Buy This CD In the first round of censoring music either by outright banning or revision, we will have to focus on the outwardly sick and misogynist music. This album stands in another category--promotion of the romance culture. The most controversial part is probably the album cover where we see legs and high heels but not the rest of the womyn, something many activists criticize as "objectifying wimmin." The legs combined with the car image is supposed to be attractive and fun. It's easy to see how men confuse wimmin and cars as objects "to take out for a drive."
Like albums by the "Police" of the same time period, this album was popular because it was the perfect syrup that offended no one. There is no dark misogyny. There is ever so slightly more drive to these songs than there is some of the disco and other pop of the day, so that they will appeal to both men and wimmin. As Paul McCartney said, these are "silly love songs." They are about the situation "since you're gone" and "my best friend's girl" ("who used to be mine") and other feelings of romance culture powerlessness alternating with the "good times" when we "shake it up." One of the attractive aspects of this album is that while the songs are sugary, they are upbeat and slightly less brooding than some other romance culture albums. "Good Times Roll," "Touch and Go," "Drive," "Let's Go" and "Shake It Up" all convey through the verbs in the titles that go out and have fun drive typical of this band.
Like the Police, we'd say the Cars did a good job, but the question is good job at what. That's why it's in the pop category.