Hot Rod Race

How many great songs have been written about cars? Probably more than anyone could count, but if you were keeping track, the folks at the German have found a bunch of gasoline-guzzling numbers you probably haven't heard before on , a collection of 30 and tunes dealing with various types of hot wheels. (Actually, there are 28 songs about cars on this disc, since 's classic street racing tale, appears in three versions, recorded by , , and .) While a few tracks warn about the dangers of high speed and violating the traffic code (such as 's by ), most are enthusiastic celebrations of gearhead culture, with a few comic numbers added for good measure (most notably ). There are plenty of wailing saxophones, twangy guitars, and rockin' rhythms to go along with the sounds of engines revving (and hot rods crashing), and suggests some brave souls were still cutting auto-centric numbers well into the '70s (judging from the guitar solo). Car fans and folks who dig first-generation will both dig this disc, which has been produced with 's typically stellar attention to detail. ~ Mark Deming