The Cars: Complete Greatest Hits

iTunes Review

The Cars drove out of Boston with an exciting debut album that immediately established them as one of New Wave’s most promising bands. Their pop hooks were undeniable and “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Let the Good Times Roll” are among the six tracks from that debut featured here that point up all the band’s immediate strengths — their tightly packed harmonies, their space-age, yet melodic synthesizer lines, and guitars that cut through traffic with exact precision. Their subsequent albums would jigger the formula a bit, leading to more catchy pop (“Let’s Go,” “It’s All I Can Do”), further studio experimentation (“Touch and Go”), more radio-friendly pop for the ‘80s (“Shake It Up,” “You Might Think”) and the perfect melodramatic ballad (“Drive”). Through six albums, the Cars defined and refined an era, balancing between careful polished productions that gave them an extra sheen and the emotional turmoil that lurked beneath the hood in the pained expressions of songwriter Ric Ocasek and the smoother, stylish vocal turns of the late Ben Orr.