’t I Be You,” are still fresh.
The non-single tracks sometimes show why they weren’t selected –
for example, I just can’t get into “I Refuse” or the title track.
Other songs, like “Looking For Love,” could have been contenders
for singles, and one wonders why they never made the cut.
You can criticize the ’80s for many things, but
Heartbeat City isn’t one of them. If there’s any one Cars
album to own, this probably is the one.
