Customer Reviews

Nexterday

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ric did it his way on his sixth solo cd. He made the album quickly with hardly any production gimmickery on 8 track. I admit that I thought it a little strange that Ric became an A&R man for a major recording label recently. I believe he was originally going to release "Nexterday" on that label. Things must have fallen apart, and Ric quit the label and took his album to Sanctuary for distribution and release. Good move!

"Nexterday", despite what others are saying here, has similarities with all of his previous solo cds: Beatitude (1983), This Side Of Paradise (1986), Fireball Zone (1991), Quick Change World (1993) and Troublizing (1997). There are several songs that ape The Cars sound of yore such as the first single "Bottom Dollar", "Don't Lose Me", "Come On" and "It Gets Crazy". All of which should and could be top 40 hits. Other songs like "Crackpot", "Carousel" and "Heard About You" offer an alternative direction for Ric, pushing his musical muse in a more exploratory arena. If I'm not mistaken, "Silver" seems like it was written about the death of Benjamin Orr, former Cars bandmate.

Overall, "Nexterday" is pretty good considering Rick is about 56 years old, has already proven himself as a cornerstone of new wave/punk music, influencing many current artists. So, one might ask how this compares to his previous solo work, or his work with The Cars. In terms of his solo material, this is pretty good, though all of his albums are that way. I think I liked "This Side Of Paradise" best. Of course, I do not believe any of Ric's solo work has overshadowed anything he did with The Cars, particularly "The Cars" (1978) and "Heartbeat City" (1984).

If you are a rabid Cars and Ocasek fan, this will not disappoint, and you should check it out. Newer fans might want to start with The Cars, but "Nexterday" is still a good place to begin and work back from.

In his first mainstream solo album since 1997, Cars frontman Ric Ocasek is back, finally! While somewhat removed from the sound of the Cars and early solo album oeuvre, Nexterday is more reminiscent of the progression that would have existed had the Cars continued on into the 21st century. On that front, the song COME ON is the closest thing here to the original sound to The Cars. And, this is because of the the presence of Greg Hawkes, Cars keyboardist, and frequent collaborator with Ric on his various solo albums.

Still in all, Ric's quirky lyrics and vocals remain, and even though the guitar sound has been dialed back considerably from the fuzz-out of 1997's Troublizing, Nexterday sounds closer to that album than any of his previous solo outings. And, that is NOT a bad thing!

True fans of Ric and The Cars will also be interested in searching out the bonus track GOODNIGHT LITTLE ONE, which is a lullabye to his four year-old son Oliver, who also came up with the album's title, as the little boy searched for a word to describe tomorrow. The word Oliver Ocasek came up with was NEXTERDAY.

Enjoy these songs, while all Cars fans wait patiently for the forthcoming DVD THE CARS: UNLOCKED, which is slated to be released in time for the holidays. More information on this can be found on ricocasek.com.

I've long since lost the youth I spent in Boston rock clubs so,
I first heard "Bottom Dollar" on the station for middle age rockers not quite ready for easy listening, WBOS.
Shocking as it was to hear a new song on the radio it was even more of a shock to enter a chain music store slightly south of Boston and when I asked if they had the new Ric Ocasek,
the (born the year I first rocked) child behind the counter had never heard of him and asked me to spell his name.
That was truely shocking,
a Massachusettes rock and roll sacrelidge.
She eventually found the disk on her computer and told me there was one copy somewhere in the store and that if it wasn't with the O's, it could be anyhwere.
Good customer service met it's match in this record store clerk, she was having none of it...
I'm a bit too old for that kind of scavenger hunt so I went to another store that I was sure had a larger selection.
Turns out that store (rhymes with "orders") certainly had a large selection of offerings by The Offsping but like the mall chain store had only one copy of Nexterday.
Nestled like a time lost gem in the putrid ruffage of teen angst on parade was a single copy.
Worth more than gold by that point on my quest to get the beat of "Bottom Dollar" out of my head, at $18.99 I had to have it.
Even with the twists, turns and slight of hand tricks of modern record production,
("In a little bit" sounds suspiciously like a slowed down version of Hall and Oates "Miss DJ"...)
it's an excellent album.
I would not have expected less from the man who first produced
NYC Irish rockers Black47 into the mainstream field of vision.
After several listens, I finally got the beat of "Bottom Dollar" out of my head now if I could only find some kind of antidote for the powerful lyrics of "Crackpot"...
Would have loved to hear this album beating upstairs as I drank and watched cockroaches climb the walls downstairs at Bunratty's,
but no one knows so much as Mr. Ocasek that you can't go back.
Beautiful move forward, love the disk.

This is one of the best CD's of the year. The sound is of a more mature Cars in nature. Every track is interesting. There are no "fillers" on this project. It is one of the few CD's that one can play from start to end, without hitting the SKIP button.
The track, "Silver", which is probably about the late Cars bassist Benn Orr, is one of the highlights of this great listening experience.

Its great to hear so much of the 80's best sneakin through
the mush of todays music scene ever reminding those of us who
lived through the days of the 70's-80's that there are still
some survivors out there, its almost impossible these days to
find artists like Ric and his former great band The Cars getting
much airplay, let alone find them in a music store, thank god
for Amazon. Our local triple A radio station BOS' in Boston has been playing the current single,"Bottom dollar" from NEXTERDAY.
This is some crafty pop and rock with a voice that sounds like
it hasn't aged a day since the 80's. Listening to Ric sing
"Silver" you can't help but think of the late Ben Orr and all
his contributions to what made The Cars so special. Here in Boston they, like Areomsith, Bonnie Raitt and JGiles are not forgotten for they all shot out from this area. Ben Orr's spirit
sure rides through the melancholy sounds of several cuts as
well as the Cars sound in "Come on", "Carousel" and others.
This is a well put together collection and is easily his best
since his 80's work. I hope it reaches a market where this
music can be appreciated for all its brillance. Radio should
be playing "Gets crazy", "Come on", "bottom dollar" for starters, but what is radio anymore??

I am a long-time fan and probably would have liked anything churned out by Ric. After Troublizing (my least fav album) and a wait of 7 years I had reasonably low expectations. When the CD arrived I raced to the stereo and put it on. My first listen was bittersweet. It was great to hear the voice and the style but I felt the songs were a bit thin and there was no obvious standout track.

I am pleased to say that I have grown to really like the album. There is no skipper - they are all fresh and catchy. I still don't think there is a standout in the tradition of "Mystery" or "Feeling's got to stay" but Carousel, In a Little Bit, I'm Thinking and It Gets Crazy are favourites.

No one else has the knack of the hook. chorus, key change or new sound. Throw in the usual sublime production and cool lyrics and you have a winner. The signatures are all here - a hiccup or two, use of the words " up and down", "clowns", "dreams" etc. Check out the short phrasing on Carousel followed by the icy chorus!

This is fresh and catchy yet retains all the traits of Ocasek/Cars albums long past. A gem!!

Ric Ocasek's newest album which snuck passed me in Sept is a great collection of Cars tracks down to dark cutting edges Ric loves to explore.The opening track Crackpot is a guitar rip that drifts slowly into a dreamy like flotation device.The second track Bottom Dollar sounds like the B side from their 1989 Door to Door album{Which incidently the whole album is all unreleased tracks}The song Silver is dedicated to Benjamin Orr who sadly passed away of cancer in 2000.I was stunned upon hearing this news.This particular track brought some water to my eyes mainly due to their relationship on stage as well as off.The rest of the album balances smoothly with a little mixes here and there and It Gets Crazy is a pleasant way to end this well achievement from the 56 year-old frontman.It clearly shows that he has not slowed down,That in itself is a blessing.I find myself playing this cd over and over and hopefully so will you.

Finally an Ocasek album I want to listen to over and over again. I've got them all. To me, past albums have been marred by overproduction. This puppy trusts the quality of the songs and there isn't a bad one in the bunch. Taste the unforgetable melody of "Please Don't Let Me Down" and the simple directness of "Silver," a song for Ben Orr. But don't miss the killer "Bottom Dollar" and "Don't Lose Me" for the eighth-notes you know you crave from this guy. "Carousel" is surreal ("silly clown/there's rain in your shoes") -- it's got all kinds of Greg Hawkes keyboard stuff going on without being overwrought. Songs that didn't sound right at first (usually the way the chorus twists the song to a place it doesn't seem to belong) have grown on me and the album as a whole is fresh and alive -- and best of all, it makes me happy. It's always over too soon. I want to play it for people. Quite a feat in a world where albums usually have only a few tracks worth adding to your collection. 56 years old? No way. This is a great gift. I'm glad he didn't keep to himself.

It was starting to seem like "Nexterday" would never appear, but at last, it finally saw official release in September of 2005 on the Sanctuary label.

Although I never really doubted that Ric would still have it in him to turn out great pop-rock tunes, I was still skeptical about how good "Nexterday" would reveal itself to be. To my pleasant surprise, it turns out to be real good indeed.

One of the problems on some of Ric's previous solo work has been his tendency to get lazy with the songwriting, ending up with songs that aren't necessarily BAD, but that have a distressingly cookie-cutter and rehashed feel to them. There is still some of that on "Nexterday"--for instance, the song "Bottom Dollar" just feels unfinished with its lack of a middle-eight or even a proper chorus, and the two-chord 'chorus' that it does have feels pretty tossed-off. Overall though, the songs sound fresh. Plus, Ric seems to be playing around 75% of the instruments on the album himself, in addition to writing all the songs himself. In short, Ric really sounds inspired.

This is one of those albums you can play right on through without feeling compelled to skip any tracks. Ric pumps out one catchy song after another, and his voice sounds great as if he hasn't aged a day in 25 years. "Crackpot" is a fine opener, with Ric double-tracking his lead vocals for a change, to ear-catching effect. The downbeat, nicely-textured "Silver", with Greg Hawkes on keyboards, is well-done, seemingly a tribute to Ric's former Cars bandmate, the late Benjamin Orr. "I'm Thinking" is an engaging, wistfully upbeat feel-good tune with an irresistible chorus. Ocasek usually hits the jackpot when he cranks up the tempo, and he scores again with the terrific, somewhat Tom Petty-ish "Don't Lose Me" (featuring a couple of hilariously jolting bum notes from Ocasek at 2:14-2:15 of the track--no wonder he was strictly the 'rhythm guitarist' in the Cars). "In A Little Bit" is a great song given a creepy feel thanks to its minor chords, relentless ticking rhythm, and the slightly dissonant 'bell' sound. "Come On" is a superbly crafted uptempo pop-rocker, irresistibly catchy with a great chorus; plus, it has a surprisingly sudden minor chord ending that does suit the slyly mysterious ending to the lyrics--otherwise, it's a very sunny, upbeat-sounding song. "Please Don't Let Me Down" is a touching, tender ballad with a little bit of a '50s feel--must be Ric's Buddy Holly influence kicking in again. The album closer "It Gets Crazy" sounds like Ric took a basketful of his earlier songs ("Steal The Night", "Everything You Say", "A Little Closer", god knows what else) and threw them into a blender, but it's a great tune anyway in its own right, thanks to a low-key-yet-creepy keyboard part, ringing acoustic guitars, keenly-placed electric guitars, great lead guitarwork, a skittering rhythm on the chorus, plus great melody and lyrics.

Even if you're only a casual Cars fan, you should find a lot to enjoy on "Nexterday". Seriously, "Come On" sounds like a great radio hit all the way--I'd like to see those Cars-wannabes the Fountains of Wayne come up with something nearly as good. I'm inclined to say that it's a shame "Nexterday" hasn't gotten more notice, but then again, Ric seems to prefer being somewhat away from the spotlight, as his persistent refusal to reform The Cars further suggests. In any case, for big fan Cars/ Ocasek fans, "Nexterday" is simply a must.

As other reviewers have noted, Nexterday has been a long time coming. The pick of the bunch for me is the last track (It gets Crazy), closely followed by Bottom Dollar, Come On, Crackpot and Carousel. Really there is not a stinker on the album though; probably more my favourite tracks are the latest incarnation of The Cars sound which I first started listening to in the early 80's. It is great to get such a classy pop album from one of the masters of the genre, with tunes that are elegant and make your foot tap. There's too much grunge and rap; finally an album from a songwriter. Thanks Ric; follow up again soon.