The Automobiles revved issues up on their fifth album, 1984’s Heartbeat Metropolis, which reached #3 on Billboard and offered greater than 4 million copies because of the megahits “You Would possibly Assume,” “Drive,” “Whats up Once more,” “Magic,” and others.

On earlier releases, the band (entrance man Ric Ocasek, bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, and drummer David Robinson) had labored with producer Roy Thomas Baker, however this time they teamed with Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who’d had gigantic hits with up to date hard-rock bands.

A brand new deluxe version consists of B-sides, beforehand unreleased tracks, alternate mixes, and a dwell present. We requested Easton to recall how the album was created.

Did you’ve got an opinion of Lange earlier than you began on Heartbeat Metropolis?
We had been conscious of Mutt and the sound of his AC/DC and Def Leppard productions, which was contemporary on the time. Personally, I wasn’t desirous about shifting on from Roy, however Ric wished to strive one other producer.

Mutt was very nice – very captivated with working with us, which is all the time thrilling. I don’t suppose we had been involved concerning the type of the music that he’d produced earlier than any greater than we’d been involved about that with Roy.

What do you recall about how the classes developed?
It was odd as a result of Mutt constructed the report otherwise; he did drums final, which appears counterintuitive in some methods, but it surely made sense in his type. He would construct the tracks on prime of only a primary LinnDrum drum machine (beat). A month would go by earlier than I used to be wanted to do issues. The report took so lengthy to make.

How did you conceive guitar elements?
The way in which it normally labored was Ric would current the music to us as demos, simply sitting with a guitar and enjoying them, or he’d have a demo cassette. They had been very skeletal and primary – principally clicking eighth notes on his guitar. Virtually each music was like that, perhaps with some energy chord sort of factor. For Greg and I, our job as I noticed it was to hold meat on these bones.

Like each different report, they received a primary observe down and a information vocal, then I’d have the engineer make a cassette and I’d take it residence and work on elements and write solos. I’d are available fairly ready. A music like “Heartbeat Metropolis” doesn’t sound guitar-dominated, however we had been utilizing plenty of guitar synth for the primary time on that report. There’s some [Roland GR-300] that individuals would possibly mistake for simply synthesizer.

It’s a synthesizer-heavy album, however your guitar is there. A lot of it jumps proper out.
That’s proper. Mutt had what I name a “widescreen sound.” It was like watching a film. As an example, for energy chords, he wished readability, however he wished balls on the identical time. He’d report a pair of Les Pauls by means of a Marshall, left and proper, that I’d double-track. Then we’d use a Telecaster with a cleaner, bitier sound and report a pair so as to add readability to the Les Paul/Marshall sound. Whenever you blended it proper, it sounded unbelievable. You’ll be able to hear that in “Magic” and something with huge energy chords. That’s how he did it.

Which guitars did you play on Heartbeat Metropolis?
The guitar that turned out to be an actual champ on that album was a Strings & Issues St. Blues Customized Bluesmaster. Strings & Issues, a store in Memphis, made these guitars. Mine had a humbucker on the bridge and was clear Cherry coloration over ash. It appeared like a melding of a Telecaster and a Les Paul. I used it loads, together with the solo on “You Would possibly Assume”; it was a sleeper guitar.

I’m fairly positive I used my ’77 Telecaster with a Bartolini Hello-A Firebird mini-humbucker on the neck. I additionally used a Strat that John Web page at Fender made for me, a thirtieth anniversary Les Paul goldtop I’d simply received, and my Fender Lead I on for the solo on “Contact and Go.” I used that on Panorama and it had an ideal pickup.

The amps had been Marshall JCM 800s and Fender Twins and Deluxes. I didn’t have a pedalboard. I turned Mutt on to the Rockman, and a few of the clear, chorusy, picked elements might be that. He liked it and used it loads after that. He was very complimentary to me. He stated that I used to be probably the most versatile guitar participant he’d ever labored with. – Bret Adams

This text initially appeared in VG’s January 2026 concern. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.