Cars - Complete Greatest Hits

I own JWIN and the Cars' self-titled debut, so I'm as complete as I need to be. This would be an excellent CD for anyone who doesn't care about "Candy-O" or any of the other tracks I mentioned above.


Not Really Necessary, But Still Good   March 11, 2002
Sam Bethune (Lincoln, Nebraska USA)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful

As with most of today's bands, record companies have a knack for releasing "greatest hits" or "best of" collections ad nauseum to entice us consumers to give up our hard earned bucks. This CD is a perfect example. Although this collection contains tracks not originally included in "The Cars Greatest Hits", there's very little here that wasn't already available in the excellent Anthology set, "Just What I Needed", that Rhino Records released several years ago.

This collection does the original "Greatest Hits" album one better in that it includes many favorite album tracks that get considerable "deep cut" airplay on classic rock stations, but it really isn't superior to the anthology. As is usually the case with "greatest hits" albums, fans will lament the exclusion of certain songs or the inclusion of certain others. Personally, I could have done without "Tonight She Comes" and "You Are the Girl", both of which I consider inferior songs and which were not included in the original "Greatest Hits". Nevertheless, they were minor hits for the band and probably should be included in this collection if for no other reason than to satisfy completists.

Unless you're a rabid fan or a completist, there's no reason to buy "The Complete Greatest Hits" if you already own the anthology. If you don't and are trying to decide which one to purchase, I'd still go with the anthology because it comprises overall a much more interesting collection of songs, has rare alternate versions of a few tracks, and a very thorough and informative booklet on the band's history and career.


The definitive Cars   October 10, 2003
Adam Rickards (Las Vegas, NV United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This compliation by the Cars is an excellent overview of the band's career which more than lives up to its title. Not only will you get all of the Cars' most well known hits ("You Might Think," "Magic," or "Good Times Roll" to name but a few) but you'll also get to hear some killer album cuts such as "You're All I've Got Tonight" and "Dangerous Type." This is by far the best introduction to the group for casual listeners. I have to admit that I didn't listen to the Cars much until I bought this CD recently, but lately I have really been digging many of the songs here, and I have discovered why the Cars were one of the most clever and idiosyncratic bands of the 80s. In fact, they were leagues above most (if not all) of the other mainstream bands of that era.

As for my favorite songs on this album, I like most of them, but I really get a big kick out of "Just What I Needed" and "Since You're Gone," which has to be my favorite Cars songs and one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time. That lonely, haunting intro still gets me, and its desolate atmosphere makes me picture a lone man walking aimlessly down a deserted road while reflecting on something. I tend to go for walks when I'm thinking deeply. Anyway, I think "Since You're Gone" is an ideal song that you would listen to comfort yourself after breaking up with your girlfriend/boyfriend. I don't have a girlfriend, but if I did, I would definitely feel a resonance in this song after breaking up. The longing, the hurt, and the passion are all there, right in the space of three and a half minutes. Sorry to rant and rave on this one song, but it is so beautiful that I can't help but love it.

If you're looking to get into the Cars and don't want to spring for all of their albums, this is a great way to go. This is by far the most thorough introduction to the band, and I guarantee that the comprehensive liner notes and the extensive track selection will give you a very clear picture of what the Cars were all about after you finish listening. The Cars were really at their best as a singles band anyway, so to have a "greatest hits" CD with 20 tracks on it is really quite impressive. So anyway, look no further than this great CD. It will definitely turn out to be "just what you needed."


A piece of your childhood   January 7, 2005
Natasha Conn (Las Cruces, NM USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Like the other reviews note, this is an improved version of their 1985 greatest hits, but not just that. If you're in your late twenties/early thirties this is a lodestone to your elementary school, middle school, high school and college years, little anthems that bouy your spirits through thick and thin, heartbreaking synthesizer figures that never seem to date as they add ironic quotation marks to the crazed trail of life. I was in a Chicago bar last winter, down and out, when I found "Hello Again" on the jukebox. Its manic riff was like a Proustian madeline, sending me back to the idealism, goofy hopes of my youth. Singer/ matinee idol of the band Ben Orr may resemble a jaded German porn star on the inside sleeve, but this is the collection that will outlast a thousand rap collections. "Hello again" Cars, and welcome back.


Roll With The Cars   February 27, 2002
Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

The Cars' Complete Greatest Hits compiles twenty of the band's best from "Just What I Needed" from their debut album to "You Are The Girl from their swan song Door To Door. In between you get classics like "Shake It Up", "Let The Good Times Roll", "You Might Think", "Moving In Stereo" and "Since You've Gone". The Cars were a stylistic, sleek band that was considered new wave but has turned out to be timeless music thanks to big hooks, catchy choruses and flawless production.