Todd

After the brave, bizarre and weird excesses of A Wizard A / A True Star Todd didn't slacken the pace, coming out with the much darker Todd just a few months later. Gone were all the one minute songs and instead Rundgren provided another double album (like Something/Anything, the album before Wizard).

Todd Rundgren Todd

Todd Rundgren: Todd

Infuriatingly, it could easily have been trimmed to 45 minutes, in which case Todd would have been a fairly decent follow-up. Instead, the album was tolerated, sold even less than Wizard and in hindsight, the only excuse I can give for such an appalling marketing decision is 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 the next side

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. 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

Then comes the rather funny 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

Early music video for An LP's Worth Of Toons

...and the poetic, 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

Then, a crazy rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan's Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song from their Iolanthe, 1882.

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 cutting 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

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

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 well meaning, depending on which side of the fence you're on

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 in New York and San Francisco (symbolically spanning the width of the USA) singing the chorus for a glorious massed effect

"...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

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, but I'd only really recommend it for 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: