The Cars – The Cars

The Cars is the eponymous debut studio album by American rock band The Cars. It was released on June 6, 1978 on Elektra Records. With the popular tracks “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” getting heavy airplay on AOR radio stations, the album sold one million copies by the end of the year and steadily climbed the charts, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart in March 1979. The album was ranked number 4 on Billboard’s “Top Albums of the Year” chart for 1979. The Cars remained on the album chart for 139 weeks with four more tracks: “Good Times Roll”, “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”, “Bye Bye Love”, and “Moving in Stereo”, which all became radio favorites.

The album was critically well received. Allmusic reviewer Greg Prato described the album as “a genuine rock masterpiece”, and that “all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics” in their retrospective review. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album No. 279 in its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

The cover model is Natalya Medvedeva, a Russian-born model, journalist, and musician.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ric Ocasek, except where noted.