[.ca] Shake It Up

Something of a disappointment:
Having been a huge fan of the Cars first three albums, I eagerly awaited Shake It Up, but found myself less than thrilled with the direction that the band took for their fourth album. It's possible that the album is cast in a bad light for me because I find the title track to be the most annoying song they ever did, and it's also possible that I too strongly identify the album with the time period that it was introduced into. Either way, I find myself reaching for Shake It Up less and less as the years pass. Since You're Gone is a great song, but it was done better on the earlier albums, and many of the others seem to suffer from a sense of almost forced-down-your-throat buoyancy, like the band was making up for the darkness of Panorama. All in all, a decent effort, and a logical step toward Heartbeat City, but not the enjoyable album that I'd come to expect from the band.

They pretty much bottomed out here:
Being a huge Cars fan I remember eagerly awaiting this album. It was obvious what they were trying to do, especially releasing the bubble-gummy title track, they were trying to get back to their glory days of The Cars and Candy-O. But this was a weak album with only a couple bright spots. "Since You're Gone", "This Could Be Love", and "Think It Over" are about all thats listenable here. The others are predictable and below the bands standards. They had gotten worse with each album since the first, this was the very bottom. Luckily their next one "Heartbeat City" was their breakout album and showed they were talented after all and not hacks.

Okay but not great:
This is my least favorite Cars album. In fact, I like Door To Door better than this. But why? Well, the material on here just seems too jolly. In stark contrast to Panorama, which was moodier, artsy, and somewhat cold, Shake It Up is very festive. Sure, it's got some great tracks on it, like "Since You're Gone," "Shake It Up," and the excellent "Cruiser," but a lot of the stuff just doesn't have the punch that Heartbeat City does, or the experimentation on their first three albums. My advice: if you're a die hard Cars fan, you should get this anyway. If you're not, check out their self-titled debut album first.

Less Quirky Indeed:
This album seemed to mark a more commercial effort by the Cars, especially in contrast to the prior album Panorama and its cold, disenfranchised sound (ah!). The songs are good, but somewhat redundant, and definitely not as quirky. However, it is an integral part of the Cars catalog. Does anyone actually only own a "couple" of Cars albums?

A third really good album from the Cars:
I agree that the title song/hit is the weakest, or is it just overplayed and undeserving, song on here. Once you get past that blatant bid to radio, kids, and the dance clubs then you overall get a set of very good, interesting, hook filled, clean sounding songs with a warmth that was not on the experimental "Panorama." This one is almost up there with their first two albums for me. I also agree with the other reviewer that "Dream Away" and the one right before it are two really good, atmospheric underrated Cars songs.

• Since You're Gone
• Shake It Up
• I'm Not the One
• Victim of Love
• Cruiser
• Dream Away
• This Could Be Love
• Think It Over
• Maybe Baby