Panorama (The Cars album)

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Panorama
The Cars - Panorama.jpg
Studio album by
the Cars
ReleasedAugust 15, 1980 (1980-08-15)
RecordedApril–May 1980
Studio
Genre
Length40:09
Label Elektra
Producer Roy Thomas Baker
The Cars chronology
Candy-O
(1979)		Panorama
(1980)		 Shake It Up
(1981)
Singles from Panorama
  1. "Touch and Go"
    Released: August 25, 1980
  2. "Don't Tell Me No"
    Released: November 10, 1980
  3. "Gimme Some Slack"
    Released: January 5, 1981

Panorama is the third studio album by American new wave band the Cars, released on August 15, 1980, by Elektra Records. Like its predecessors, it was produced by Roy Thomas Baker and released on Elektra Records.

Contents

Background

The record marked a change from the upbeat pop rock and hard rock of the group's previous albums, representing a more aggressive and experimental sound. [2] Billboard said that while Panorama retained the Cars' minimalist approach from their debut album, it sounded sufficiently different to avoid having the group sound like a caricature of itself. [3]

Panorama peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album's lead single, "Touch and Go", reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Robert Christgau B− [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Pitchfork 8.0/10 [7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 2/10 [9]

Rolling Stone critic Ken Tucker said that "Panorama isn't merely a joyless joyride, it's an out-and-out drag." [10] Robert Christgau claimed that the album's problem is "boredom with formula" and said that "This is longer, slower and denser [than previous Cars' albums], with lyrics that skirt social commentary and music that essays textural pretension. [5] Spin Alternative Record Guide deemed the album "a dry, monotonous Wire imitation." [9] Critic Keith Roysdon said that "The entire album is a plea from a man's point of view for love and/or sex from a woman. The fact that 'he', the narrator, is getting neither accounts for the depressing tone of the LP." [11] Roysdon also found the album repetitious, saying that "Songwriter Ric Ocasek has written some fairly good numbers, but they sound alike, with just a few exceptions." [11] Daily Herald-Tribune critic Ethlie Ann Vare said that it lacked the "hard rocking edge" from the Cars' first two albums and that it "slops over into muddy techno-pop." [12] Quad-City Times critic Greg Kot said that the album "overdoses on Ric Ocasek's too chic, too nebulous lyrics and Roy Thomas Baker's intrusive production" and that "Ocasek and the band build tension but the climaxes never arrive" resulting in an album that "fails as rock 'n' roll." [13] Pittsburgh Press critic Pete Bishop felt it had "an undue amount of menace and too little melody and snap in the music." [14] Saginaw News critic Nancy Kuharevicz called it a "stark, almost anti-musical album" and said that "When Ocasek isn't moaning like a whiny, jilted adolescent, he's repetitiously droning pat phrases which range from trite to abtruse." [15] Critic Stuart Margulies called it "shockingly boring, unmelodic and senseless." [16]

Boston Globe critic Steve Morse called it "a tour de force of high-tech strategy" that "ushers in a potpourri of new sound textures." [17] The State Journal critic Archer Prewitt said that "every song is good" and that "No one song is similar to another and each has an irrestible characteristic that leave you humming." [18] Los Angeles Times critic Steve Pond criticized the album's lack of hooks compared to previous Cars' albums but felt that the new approach also yielded some benefits, concluding that "lapses notwithstanding, it's still one of the best rides in town." [19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ric Ocasek, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleVocalsLength
1."Panorama"Ocasek5:42
2."Touch and Go"Ocasek4:55
3."Gimme Some Slack"Ocasek3:32
4."Don't Tell Me No" Benjamin Orr 4:00
5."Getting Through"Ocasek2:35
Side two
No.TitleVocalsLength
6."Misfit Kid"Ocasek4:30
7."Down Boys"Orr3:08
8."You Wear Those Eyes"
  • Orr
  • Ocasek
4:55
9."Running to You"Orr3:22
10."Up and Down"Ocasek3:31
2017 remastered reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
11."Shooting For You" (previously unreleased) Orr4:04
12."Be My Baby" (early version of "Maybe Baby") Ocasek5:00
13."The Edge" (previously unreleased) Orr3:26
14."Don't Go to Pieces" (B-side of "Don't Tell Me No" and "Gimme Some Slack")
Orr4:04

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Panorama. [20]

The Cars

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Panorama
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [27] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ Joiner, Mike (1998). "The Cars". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 203.
  2. ↑ Giles, Jeff (August 15, 2015). "How The Cars Pushed Back With Their Third Album, 'Panorama'". Ultimate Classic Rock .
  3. ↑ "Top Album Picks". Billboard . Vol. 92, no. 35. August 30, 1980. p. 84. ISSN   0006-2510 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Sendra, Tim. "The Cars – Panorama". AllMusic . Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: The Cars". Robert Christgau.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). "Cars". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
  7. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (August 17, 2017). "The Cars: Candy-O / Panorama". Pitchfork .
  8. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 113.
  9. 1 2 Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 76, 77.
  10. ↑ Tucker, Ken (October 16, 1980). "The Cars: Panorama". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 19, 2007.
  11. 1 2 Roysdon, Keith (October 18, 1980). "The Cars' 'Panorama' LP depressing, repetitious". Muncie Evening Press. p. T-8. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Vare, Ethlie Ann (September 12, 1980). "Rock On". Daily Herald-Tribune. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Kot, Greg (September 12, 1980). "This is a recording". Quad-City Times. p. 38. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Bishop, Pete (September 28, 1980). "Too Much Honking Ruins Cars' Album, 'Panorama'". Pittsburgh Press. p. E-6. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Kuharevicz, Nancy (August 30, 1980). "The Cars' latest album is on the wrong track". Saginaw News. p. B2. Retrieved 2024-10-27– via newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Margulies, Stuart (August 30, 1980). "Shock value can't always sell". The News. p. 35. Retrieved 2024-10-27– via newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Morse, Steve (October 5, 1980). "Cars shifting into high on new album". Atlanta Journal. p. 4EA. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Prewitt, Archer (September 26, 1980). "Cars". The State Journal. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-10-26– via newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Hard Driving Ride with the Cars". Los Angeles Times. September 7, 1980. pp. 84–85. Retrieved 2024-10-27– via newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Panorama (liner notes). The Cars. Elektra Records. 1980. 5E-514.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 56. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  22. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0261a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  23. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
  24. ↑ "Charts.nz – The Cars – Panorama". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  25. ↑ "The Cars Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Top 100 Albums". RPM. Vol. 34, no. 6. December 20, 1980. ISSN   0315-5994 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  27. ↑ "American album certifications – Cars – Panorama". Recording Industry Association of America. October 15, 1980. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
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