The Cars' third record was probably their most obscure album. "Panorama" had a totally different attitude than the albums that both preceded and followed it. The atmosphere surrounding the songs on "Panorama" was dark and serious, which left many people confused after listening to two album's worth of lighter and more upbeat music.
Its three singles are not as well known as most other songs. Of those, the one most recognizable is "Touch and Go" (b/w "Down Boys"). This upbeat song did pretty well, but it was the rest of the album that listeners had a problem with. The following singles, "Gimme Some Slack" and "Don't Tell Me No" as well as both 45's non-album B-sides, "Don't Go To Pieces" (available on the anthology), seemed to lead to one negative review after another. Once loyal listeners as well as colleagues, friends, and allies of The Cars were suddenly turning against them with the production of "Panorama," which might as well have been called "Paranoia," as a reporter once stated with Ric Ocasek agreeing, since behind the edgy electronic music, there was a real feeling of distress.
But what the public didn't know is that the subjects covered in "Panorama"'s songs were the most honest, personal, and necessary points made by Ric Ocasek in his writing. Critics had never been at ease with Ric's ambiguous terms and coded messages, constantly complaining that they were too complex. But this time, Ric told it like it was, exposing the truths behind the greed in the music business, which he never had much use for, as well as other societal problems that needed to be addressed. But the consolation to all this negattention was the Ric didn't regret any of the material he had written. He once stated, "In other words, it didn't matter to me what people thought of me any more, and I didn't want to talk about it and throw it out to the lions. I don't care anymore.
I know what I'm capable of doing, what I can do, and I think what I do is good, and I know, sort of, where I'm at and where I can take things and what I can contribute to music and the scene. I'm not worried about it; I feel that it's real."
In spite of everything, "Panorama" launched a successful concert tour that marked the first year The Cars were invited to perform at large, well-known stadiums. However, their stage set was as controversial as their songs, being made of all gray chrome and The Cars being dressed in only black and white. It created the somber atmosphere associated with the songs.
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