Shake It Up: Expanded Edition (Colored Vinyl)

「モダン・タイムズ・ロックン・ロール」パート4到着!!カーズとロイ・トーマス・ベイカーの抜群のコンビネーションによってみごとに開花したエロティシズムと戦慄の世界。2018年見事「ロックの殿堂」入りを果たした、その斬新な音楽性とPV戦略でヒット曲を連発し、アルバム総売上は全米だけで2,300万枚を超える、名実共に80年代アメリカを代表するバンド、カーズ。彼らが1981年に発表した全米トップ10アルバム『SHAKE IT UP』の新リマスター音源&未発表曲を多数収録したエクスパンデッド・エディションが、2枚組カラー・ヴァイナルでも登場!

By augmenting their sound with more synthesizers, electronics, and drum machines, the Cars' fourth release, Shake It Up, helped bridge their hard rock-based early work (1978's The Cars) with the futuristic pop direction of 1984's Heartbeat City. The band's sound may have been evolving with each succeeding album, but Ric Ocasek was still writing compelling new wave compositions despite all the change, many of which would ultimately become rock & roll standards. The uptempo title track remains a party favorite to this day (reaching number four on the singles charts), while the melancholic "Since You're Gone" remains one of Ocasek's best-ever tales of heartbreak. Intriguing videos were made for both songs, officially introducing the band to the MTV age. Like its predecessor, 1980's Panorama, filler is present ("This Could Be Love," "Maybe Baby"), but many lesser-known album tracks prove to be highlights: the almost entirely synth-oriented tracks "Think It Over" and "A Dream Away," the rocking "Cruiser," plus the more pop-oriented "I'm Not the One" and "Victim of Love." Although Shake It Up was another resounding commercial success, their next album would be the one that made the Cars one of rock's quintessential acts of the '80s. ~ Greg Prato