Candy-O (The Cars)

Candy-O
The Cars (1979)

Top Tracks: “Let’s Go”, “Candy-O”, “Dangerous Type”

What do you do after you make one of the best debut albums in history? You make one of the best sophomore albums in history. I frankly don’t have enough good adjectives to talk about the early output of the Cars. These first two albums helped define an entire era of new wave and power pop, with the brilliant production of Roy Thomas Baker and the songwriting of Ric Ocasek combining for some of the best music of my lifetime (June 2020).

The Cars (The Cars)

The Cars
The Cars (1978)

Top Tracks: “Good Times Roll”, “Just What I Needed”, “Bye Bye Love”

It could be the best debut album of all time. Nearly every song is incredibly strong; there’s not an ounce of filler. The Cars weren’t the first new wave or power pop band by a long shot; they just did both better than just about anyone else ever had, or will. It’s funny; for a band that people associated so much with synthesizers, they sure had a ton of incredibly great guitar lines thanks to the brilliance of Elliot Easton. (May 2020).