Candy-O

The Cars | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002GWX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,167 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #94 in Music > Alternative Rock > New Wave & Post-Punk > New Wave

Track Listings

1. Let's Go

2. Since I Held You

3. It's All I Can Do

4. Double Life

5. Shoo Be Doo

6. Candy-O

7. Night Spots

8. You Can't Hold On Too Long

9. Lust For Kicks

10. Got A Lot On My Head

11. Dangerous Type

Editorial Reviews

The Cars sophomore album-contains Let's Go and Dangerous Type !

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Candy-O - oh my! December 3, 1999

By D. Biondi

Format:Audio CD

Although the first album is considered by many to be The Cars' one classic album, I'd put Candy-O on top. If you like driving down the highway with your 6(or 8 or 10...) speakers blasting on high, singing along to a CD, Candy-O will make you delirious. Ear candy of the finest order, The Cars' second album has many bright spots - chief among them being "Nightspots." The extended intro to this song - with Elliot Easton's great guitar lick - just has to be one of the most sublime moments in rock. And although every other reviewer has already mentioned it, the segue between "Shoo-Be-Doo" and the title track, like sex, is shiver-inducing. It will have you coming back for more and more, skipping back to that last few seconds of the first song as you crank the volume higher and higher until your ears bleed, just to get your fix of that first note of "Candy-O." I swear, it's like crack. The other songs are merely great. And unlike the first album, there isn't a stinker in the bunch. Sure, "The Cars" is a masterpiece and "Panorama" and "Shake It Up" have their merits, but "Heartbeat City," while a good pop album, is not the Cars I had grown and loved and played air guitar to on my tennis racket. And the less said about "Door To Door," the better. It was "Candy-O" that made me believe rock and roll was heaven-sent. Those first two Cars albums ROCKED, pure and simple. I just wish they'd get their due because, damn, that was a good band. Without "Candy-O" and The Cars (with a little help from Blondie and Devo), rock and roll might never have bridged the gap between guitar and synthesizer/keyboards. The Cars proved you could have both AND rock. Buy Candy-O today.... Your musical health depends on it. Read more ›

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Candy-O, I need you still.... May 29, 2001

By C. Sargent

Format:Audio CD

22 years, 6 cassettes, and 1 CD later, this album is still part of my driving collection. I can never get tired of it, and will continue to wear it out and replace it as long as I live. From start to finish, this album is rich in sound and word. Ric and Ben sharing vocals provide the trademark Cars sound. David's rhythmic, tight drums, Elliot's fantastic guitar licks, and Greg's experimental electronic sound all make this album a classic, in my book. Pay particular attention to "Since I Held You", and "Got a lot on my head". These songs stand out as classic hook-driven tunes conceived with careful forethought. Most of all, it reminds me of a time when you had to have talent to get a recording contract.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No sophmore slump here! October 22, 2003

By N. Jacobs

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

For a lot of bands, their second album makes or breaks them. For the Cars, Candy-o take the best elements from their debut and adds a much more mature direction. "Let's Go" kicks things off wonderfully, with a catchy synth line Ben Orr's fantastic vocals. "Since I Held You" is a great song. At first it starts out with a quirky guitar riff before the song becomes more emotional, and towards the end, Elliot plays a great guitar solo. "Candy-o" picks up the pace a bit, and features possibly Elliot's best guitar solo yet (even if it's only a few seconds long). "Nightspots" is cool too; heavy riffs, wacky vocals, and loud keyboards. To end it all is "Dangerous Type," and I really can't understand why this song doesn't get more airplay.
Totally reccommended for fans of the Cars, and anyone who like artsy rock.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cars' sophomore effort is arguably the band's greatest effort 30 years on March 28, 2009

By Terrence J. Reardon

Format:Audio CD

The Cars released its second album Candy-O in June of 1979.
Following the success of The Cars' first perfect album (their 1978 self-titled debut), the band thought it would be nearly impossible to top it. Instead of laboring long and hard over a follow-up like many '70s bands did after a huge commercial success, the group (singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Rik Ocasek, singer/bass player Benjamin Orr, lead guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboard player Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson) went to Los Angeles with producer Roy Thomas Baker and engineer Geoff Workman to record The Cars' sophomore effort, Candy-O which would be the band's best album (as I found out when I first got on cassette tape in 1985 (a few weeks before my 9th birthday)).
We open the album with the first single, the Top 20 anthem "Let's Go," which is a great song. Next, Rik steps out for the rocker "Since I Held You" which is another great piece. The gentle "It's All I Can Do" follows and was a rock radio hit. "Double Life" is next and was a rock radio smash and Rik was on vocal and a great song. Then we segue into the techno (before techno) sounding rocker "Shoo-Be-Doo" which has Rik singing punk lyrics with a synthesizer. The title track ends the first half of the album and remains one of the band's best rockers.
The rocker "Night Spots" is next and was written for the first album but left off due to time constraints. Next is Ben's lone lead vocal on the second half "You Can't Hold On Too Long" which is another great rocker. Next is the modern pop sounding rocker "Lust For Kicks" which was one of Ocasek's best vocal performances on the entire album. We then rock out with "Got a Lot on My Head" which featured stellar guitar work from Easton and a great song.... We close with Ocasek's most well-known vocal from the album and a great song out of the rocker "Dangerous Type" (where the verse guitar riff resembles "Bang a Gong" before going elsewhere for the chorus).
Candy-O proved that the Cars were not one-hit wonders and gave the band their first Top 10 album and their second deservedly Multi-Platinum album here in the US. The CD version was remastered in the late 1990s by Joe Gastwirt and sounds incredible.
Recommended! Read more ›