The Cars - Cars - Complete Greatest Hits

Bought this collection from The Cars for their song "Magic", and ended up rediscovering a handful of old favorites - Shake it up, My Best Friend's Girl, Drive.

Since I'm not a fan of The Cars, I can't gauge the completeness of this compilation. But I do enjoy the aforementioned songs and if you are a fan of The Cars or 80's music in general, then chances are you'll enjoy this set from The Cars.

Great flashback! Ric Ocasek rocks! "Let's Go" is being used in a jeans ad now, which just goes to show you that true classic rock will always live on.

If you're a child/teen of the 80's you'll want to get this! Every time a song came on I couldn't believe it was another great song of theirs that I had forgotten about. What an awesome CD! I highly recommend it!

This cd is an absolutely outstanding career-retrospective celebration of pop/new-wave/classic rock icons, The Cars, from their self-titled 1978 debut all the way up through the 80's. All of their original major hits are featured here on this compiliation from their original album releases and just about every song present here is a classic. 20 whole tracks are provided for a lengthy, thorough listening experience. All of the songs are so catchy and radio-friendly and each flows almost seamlessly from one to the next. This album definitely belongs in any true Cars fan's collection and is also an excellent place to start for those new to the band.

My Favorites Are:

Shake It Up
Moving In Stereo
Drive
You Might Think
Let's Go
Just What I Needed
My Best Friend's Girl
You're All I've Got Tonight
Bye Bye Love
Magic

Plain and simple, this collection hilights The Cars at their finest. Energizing, upbeat and thoroughly catchy ------ what more could you possibly ask for?!!? Recommended for anyone who even remotely likes The Cars.

This is the pinnacle of "marketing the same songs". I remember when Greatest Hits albums were it - you put one out and you were done. Now, there's repackaging, and new editions, updated remasters, and the phrase "Complete Greatest Hits" just strikes me as odd. I mean doesn't the concept of "Greatest Hits" mean that all of your good stuff is there? So why would songs on a "Complete Greatest Hits" as opposed to just "Greatst Hits" be as good? If those songs were as good as the original batch, wouldn't they have been on the first edition? This seems like marketing twaddle to me.

Anyway, the songs on here are fine. The Cars are one of those groups where I never really bought their material, since you heard almost all of it on the radio a zillion times anyway. But when I was going through and looking for some bands who I liked from the past, and had no material on CD at all from, I hit on this. There's just so many here I know and like, it's pointless in naming individual tracks.

Except this. Moving in Stereo. Phoebe Cates. One of the greatest cinematic scenes ever. ;)

I had purchased their previous greatest hits (from the '80's), but it did not include all of their greatest hits!

So, I bought this one and I am now totally fulfilled with The Cars.

There is not one song on it that I don't know, and I listen to it all the time.

2 thumbs up!

This is a excellent CD, but I think that they could have done a 2 or 3 CD set to capture all of the Cars Greatest hits.

The price was excelent and delivery on time. The producto, you will not find in just one cd The Cars Greatest Hits, but this is great.

I'm a huge Cars fan. I really enjoyed The New Cars on their tour last year. The question I have with this collection is where is the track "Candy-O"? The song is so quintesentially Cars. Also, I totally agree with the coomment about the seque "Moving in Stereo" into "It's all mixed up" not including that was another mistake.

On another note...notice something is missing here? "Moving In Stereo" is traditionally - [on ALL to the very present Classic Rock Radio Formats and from the very beginning on late 70's FM Radio] - and ALWAYS coupled with the album closer on their debut album, "ALL MIXED UP". You can't include one without the other, as "Moving in Stereo" segues right into "ALL MIXED UP". Its omission here makes this incomplete. There is NO argument there...everybody knows this! Another missing FM staple, "DON'T TELL ME NO"...was ommited. Otherwise, this is a very good, comprehensive one disc compilation.

This CD is a filled with great music for all CARS fans. It is a must have.

I bought this cd on a whim as I loved some of the old songs.But,I was shocked as to how much great music the Cars had produced over a short time.Several tunes(which I had forgotten) have become my favorites.You will love to revisit this blast from the past!!!

The Cars: Complete Greatest Hits

INTRODUCTION:
The Cars were one of the finest classic rock bands ever. With their mixture of rock and roll and new wave pop elements, they won over a number of fans during their decade or so together. There are countless compilations out there for the band. Let's take a look at Complete Greatest Hits.

OVERVIEW:
Complete Greatest Hits spans the Cars career 1978-1987. It features 20 tracks.

REVIEW:
Hits compilations are always a hit-and-miss affair. With the Cars, it's no exception. However, this compilation, despite a few gaping omissions, represents the band's career well. It stands as their finest single-disc compilation. Whereas the Just What I Needed Anthology from 1995 focused more on rarities and good songs that weren't necessarily the biggest hits, but in the process omitted several hits, this compilation is just the opposite, focusing almost entirely on hits. As such it stands as a Cars compilation a casual fan should buy.

THE CARS: 1978
TRACKS FEATURED: Just What I Needed, My Best Friend's Girl, Good Times Roll, You're All I've Got Tonight, Bye Bye Love, Moving In Stereo
COMMENTS: This is it - the first Cars compilation to ever PERFECTLY REPRESENT the band's 1978 debut! The three singles, and the three non-singles that were hits are all here. This compilation had the luxury of learning from the faults of the earlier ones, and it shows.

CANDY-O: 1979
TRACKS FEATURED: Let's Go, It's All I Can Do, Dangerous Type
COMMENTS: Oh, SO CLOSE! This album ALMOST got perfect representation on here! For some unknown reason, though, the title track was omitted! It was one of the biggest hits on the album, too! A severe blow to this album's representaton on here. On the good side, Dangerous Type, a song that was unjustly omitted from earlier compilations (despite being a huge hit!) appears on here. And the other hits are here too.

PANORAMA: 1980
TRACKS FEATURED: Touch And Go
COMMENTS: This album is the Cars' underrated masterpiece. SO WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE TRACK FROM IT ON HERE!? The omission of Don't Tell Me No is a huge disappointment. And while we're at it, where's the title track?

SHAKE IT UP: 1981
TRACKS FEATURED: Shake It Up, Since You're Gone, I'm Not The One
COMMENTS: This album is represented well. Still, I would have ditched Since You're Gone in favor of some of the band's earlier hits that are MIA.

HEARTBEAT CITY: 1984
TRACKS FEATURED: You Might Think, Drive, Magic, Hello Again, Why Can't I Have You
COMMENTS: Naturally, the band's "comeback" album gets a lot of emphasis on here. But despite including a ton of tracks from the album on here, they missed one of the finest cuts - Stranger Eyes. Why'd we get Why Can't I Have You instead?

GREATEST HITS: 1985
TRACKS FEATURED: Tonight She Comes
COMMENTS: This was the "bonus track" recorded for the band's original 1985 Greatest Hits. Not a masterpiece by any means, but big enough of a hit for the band that it belongs here.

DOOR TO DOOR: 1987
TRACKS FEATURED: You Are The Girl
COMMENTS: This was the band's swansong. It paled in comparison to earlier efforts but was still a solid effort. A few more tracks from it would have been nice; one song doesn't do it justice.

OVERALL:
Yes, it's got problems. Yes, I recommend buying the six studio albums instead of getting this CD. But if you're the casual fan who only wants to make a single Cars purchase, this is the one for you. You'll get plenty of radio hits and plenty more.

Thumbs up.

EDITION NOTES:
It's recent and readily available. Most major dealers of CDs should carry this one.

How energizing and a trip down memory lane~ Their songs always bring enormous energy into a room. Great for listening and for dancing to!

The great songs on this c/d bring back great memories!
I can't say enough good things about this greatest hits collection, it is one of the best greatest hits.
Most greatest hits c/d's give you a couple of the most popular songs at best but this one is packed with a lot of them!
This is a great buy and totally worth it.

This is a really good Cars compilation, it has many of the Cars best-loved hits. The Cars were a fun group to listen to, very catchy tunes. The sound here is great, also. If I were to have one complaint, it would be the omission of the song "Candy-O", I think that should have been included, but, oh well, you can't have all of the songs on one disc. I do recommend this for Cars fans and fans of 70-80's synth-pop.

A decent enough compilation, but it's missing two of my favorites that showed more of their non-commercial roots at the time; "This Could Be Love" and "Don't Tell Me No". I think people forget that this is New Wave. They were a Post-Punk band when they came out and not really an FM radio band. So it would've beeen nice to hear some of the more "home played" cuts. I agree, a double disk would've been nice.But overall, I'm getting it.

Excellent condensed collection of Cars hits. Easily could have been a 2 cd
collection as the Cars were a hit machine in their day. Very good selection of songs that are catchy and fun as well as mysterious and open-ended. Once you get this you will likely want more.

A good late 70s early 80s CD. Reminds on of early MTV. Good mix, great sound

The itemwas fine but it took wayyyyy toooooo long to receive it!!!

DRIVE--My favorite Cars' song and one of my top five songs EVER. Just so beautiful. It touches me in some way, even now.

Fran Mobley

The more I play (almost every afternoon) the 20 hits on this CD the more I love each and every one of them. From the 80s I was hooked on the video for "You Might Think" and only now am able to appreciate the other great Cars recordings as included on the CD. They put a lift in the day of this old Disco music fanatic. How fortunate that they are available today.

Looking back, I sometimes think of the '80s as kind of a wasteland of rock music--dominated by Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears and the like, but an impulsive, successful Karaoke rendition of "Best Friend's Girl" inspired me to buy this compilation of the best songs by one of the best bands of that era--The Cars. The band had a great mix--just edgy enough not to be pop, but catchy enough to grab your attention, without the sledgehammer hooks of the contemporaneous Huey Lewis and the News. The accompanying CD book describes well the evolution of the band and their sound. Overall, there's nothing here that will save the world, but right now a good mix of singable tunes artfully arranged, played with spirit (like "Let's Go") and sold at a reasonable price is just what I needed.

Trust Rhino to get it almost right with this third Cars compilation. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the 2-disc Anthology is the one to go with. However, this compilation is still better than the poor 1985 attempt by WEA.

This compilation does a good job at focussing on the early stuff with a good representation of their very good first album which debuted in 1978. Who could forget the catchy "just what I needed" and "my best friend's girl". Most Cars fans would rate "Candy O" as one of their fav albums and it is chock full of great new wave classics. Five years later came the very 80's sounding "Heartbeat City" album which saw at least four hit singles including the title track which was clearly one of the better cuts from the album. You can imagine my surprise to see it left off this compilation, while room has been given to crap songs such as "you are the girl".

Best option is to buy the individual albums and make your own compilation.

I'd say over 75% of the songs on this CD are recognizeable tunes from the '80's and sound great. A few I wasn't personally crazy about, but true CARS fans probably won't care. For the amount of familiar hits on this 15+ track CD, it is well worth the money, and you can skip the ones you may not be crazy about; it won't be that often.

Good compilation; could use a couple more tracks from the post-"Shake it Up" period.

Making a case for The Cars as brilliant singles band, "Complete Greatest Hits" is twenty songs that are all incredible. From 1978 till they dissolved in 1987, this Boston band helped to define what American New Wave music sounded like. A touch of Roxy Music, a dash of David Bowie, a really strong helping of melody and top that off with two solid lead vocalists in Ric Ocasek and the late Ben Orr, and you had the formula for the albums from "The Cars" classic to the lackluster final bow, "Door To Door."

As brilliant as the debut was, it is the most represented CD on this collection, with six songs. Of those, three were singles, with "Just What I Needed" being one of the most important top 40 records of 1978. (Oddly enough, this was about the same time Van Halen's cover of "You Really Got Me" cracked the charts - both of these bands arguably changed the state of radio.) The simple handclaps and harmonies of "My Best Friend's Girl" were irresistible. The debut's artier leanings were well represented on AOR radio (hey old-timers, remember that?) by "Moving In Stereo."

When the sophomore album arrived, it was with the brash mix of Buddy Holly and The Beatles that collided on "Let's Go." That probably remains my favorite Cars single, exploding from the radio in the summer of 1979. Even though it was never a single, "Dangerous Type" was a great radio song. It also pretty much hews to the blueprint of great Cars music. Enigmatic lyric, moody synths and hot solo from Elliot Easton.

The underrated "Panorama" followed. Ocasek had become interested in experimental music, like the art duo Suicide, and "Panorama" reflected that. The tricky key changes in "Touch and Go" were not the average hit single fare, and it's the only song from that CD. (I would have preferred the title track - surely one of the six songs from "The Cars" could have been sacrificed?) Ocasek's solo albums often had more of a "Panorama" feel to them, and I guess he needed to get it out of his system.

Then it was a return to popland. "Shake It Up," with its cheesy picture-disk styled cover art, produced the first top ten single for the group. "Shake It Up" (the single) was a prefect mash of Beach Boys sunniness and new wave dancablity. It also became a harbinger of the next album, as the moody ballad "I'm Not The One" set the stage for the band's biggest hit.

When "Heartbeat City" arrived in Spring of 1984, it matched the artiness of "Panorama" with the pop splendor of "Shake It Up" and the debut. Jumping from producer Roy Thomas Baker to Robert Lange, the sound went from arthouse to dancehouse, and the pop sheen was unmistakably Cars. Ben Orr rode that sound to the band's biggest single, "Drive," climbing to number three that summer. The videos for that song and the giddy "Magic," the Andy Warhol directed "Hello Again" and "You Might Think" (remember Ocasek as a human fly) were all over MTV that summer, and The Cars had their greatest success to date. Five "Heartbeat City" songs grace this CD.

The success also came with strain. Easton, Ocasek and Orr each releasing solo albums (with Orr charting a single with "Stay The Night") and only convening to record a one-off single for a Christmas best of in 1985. "Tonight She Comes" was a great double-entendre of a lyric, as were many of the best Cars songs. It was also their last top ten single. The Ocasek produced "Door To Door" found the band in a non-cohesive state, even dredging up songs written around the time of the debut. Only "You Are The Girl" managed to chart. Like much of "Door To Door," it only seemed to echo what the band had achieved before, but still sounds pretty good almost 20 years later.

"Complete Greatest Hits" is pretty close to a five star set. I would have maybe picked the title songs from "Panorama" and "Heartbeat City" over a couple of the album tracks here, but at the same time, putting this disc in the car will give you 20 songs of roadtime pleasure. More to the point, every single one of these songs stays with you. If you were a radio-geek (or an MTV geek) in the early 80's, this CD will take you back.

I bought this CD to give to my daughter for Christmas. She loved listening to these classic songs.

the album was just magic when i first took it out of it's plastic wrapping. If you want some flashback memories from the best decade in hisory make sure you purchase this disk and i guarentee you that you are in for a treat. Rock and roll for life my 70's brothers

The CARS were one of the most annoying, dumb, pathetic, lame, overrated, stupid, lousy, and awful bands ever came out in the 70's. Their lead singer RIC OCASEK sings horribly and sings like a baby. This greatest-hits album was a huge joke that each and every song is incredibly bad.
Their guitar playing is really bad. They are only recommended for loosers. Don't listen to the five star reviewers of this album and avoid CD's from the Cars, Nirvana, and AC/DC who suck. Listen to good bands like Foreigner and Dire Straits insted.
ps.the cars are for babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you like the Cars This is the CD for you it has all of their greatest hits on hear from "Tonight She Comes" to "Moving In Stereo". If you like 80's music or if yoou just plain like music you will buy this cd. The remastered sound is done well too. This is 80's rock n roll at its best. So buy it Today.

IF YOU LIKE THE CARS. THIS CD HAS ALL THEIR BEST HITS

I JUST LOVE THE CARS.I THINK THAT RIC OCASEK AND HIS BOYS WERE VERY UNDERRATED AND NEVER GOT THE FAME THAT THEY RIGHTLY DESERVED.ALL THE SONGS ON THIS COLLECTION ARE REALLY GOOD AND I WONT HESITATE TO RECOMMEND THIS TO EVERYONE.

I think The cars are stupid!! They are only meant for little babies. This is the worst album I have ever heard and has a few
of the worst most lousiest songs in DANGEROUS TYPE, and LET'S GO.
If you give this awful album 5 stars, I will be dissapointed...
Even Metallica is better than this. Avoid this and go with all the legends of Dire Straits, Foreigner, Metallica, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, and Green Day insted. All of them will be legends forever. Want me to say it again? FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Cars suck, so please don't buy any of their albums.

OK, first off, let's get this straight. If you're looking for an intro to the Cars, a cheat sheet, get this disc. DON'T GET THE 1985 GREATEST HITS DISC! This disc sonically is far superior, has 20 songs versus 13 on the older one, and "Moving in Stereo" and "It's All I Can Do". I find this disc routinely shows up for $10 while that other greatest hits disc goes for more. Having said that, hopefully after you purchase this one, you still get the Cars' debut. Sure, 6 of the 9 songs on that album are here, but there's a cohesion with that album that makes it necessary (and the 3 songs that aren't here are pretty damn good, especially "All Mixed Up"). And, if you like the 3 songs on this CD that are from the Candy-O album, get that album too. That album is another classic, start to finish. One more thing. If you do decide to spring for the debut and Candy-O, get the remastered versions and if it's cheap enough, get the Rhino 2-CD version of the debut. You won't be sorry, although the first album is available as a single disc remaster that's well worth it, too.

THE CARS HAVE TO BE ONE OF THE MOST OVERRATED BANDS OF ALL TIME.
THEY HAVE ONLY MADE 1 DECENT SONG IN BYE BYE LOVE. REST OF THEIR SONGS JUST PLAIN SUCK. I MEAN WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE LOUSY BANDS IN
QUEEN, CARS, ACDC, BEATLES, STONES, WHO, STEVE MILLER, AND BOSTON? GOOD BANDS ARE REQUIRED TO BE DIRE STRAITS, FOREIGNER, GUNS N' ROSES, NIRVANA, GREEN DAY, AEROSMITH, AND JOE WALSH.
DON'T READ THE 5 STAR REVIEWERS FOR THIS TERRIBLE COMPILATION. GO GET A BETTER ALBUM FROM NIRVANA INSTED.
PS THE CARS SUCK.

Wow I can't believe anyone likes this band so much...especially stupid radios. Their music is lame, awful, overrated, annoying, & lousy. And their instruments suck. I've listened to about 15 of these songs on this and man, they suck. I really don't play them anymore because of how lame their music is...I used to like em. GOOD TIMES ROLL???Ehhhhh, MOVING IN STEREO???The worst, DANGEROUS TYPE???Awful...this band is just as awful as AC/DC, Aerosmith, Boston, Queen, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, & The Who. Simular bands like Foreigner are much better than THE CARS because they atleast play hard rock. The Cars is just boring poppy new wave. And also the name is strange and the COVER SUCKS!!!!!!! THE CARS SUCK...DON'T BUY ANY OF THEIR ALBUMS THEY ARE JUST A BABY BAND.....AND MUST AVOID!
the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck the cars suck

Don't blame me because the only good song in BYE BYE LOVE. Buy any album from Dire Straits, Green Day, or Guns N' Roses insted.
Those 3 are my favorites and they are sure a lot better than these loosers.

Wow!I cannot imagine anyone not liking the cars.They are great,superb,terrific,majestic and super.the cars rock!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks!the cars rocks.THIS COMPILATION IS GREAT BUY IT.

The only Cars cd that I had was the Greatest Hits released in the late 80s, I believe. It left out several key songs that I had wanted. I seen this cd at a music store and it had everything that I was looking for back when I bought the other. On a strange side note, this cd was in constant rotation at home. I went in a used cd store and noticed another Greatest Hits by The Cars called, "Just What I Needed: Anthology" it is a double disc and the used price was pretty good so I picked it up too. In all honesty, this disc that I am reviewing is enough. The double is great if you love The Cars, but almost 3 hours of The Cars, which half the songs I hadn't heard, was a little more than I needed.

But if you see that double for a good price, pick it up, then burn the hits to one disc for the car or bike or bus. I haven't seen much mention of the sound quality of the disc in reviews, it is very, very good. It's one of those cds where you put it in your car and have to lower the volume a couple of notches, because it is remastered that well. Kind of like Best of Bowie's sound if you have heard it. I recommend this cd to anyone who likes music from the 80s or even people who like music from the 60s, The Cars remind me of The Kinks for some reason, it's good music and you won't be disappointed with this disc.

This is a great cd and goes nice with the INXS hits disc.

what a fun cd brings back the fun of the bands of the eighties

All the songs you WANT to hear - fun for driving and singing along. A must-have for all of us 40-somethings.

The Cars may have been a bit before my time, but they are still a great band that is very refreshing to listen to considering all the crap that's on the radio these days. The Cars were a band that was about having fun with their music, and it shows on the songs here. Their songs aren't very deep, but they don't ever strive to be. They just made music that was fun to listen to then, as it still is now. I highly recommend this CD to everyone who likes good music.

I haven't received the cd yet, but I know all the songs. I've been living in Brazil for the last ten years, and every once and a while I think of a band or a song, and say, "I remeber where I was or what I was doing when I heard it on the radio"
I am sure this cd will bring back a lot of memories that I have long forgotten.

What's best is that here in Brazil, nobody knows the Cars and I am the ambassador of rock!!

I'll make this short and sweet: this is THE best greatest hits cd for the Cars. It's just a shame that Benjamin Orr isn't around to see how the record company finally put all the songs that were released as singles on one cd. He would be proud to see how popular his band still is today.
Yes, I know it was Ric Ocasek's band, but i preferred Mr. Orr to Mr. Ocasek (my mom went to school with Ocasek in the early '60s, a fact he denies to this day, and thought he was a geek; funny enough, so do I). Nevertheless, he was and is a fine musician.
All told, every song on this cd belongs there, but for the sake of being politically correct, shouldn't they call it an anthology?

I am a die hard 80's music man. This music reflects that the best. This album has almost all there best songs. Kings of new wave pop.

Not every car song is great. This is another classic though.
The best song would probably MAGIC. Other than that, I think this is a great CD. You don't need any other Car album.

I listened to almost every song on this, there most of the songs
great. "Dangerous Type" is the worst Cars song of all time and
should be removed from this compilation and same thing for "It's
All I Can Do". Candy-O would be an album I would never buy. But
there are some classics off this too!!! This is great but not
the best though!!!

I like every song on this cd. They sure don't make music like they used to.

Hey, These Cars are great, Foreigner is even better. Anyway,
this CD is a classic and it's got some classic songs. My favorite
song is Bye Bye Love because of the great riffs on it. I don't
know if these other songs I've heard are slower. But they are
definately rockers for sure. Definately great for the highway
especially if you want to go to the desert.