Faithful

With Todd Rundgren's solo career quickly disappearing down the drain after the disappointing Todd and the cosmic canoodlings of Initiation, it was with some trepidation that the world's press received his 1976 album Faithful.

Todd Rundgren Faithful

Todd Rundgren: Faithful

You see, Side 1 of the album was a note for note reproduction of some Psychedelia classics:

Happening Ten Years Time Ago The Yardbirds

Good Vibrations The Beach Boys

Rain The Beatles

Most Likely You'll Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine Bob Dylan

If Six Was Nine Jimi Hendrix

Strawberry Fields Forever The Beatles

The question everyone asked was "why" but Todd seemed to think it was important to honor the songs on the approximately 10th annivesary of Psychedelia. To be fair, all but two of the songs (Good Vibrations & Strawberry Fields Forever) have been virtually forgotten...but at the time, it seemed a silly thing to do.

Over the years, though, Faithful was an album that I came back to many times and I can honestly I quite like the covers now, often finding them amusing in their deadpan mimicry.

However, Faithful is usually remembered because Side 2's strong suite of Rundgren-penned songs:

Black & White, a blistering metallic blast of adolescent cynicism and disbelief in promises too easily offered, intoned over crunching guitars and a no-nonsense white-boys-get-serious beat:

"...Everything has changed
Everything is still the same
It's all a part of the game...

...I'll believe it
When I see it
In Black & White..."

Black & White

To balance the aggression, there followed by the delightful, mostly acoustic Love Of The Common Man:

"...I've been burned in my prime
The simple things in Life
Seem so hard to learn sometimes
And it takes so long...

...Too late tomorrow..."

Love Of The Common Man

...which is still popping up in Todd's live shows. Love Of The Common Man is perhaps the most Aquarian song (of the many) that Todd has written. Hippies love it!

Todd Rundgren: Good Vibrations / When I Pray single

Next up was the far-from-preachy When I Pray with a funky Caribbean beat and infectious, faux-native backing vocals.

"...However, the golden track on this album - worth two stars alone in my book - is the brief but spectacular When I Pray.

Layers of syncopated rhythms, the gospel-inspired lead vocal, Caribbean ju-ju man squeaks and a joyous, tribal Todd-clone chorus...that still sounds fresh some twenty years (later)..." Amazon reviewer Lisa Richards Hone

"...Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I die before I wake
Somebody made a big mistake

I'm only just a little man
Just using up the air
Please don't test me...
...Anyway

And Lord when I pray
Please be there..."

When I Pray

But what really got people believing in Rundgren again were the final 3 songs:

Cliche, a helpless Todd drowning in the confusing realities of Romance:

"...One more game
One more chance
One more orchestrated
Song and dance

I'd be out front
And speak my piece
Pray silence for my time
To put our heads together
And try to make the knot unwind..."

Cliche

Then the genuine questioning of The Meaning Of The Verb To Love

"...Some people tell you
That Love is a feeling
Or a possession
Somehow that seems so cold

And when they say
Love is sweet
Does it mean that you eat it?
Does it mean that you drink it?
Does it fill up an empty hole?

I'm looking for a love    And I may not find it
Looking for a love         No, it doesn't mean a thing
                                  Without some urging behind it...

...You've got to let it magnetise
Learn to sacrifice
Till we get the true meaning of
The meaning of the verb to love..."

The Meaning Of The Verb To Love

...with Roger Powell's superb Liberace-like piano solo adding a certain M.O.R. poignancy to the proceedings...

...and finally, the sarcastic, patronising Hamburger Hell, nasty enough to demonstrate Rundgren had stopped thinking he was a guru and was just human once more. Hamburger Hell sees Rundgren sending up boogie bands mercilessly with a junk food slant to the lyrics and an automatic head-bobbin' boogie-plus beat:

"...Beefsteak Charlie said to
Porky the Pig:
'I can see the party lights
Someone's throwin' a bash
And it sure looks good
Down at the slaughterhouse tonight'..."

Hamburger Hell

Lemmetellya, a whole lot of us breathed easier knowing that Todd was back, sane, funny and talking to us again and Faithful remains one of my favorite Rundgren albums, even the covers!

Todd Rundgren: Faithful

"...Faithful is still one of my favorite efforts by an oft misunderstood genius. Don't judge it just enjoy it..." Amazon reviewer Jim Berrier

"...while the covers - though mildly fascinating - bring the rating down, the originals are worth the price of admission alone. There's good reason why the majority of them became mainstays in Rundgren's LIVE sets..." Amazon reviewer T. Dickinson

"...I saw him perform most of these cuts LIVE worked into a recent show (June 2000). Still crisp and fresh with a fruity pop center...and lyrics you can sink your brain into. What else could you want? I give it a 95 'cause I still can jump up and down to it after 20 years..." Amazon reviewer lisa_hone

Todd Rundgren's Greatest Hits

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