It is another busy week for your
humble author. I could’ve written this review last night but like a carpenter
who can’t convince his hands to build any more furniture after a long day, I couldn’t get
my tired brain to compose any more sentences.
This is just as well, since I
don’t know this album as much as I should, and the extra day meant getting an
extra listen.
Disc 729 is…. Candy-O
Artist: The Cars
Year of Release: 1979
What’s up with the Cover? One of rock and
roll’s most iconic album covers and also one of my all-time favourites. I’m
confident I don’t need to explain why.
How I Came To Know It: When I was a kid I owned a 45 of
“Let’s Go” (it might have originally
been my brother’s, but he passed it along). I used to play it all the time;
occasionally on ‘33’ speed just because I thought it sounded funny (and still
kind of cool) when slowed down.
I didn’t
get the full album until fairly recently, partly because I wasn’t familiar with
any of the other songs. Eventually, my desire to have a digital version of “Let’s Go,” my curiosity for the Cars’
sound, and my prurient interest in the awesome cover by pin-up artist Alberto
Vargas won over and I bought it on disc.
How It Stacks Up: We have three Cars albums, and of the three I must
put “Candy-O” at the bottom of the pile. Here is the full list:
- Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 550)
- Heartbeat City: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 562)
- Candy-O: n
stars (reviewed right here)
Rating: 2 stars but almost 3
“Candy-O”
is well named. It is instantly enjoyable, but it doesn’t have much going for it
beyond the initial sweetness, and it doesn’t fill you up the way you want.
The
album launches itself with a bang, with the enthusiastic (and exhortative) “Let’s Go” a song about a seventeen year
old flirt you’re liable to encounter on a Friday night if you’re out late
enough. The girl is a ‘frozen fire’, has a ‘risque mouth’ and is so beautiful
she doesn’t wear her shoes. I’m not entirely sure what any of this means, but
who cares – the song is about being out on the town and seeing a pretty girl.
Beyond that, it is such a fun tune that you needn’t worry about some deeper
message.
The
whole album is in the Cars’ singular style that mixes in new wave and classic
rock into a perfect blend that shouldn’t work but does. These guys mastered the
use of the synthesizer eight to ten years before anyone else, and no one else
ever came along to do it better. On “It’s
All I Can Do” the verses sound like a Talking Heads number and the chorus
feels like ELO proto-disco, and weirdly, it all works.
There are
no real stinkers on the album, but I couldn’t help but find myself comparing
the songs to those on their self-titled debut. Their debut has the same
incredible sound and ear for production, but the songs are just way better. As
sometimes happens on a sophomore album, the songs on “Candy-O” have the slight whiff
of B-side or cutting room floor about them. With a few exceptions they don’t
have the same fully formed concepts as the record before.
At the
other end of the spectrum, the album is beginning to transition the band into the
more pure pop sound on “Heartbeat City.” Again, these aren’t fully formed yet.
There are some cool sound effects throughout the album, particularly on the
title track but even on that song it feels like the band is trying just a
little too hard to be themselves. That should come naturally.
As a
complete record, there is a lot to recommend “Candy O” and I think it would
have been a pretty sweet house party album in its day. However, it doesn’t have
the depth it needs – musically or lyrically – to be great. Fortunately even
when not firing on all cylinders, the Cars still know how to deliver a fun
ride.
Best
tracks: Let’s
Go, It’s All I Can Do
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