Back in the land of the Cars, Panorama wasn’t that album only three people would like, but it was the so-called difficult third album, following the success of the debut and the reaction in the follow-up. From the start, it’s not chock full of hits. The title track is predominantly computerized and cold, hardly tuneful and very dated. After the better part of six minutes, “Touch And Go” is particularly welcome, a terrific tune that still spend most of its time in 5/4. “Gimme Some Slack” is also pretty catchy, even if does resemble “She’s So Cold” by the Rolling Stones, which had only come out a couple of months earlier. Ben Orr finally sings on “Don’t Tell Me No”, albeit in a snotty voice, but “Getting Through” gets silly again, complete with what would now be called video game noises.
Side two is a little more straight, even if there’s nothing as excellent as “Touch And Go”. “Misfit Kid” might have made some geeks feel a little less alone. Another digital explosion bridges “Down Boys” (NOT the Warrant song) and the softer “You Wear Those Eyes”, and Ben’s suite finishes with “Running To You”, which might have made the charts had it been a single. “Up And Down” is dominated by drums sounding akin to someone beating a bat against a metal trash can, bringing the album somewhat full circle.
Panorama certainly offers more of the Cars brand, but again, it was almost as if they were daring their audience to keep up with them. To that extent, they succeeded, but it doesn’t tend to get as many plays as their previous work to date. The back cover, where they’re all posing with cool guitars, is a throwback to early Roxy Music, which betrays their sentiments. Maybe if they’d put a hot girl on the front instead… (Decades later, three previously unreleased tracks would be added to the CD, one of which is an earlier version of a song from their next album, along with the twice-used B-side “Don’t Go To Pieces”.)
The Cars Panorama (1980)—3
2017 expanded edition: same as 1980, plus 4 extra tracks
Only a 3? I heard this album about 100 times within 6 months when it came out. It definitely not as "fun" as the previous 2 albums, but it has a unity that they lack and is superbly produced. Also - it looks very much to how many 80s electronic type groups would sound - less of the harkening back to rock n roll of the 50s and 60s of the first 2 albums. Mechanical and stripped down and slightly depressing. Really great (I think).
ReplyDeleteWardo, I loved your site and your somewhat short reviews. I really do not mind and you are the best web critic. As for panorama, it is weird but pretty cool. Despite the fact that the cars made 7 albums and due to the deaths of Ben and ric, I loved the cars a lot. they are in the rock and roll hall of fame. Excellent reviews.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I try not to run on too much.
DeleteI got this one for Christmas from my late brother Tom that year. He didn’t quite get where my musical tastes were at that point. Still, he did better than two years earlier, when I got the Doobies’ “Minute by Minute” from him. That ended up in the used LP store quickly.
ReplyDeleteThat year was also when that first Cars album came out. It was inescapable both in the house and on the radio. Even now, you’ll run into one of the cuts eventually if you tune into classic rock radio long enough. I got burned out on its New Wave-bubblegum-rock pretty quickly, despite its quality.
That’s one reason that I like this one so much. Except for their albums that came after “Heartbeat City”, it’s their least exposed. They took their most musical chances yet here.
I never would have bought the album myself based on its first two singles, which I think are the weakest tracks. Several songs are considerably more aggressive than their earlier work, such as “Getting Through”, “Up and Down”, and especially “Down Boys”. Rick was quite prescient when he wrote in “Getting Through” about the “TV ads that sell erections”. Unfortunately.
“You Wear Those Eyes” is a very abstract but lovely ballad. Of all the songs, “Misfit Kids” sounds closest to those on the first two albums and might have made a good single. Then there is the marvelously weird title song, which takes us through a dark, surreal, but very cool soundscape. For some reason, they made a video for it, even though it wasn’t and could never have been a single. In it, the band is inexplicably engaging in industrial espionage, with a very strange ending to go with the freaky music. My favorite is the equally dark and ominous radio hit “Don’t Tell Me No”, which manages to be catchy, too. The bonus tracks don’t add much. Interestingly, “The Edge” sounds like where Devo would eventually end up.
The only other pop band who made an equally daring change to their music at about the same time was Fleetwood Mac, with “Tusk”. Both groups were rewarded with significantly reduced sales. So, both would also go back to the tried and true, the Cars more so than the Mac. Despite this, it’s still my favorite, because it’s so weird and different. And it brings back fond memories of my brother, too.