Heartbeat City

Heartbeat City
Studio album by
the Cars
ReleasedMarch 13, 1984 (1984-03-13)
RecordedJuly 1983 – January 1984
StudioBattery (London)
Genre
Length38:41
LabelElektra
Producer
The Cars chronology
Shake It Up
(1981) 		Heartbeat City
(1984) 		Greatest Hits
(1985)
Singles from Heartbeat City
  1. "You Might Think"
    Released: February 1984
  2. "Magic"
    Released: May 7, 1984
  3. "Drive"
    Released: July 23, 1984
  4. "Hello Again"
    Released: October 15, 1984
  5. "Why Can't I Have You"
    Released: January 7, 1985
  6. "Heartbeat City"
    Released: September 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Baltimore Sun[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Classic Rock9/10[4]
Mojo[5]
Pitchfork7.5/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Under the Radar8/10[9]
The Village VoiceB+[10]

Heartbeat City is the fifth studio album by American new wave band the Cars, released on March 13, 1984, by Elektra Records. This marks the band's first album not produced by long-time producer Roy Thomas Baker, instead opting to produce with Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Considered a "comeback" album for the Cars, Heartbeat City represented a return to the success of the band's self-titled debut album.

Music critic Robert Christgau noted that "the glossy approach the Cars invented has made this the best year for pure pop in damn near twenty years, and it's only fair that they should return so confidently to form."[10] Numerous tracks from the album received airplay on modern rock and AOR stations, with the singles "Drive" and "You Might Think" reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

  1. ^ Sendra, Tim. "Heartbeat City – The Cars". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  2. ^ Considine, J. D. (March 25, 1984). "'Heartbeat City' sounds almost too carefully polished to be a Cars album". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. ^ Kot, Greg (August 4, 1991). "Tracking Ocasek's Voice On The Record". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Elliott, Paul (May 2018). "The Cars: Reissues". Classic Rock. No. 248. p. 99.
  5. ^ Blake, Mark (May 2018). "The Cars: Heartbeat City". Mojo. No. 294. p. 104.
  6. ^ Soto, Alfred (March 31, 2018). "The Cars: Shake It Up / Heartbeat City". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  7. ^ Shewey, Don (April 26, 1984). "The Cars: Heartbeat City". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
  8. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "The Cars". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 141. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Rushbury, Ian (April 19, 2018). "The Cars: Heartbeat City: Expanded Edition (Rhino)". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (September 25, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2017.