Todd

After the brave, bizarre and admittedly, weird excesses of A Wizard A, A True Star Todd didn't slacken the pace, coming out with another album just a few months later. However, gone were all the one minute songs and general mayem. Instead young Todd provided another double album (like Something/Anything, the album before Wizard), simply called Todd, obviously with the least appealing picture of himself that he could find for the front cover. 

Todd Rundgren: Todd

Infuriatingly, if Todd  had been trimmed to 45 minutes, it would have been a fairly decent follow-up to A Wizard, A True Star. Instead,Todd was a bloated affair, mostly tolerated by his fans, eventually selling even less than Wizard. In hindsight, the only excuse I can give for his appalling artistic and marketing decisions are that he must have been taking a lot of drugs at the time!

So, as with a number of albums I'm reviewing, I'm going to look at my idealised version of the album, Todd Lite. Basically, I've joined sides 1 & 2 together deleting:

• Side 2's Drunken Blue Rooster (an instrumental) &
• Everybody's Going To Heaven, a heavy metal romp that's virtually replicated on Heavy Metal Kids, a song that appears on Side 3

with the new Side 1 clocking in at around 23.00 mins. Sides 3 & 4 are then joined together, deleting:

• Side 1's Useless Begging, a fairly uneventful ballad
• Sidewalk Cafe a fun synthesizer instrumental track (but that's about it) & 
  Side 4's In & Out Of The Chakras We Go, a dreadfully dull synthesizer instrumental

and the new Side 2 clocks in at around 22.30 mins.

Todd Lite is still self indulgent but now holds considerably more interest. It's entertaining but still, very much, stands in Wizard's shadow. My edit of the album opens with the original three tracks:

How About A Little Fanfare a few seconds of Rundgren nonsense

I Think You Know...a "say nothing but appear meaningful" druggy intro to... 

The Spark Of Life...an "atmospheric" instrumental that I've always liked, though others may not. It's supposed to slowly draw you into the album's world, so let's work on the premise that it does.

...followed by the rather witty, self-deprecating An LPs Worth Of Toons

"...Who's that on the racks again
A portrait of a crazy man
Trying to make a living off
An LPs worth of toons

A picture of a soul in pain
Trying to change the world with
An LPs worth of toons..."

    An LP's Worth Of Toons

Todd Rundgren: An LP's Worth Of Toons

...and the poetic, well-loved, Utopian ballad, A Dream Goes On Forever

"...A million old soldiers will fade away
But a dream lives on forever
I'm left standing here, I've got nothing to say
All is silent within my dream

We all have our everyday hopes and fears
And you'll find no exception in me
But that doesn't get me through a sea of tears
Over Life's biggest tragedy

You're so long ago and so far away
But my dream goes on forever
And how much I loved you, you'll never know
Till you join me within my dream..."

      A Dream Goes On Forever

Next up is Todd's crazy (and still popular) rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song from Iolanthe, 1882. Impressively, Todd somehow clearly enunciated every word of the impossible, tongue-twisting lyric at break-neck speed. Well done, old bean! Whatever anyone might say about Todd, The Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song , alone, sets Rundgren apart from the pack, respectfully tipping his hat to a long, bygone era...and proving to one and all, that he's delightfully bonkers!

Finally with the original Side 2 edits, my Side 1 ends with the bluesy The Last Ride, a fine emotional song with unspectacular but surprisingly hard lyrics about a doomed love affair.

"...It's the last ride
Our little game is over
It's the last ride
It's time to take you home...

...I thought I knew just everything
I had it made and I could coast
But I turned away Love
When I needed it most..."

       The Last Ride

Side 2 (Edit) starts with:

Number 1 Lowest Common Denominator, in which Todd suggests unleashing his electric eel. The song ends with what sounds like an orgasmic Patti Smith poem and the whole thing comes off as intentionally and pleasantly silly, rather than sexy.

"....I wanna see your number 1 lowest common denominator
You're so hot! What choo got?
On the outside I'm a good boy
Let me inside 'cause I'm full of joy
I don't want to shock you but I'm an electric eel
How's that make your denominator feel?..."

Number 1 Lowest Common Denominator

Izzat Love, a songlet with Rundgren providing his most earnest Moon in June romantic lyrics and a melody that's simply sublime.

"...Izzat Love, to forgive all those things you've done
If you go still you know I'm the one
Only Love, Love alone can survive
Deep inside I believe it's alive
Am I wrong?
Or izzat Love?..."

        Izzat Love

Heavy Metal Kids
What might have seemed apocalyptic thirty years ago now just seems noisy and melodramatic. For historic interest only.

Don't You Ever Learn?
Preachy and patronising or earnest and precautionary, depending upon which side of the fence you're on.

"...Don't you ever listen?
Don't you ever learn?
The hand may find you
It's time to take a turn
You think this life is
...Something strange
You're ready for another change
But don't you ever learn?..."

    Don't You Ever Learn

Sons Of 1984
Like the final track on Wizard, Just One Victory, Sons Of 1984 is a war cry for the counterculture. There's some nifty editing of crowds from two 1973 concerts,  one in New York, the other in San Francisco (symbolically spanning the width of the USA).

"...Back when I was young, my hope was strong
But then Time blew it all to h-e-l-l
If I thought I knew what was good for you
I would have gone and done it for myself

...and then the two crowds join to sing the chorus for a glorious across-the-USA massed effect...

Worlds of tomorrow
Life without sorrow
Take it because it's yours
Sons of 1984..."

      Sons Of 1984

So, there you have it, Todd Lite, certainly a fairly decent salvageable album from the excesses of the original double album, which I'd tentatively recommend to anybody.  However, I'd only really recommend the full album to committed fans these days...

Todd Rundgren: Todd

"...I heard the album in 1975 (yikes!) and was immediately struck by it's beauty:

• Luscious melodies...Useless Begging
• pop gems...A Dream Goes On Forever
• various acid noodles Drunken Blue Rooster &
• gonzoid rock...#1 Lowest Common Denominator

make for a demanding but transcendental visit into the mind of Todd in '74..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer joe_winger

"...Listening to this record reminds me of how sad it is that we've entered the era of singles downloads. Just the hits, please...anything my friends are already listening to. Much of the material here simply would not make sense outside the context of the entire record. How can a concept album like this ever be made again?

Can't take the green hair or the lack of uniformity or the surprise in every single track or the oddness of this amazing flight to another universe? Then step to the back of the elevator, where your little comfort zone won't be violated. Five stars doesn't even begin to rate this..." Amazon reviewer David F. Ziffer

"...Rundgren returned in 1974 with another head-trip - this time, even more difficult, challenging and a little darker than his previous monster, A Wizard, A True Star. However, given it's lengthy and highly experimental nature, the album is not without a large dosage of variety:

• neo-proto-electronica (I made that up)
• show tunes
• rock
• proto-punk &
• even some pop

can be found amongst all the chaos..." Amazon reviewer samhot

For more info, see:

• wikipedia Todd
• Todd & John Lennon's public  bitchslapping 1974, with Lennon's reply at the end of the article 
• Record Magazine, Todd interviews himself, 1974 
• Utopia LIVE The Last Ride, 1978
• Todd LIVE + Ethel, The Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song, 2005