TODD RUNDGREN

Todd- a prophet without honour in his own country - why no hall of fame? This man is what progression is all about.Being a fan is a roller- coaster ride where you never know what will happen next,so prepare to be amazed when listening to State ( which has entered the dance charts would you believe?) Approach with an open mind.Judge on its merits.But listen a few times- it becomes more rewarding.Todd goes techno? - maybe- it bears the mark of a mac 'garage band' type of sound- but not in a bad way. 'In My Mouth', 'Ping Me','Something from Nothing' are heart- achingly classic Todd,vocally and melodically.- worth the admission. I recommend the deluxe version because CD 2 has a brilliant live concert recorded with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam.His ineraction with the orchestra and his vocals are never better.If you like his singer- songwriter persona,this is a must. The opener'Another Life' from 'Oops' is a far superior version to the recorded one.On the other hand,another track 'Frogs' is one of those throwaway silly Gilbert and Sullivan type tracks that you either love or hate. I would say Todd is the most innovative rock musician the USA has produced- and he still has the creative energy to astound.This album proves he still progresses.

I suspect there are many other long-time fans out there who share my frustration with Todd. This (2 disc deluxe) release illustrates the problem most excruciatingly.

Included is a live disc of Todd interacting musically with other human beings and, after all these years, no one does it better. His voice has never sounded stronger or more heart-felt as he performs wonderful renditions of rarely heard songs such as Bag Lady, proves why he is criminally under-rated as a lead guitarist on Fascist Christ, and revamps gorgeous live tunes like Another Life and If I Have To Be Alone. I will cherish this live disc as a fine representation of what this brilliant song writer/musician was and IS capable of both live and in the studio. Four stars.

Oh, and Todd's computer released something called "State". Control - Alt - Delete

If you stick with the same old stuff, no matter how wild it is, sometimes it feels like you've heard everything there is to hear. Luckily, if stick with prog you'll eventually get completely blindsided by something you never saw coming. That's what just happened to me with Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star. Well, the first half at any rate.

The first half, bookended by International Feel and Le Feel Internacional is a stunningly complex and sprawling pop-prog cascade. Parts of it are reminiscent of the better clips of Tales from Topographic Oceans (released the following year I'll have you note) and the primal utterances of Tubular Bells, but for the most part it is a uniquely manic and ecstatic musical expression. Todd himself admitted that he was experimenting with drugs and wanted to replicate the experience on album, thus accounting for the unpredictability. Todd is clearly unhinged on this album and I love it. It unfortunately slows to a crawl through the middle section generic 60s/70s pop middle section, but is unexpectedly revived with an embedded cover of Cool Jerk by the Capitals part way through another track. From there it doesn't quite veer back to the frenetic joy of the first half, but Todd does manage some more excitement before the end of the album, particularly on Is It My Name.

In essence, this album is almost 40 years old and it's still one of the freshest things I've yet heard. I'm shocked only 36 people prior to me managed to review it. It isn't perfect, but damn is it close. I highly recommend it at 4 stars and am looking forward to the allegedly even more progressive follow up Todd.

As a slight aside, I recently posted in the forum bemoaning the lack of upbeat prog rock, anybody looking for the same should check this out.

No doubt this comes closest to UTOPIA in Rundgren's solo output. For some part it's one helluva prog album - and probably the longest single vinyl ever made? - but several things bring it down from glorious heights. Let's see track by track. 'Real Man' is an effective synth-heavy rocker. Not very proggy but OK. 'Born to Synthesize' is almost accapella and the vocals are synthetically treated; the song brings to mind some 80's hard rock acts (I'm not expert in that field but maybe stg like Whitesnake, Van Halen or Def Leppard?). I could imagine a cocky vocalist with long, curly, blond hair doing this sort of performance in a concert. 'Death of Rock and Roll' is noisy and ugly, makes me wish the title was true!

The three remaining songs on the first side are very good and also pretty proggy. The title track gives an amazing jazz-rock rollercoaster ride, not far from the best of Frank Zappa (e.g. One Size Fits All) but with much finer vocal work. Yes, I like Todd's voice, even though he sometimes uses it over-the-top. He sounds a lot like Daryl Hall (the "blue eyed soul" duo Hall & Oates). My favourite here is 'Fair Warning' which goes in a more relaxed tempo, and is very emotional. This album often sounds like it could have come out in the eighties; I'm not saying this negatively but I refer to the ultimate technical level of the production, and also to the bold, near-commercial feel in the music here and there. An album ahead of its time, sort of?

The 36-minute instrumental epic 'A Treatise on Cosmic Fire' is the crown jewel of the album - which also sinks it lower simultaneously. It has gorgeous sounds and it comes near to the same territory as Tangerine Dream's Force Majeure (1979), ie. excellent symphonic electronic prog rock. But it goes on and one far too long and totally loses the direction somewhere amidst the massive ending part, if not already earlier. The work then returns to 'Prana', the theme heard in the intro. If you enjoy fusion-tinged, modern sounding, Neo-ish prog and prefer Todd Rundgren's adventures in prog to his singer-songwriter stuff, check this one out!

An essential of any collection, here Todd expresses his his pop-prog roots with this masterpiece (before spiraling into the 80's fever). Todd is a man with many voices; sweet, serious, and silly. We have a little of each in this album. The album kicks off with Todd's swansong, 3 songs that tie together so perfectly, International/Never Never/Tic Tic. Each of these are on the same wavelength of beauty this album withholds. It quickly (almost too soon) transitions to to Head/P***y/Dogfight in which the silliness takes over, but without ever leaving the psychedelic-prog sound. Compared to the somewhat-resembling instrumentals of Sidewank Cafe (of Todd's future release) and Flamingo, Flamingo seems to have a bit more variety so it takes the win (though they're both catalog classics of Todd's). But the 'True Star' here is Zen Archer, a far underrated tune (as I've never heard it on the radio) possibly my favorite song on the entire album. The I'm So Proud suite is lovey-dovey Todd, taking classics and making them his own while still fitting the mood of the album as a whole. The tone of the whole thing is very addictive. Perhaps compared to Todd Rundgren's Utopia, this won't appeal to some people (especially due to the ratings on this album) but these 2 albums are in different galaxies. Both essentials. How can't you love Todd's voice? If you don't like this album at first, let it build on you and you'll enjoy every second of this epic. The highest recommendation, 5 stars.

I got this album all because of the song "Hello It's Me". For years, and I mean since I was a child i've enjoyed that song so much, but until only a few years ago I didn't even know who sung it. I must admit I was surprised when I checked into it and found that Todd Rundgren had created this track. Everytime i've heard this song on the radio over the years it has always brought back memories of being a kid of 12 years old or so when my mom would turn on the radio in the mornings while she made breakfast for us. It reminds me of sunshine, summer and a more innocent time. It stands out because my parents really weren't into music. Apart from my mom turning on the local AM radio station or playing her Gospel records there just wasn't any music in our household. My dad didn't even usually have the radio on in the car, I just figured he wasn't into music but found out much later that he did like Big Band music but he didn't have any records so I didn't know. So yes "Hello It's Me" brings back some good memories everytime I hear it. As far as this album goes I must admit it's a disappointment. Sure it's a pop recording and there's nothing really proggy about it in my books but for such an esteemed album by many critics I just thought it would be better.There are five tracks that I like while the rest are average or poor in my estimation. Now remember this is a double album too so wading through almost 90 minutes of less than spectacular music isn't exactly a joy just for that one song.

The other four tracks I like besides "Hello It's Me" are first off "I Saw The Light" which I have to be honest surprised me that this was a Rundgren tune. I honestly always thought a woman sang this song. I like it a lot and this was another hit for him. "Black Maria" has some welcomed organ and guitar in it and the vocals are more passionate in this the longest song on here. "Little Red Lights" has some attitude which is a nice change. Some great sounding guitar too. "Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me" is a highlight because of the horns. Cool tune.

Not recommended to Prog fans at all. Fans only. And I don't like the album cover (haha).

Okay, I am just shocked that so few people here have reviewed this album. This album is one of the main reasons for Todd Rundgren's inclusion on this site. "Todd" was the follow up to "A Wizard, A True Star", and builds on the trippy music of that album, but has more consistency.

Todd mixes up all of the styles of music he was into at the time, making this a music lovers extravaganza. First, there's a few of those ballads he has always been known for. The most famous of these is A Dream Goes On Forever. I'd swear this song was inspired by Brian Wilson's "Pet Sounds" album. The rhythm in particular has a sound similar to I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.

There is also a few heavy rockers. Heavy Metal Kids is a great one, and became a concert favorite with Todd's solo band as well as Utopia. But the real fun comes from the experimental pieces. Right from the start, How About A Little Fanfare?, the album is a roller coaster ride of bizarre noises made into music and wild studio wizardry.

Plus, there's Todd best Gilbert & Sullivan selection, Lord Chancellor's Nightmare.

It's no surprise that Todd has chosen this album to honor with a new tour.

This is often named as one of the greatest albums of all time. And it does have quite a few great songs on it. What it does not have much of is prog rock.

Todd released many of his finest pop songs on this double album set. I Saw The Light, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Sweeter Memories, Couldn't I Just Tell You and Hello It's Me are all classic Todd Rundgren pop songs.

Little Red Lights is a fantastic guitar driven hard rock song, and Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me will get your toes tappin'. And Black Maria is one of the best guitar solo songs Rundgren ever released.

There are a few silly songs, like Song Of The Viking and Piss Aaron, but you have to appreciate Todd's humor to enjoy these.

Breathless, a mostly keyboard piece, is the closest to prog this album gets.

What's left is some okay songs, and some filler.

Maybe for it's variety, it's a great pop/rock album. But not a great prog album.

While this is not a prog album, there is a bit of progressiveness in the production. Always experimenting with recording processes, Todd Rundgren had an array of isolation booths built on a stage, and recorded this album in front of an audience, who were told to stay quiet for the performance. Because of this, Todd needed a full band for this album, as the process did not allow for his usual overdubs.

The result is a very well produced album, with a lively and exciting sound from the band, which included his Utopia keyboardist, Roger Powell, and two veterans from The Tubes, Prairie Prince and Vince Welnick.

The music is just average. You get ballads, upbeat dance songs, and even three songs that Rundgren wrote for a Broadway musical, "Up Against It". What you don't get are any songs that stick with you after the album is over. For that, despite the ambition, I can only give it twob stars.

This is the second, and last album of Todd Rundgren with his band Runt (featuring the sons of Soupy Sales, Hunt and Tony). The album, with pleasant enough pop songs, was a step down from their first. In fact the album is so light and unmemorable, it could have been recorded by Dionne Warwick, or any early seventies easy pop singer.

The highlights are... well, there are none. This album just evaporates from your mind moments after you've listened to it. There is no prog. The only really upbeat song is Parole.

I would not go out of my way to find this album.