Something/Anything?

Hmmmmk

Feels like late eighties Queen mixed with Steely Dan. I dig it

It was a solid rock album it didnt strike me as amazing but it held elements of music i love so overall solid

Man kan ju tycka att en producent i Rundgrens kaliber skulle va lite bättre på att hålla ned och välja ut ett bättre antal låtar då det är vissa som e jättebra och många mindre bra. Men en fyra ska ha han väl ändå ha. Om än en svag fyra

Quite often on here I’ll like an album’s sound, but find the songwriting lacking. That might be because Todd Rundgren stole all the songwriting steeze for this album. Dude makes crafting a solid pop song seem effortless. It’s actually crazy how much good stuff there is on this album, and once again I have to put aside my hatred of double albums and applaud one of them. This is really good! Must-listen #393.

8/24/26. Massive album, don't think I got much out of it though. Good production and not afraid to push boundaries, but was expecting a more cohesive output. Although it's very likely I missed a lot and need to listen more.

This was not really what I expected from him. There was a lot of very poppy stuff. I enjoyed some songs but the majority were meh.

Byrjar ágætlega en fjarar svo út. Allt of löng plata og nokkuð ómerkileg á tímum. Áhugavert sumt og stundum verið að experimentera með upptökutækni sem er mis skemmtilegt.

Mjög sérkennileg plata. Rólegt og þægilegt í byrjun en síðan alls konar lög og tilraunamennska. Alltof löng plata líka.

A lot of great tracks, a couple of shitty ones, and a pair of perfect pop songs ('I Saw the Light' and 'Couldn't I Just Tell You').

299 / 1089. Todd Rundgren is a musical wizard. The first 75% of this double LP is 100% him. Every instrument played and every vocal sung is him, produced and mixed by him. Reportedly, he wrote "I Saw the Light" in 20 minutes. That's absolutely absurd to essentially craft the bones of one of the best pop songs of the 1970s over the what could have been a lunch break. He is a undeniable talent stretching his sound in various directions across four uncompromising sides of avant-garde power pop. A stone cold classic, even if every track doesn't land with me. 9/10.

Day 15 Me, this morning: "A double album from 1972 I never heard of? Fine, just get this shit over with." As it turns out, I did not want to get that shit over with. Fav track: Hello It's Me

A album of mainly yacht rock. Musically adept but probably best used as background music in a lift. Forgotten most of it already.

More yacht-rock than I was expecting, bunch of songs sound like theme songs for 70s tv shows. Not my fave genre

Based on the category descriptions I should like this a lot more than I do, but nothing about it really makes me want to listen again.

Not horrible, but incredibly dull. Definitely should not be on this list

579/1089 - Really glad I learned about Todd Rundgren through this 1001 album project. What a great musician skilled in multiple instruments and with such a unique approach to pop music. For some reason I really liked the skit with the different ways recordings could be messed up, not usually a skit fan.

Side 1: 1.5/5 (ugh, why did this one have to start as such a horrible slog?) Side 2: 3/5 (“Marlene” is misplaced, but the rest of this is experimental and weird in a good way) Side 3: 4/5 (thank you Mr. Rundgren for getting heavy - it’s a breath of fresh air) Side 4: 2/5 (back to the cheese. Also the chatter is really dumb and unnecessary) Rounding up because the distinct separation between sides actually makes this one feel shorter, more like listening to four mini albums.

Strong start, way too long, devolves into a pop-rock slog 2.5/5

Such variety of style here, a lot of great stuff. I felt the first couple of tracks were ok but it really picked up with Wolfman Jack and I liked it more as it carried on. Equally impressive that Todd plays all the instruments on the first 3/4 essentially. It's long and I didn't give it as many listens as I would like.

the third studio album release by todd rundgren, but the first album to release under his name. he'd been only getting better at playing instruments, and after spending more time playing music by himself, feeling a little underwhelmed by his available studio musicians, he drove off to do his own thing for a large majority of the record. he essentially got zooted as he made song after song, the last few tracks being proper studio recordings with other band members. compared to the last one i listened to, these songs are considered a little less surreal. i was really gagged listening to "a wizard, a true star" so i had my hopes up when i knew i was going to be listening to rundgren once more. yep, i'm in love with this album too. who didn't see this coming? i don't know, i think the way he composes just tickles my brain in all the right areas. i would say when the album starts, it's in line with other generally good art pop albums released from the decade, but as the record plays it just morphs into this eclectic, absurd collection of songs that'll make your jaw drop in surprise, or horror depending on the person. he took this mixing stuff seriously, with a track dedicated to him just dicking around and demonstrating his recording equipment. i'm going to go as far as to say that the musicality he has is on a similar level to the greatest of classical composers; a true multi-part "symphony" of progressive pop i'll say. you know the album is a top one for me if i'm repeating certain tracks over and over again.

Damn. I was actually really feeling this album until I got to the track Marlene where bro is singing about a 17 year old he doesn’t care risking getting “busted” for. Granted, it was a different time back then but I think I’m done here. This album was cookin, too. SMH.

Nothing.

Actually a fun listen for the most part. While I thought it was a weak start it ended up being a good listen. 7/10

Todd… what the hell? First off, fantastic album opener. Top notch. Really got me ready to dive into this album. And then the next few songs came, and they were fine, I guess, but definitely nowhere near as good. And then somewhere around the halfway point something happened. What happened? What kind of wild turn did this take? Who is Piss Aaron? Why is the other big hit sandwiched into this back half craziness? So surprisingly, the album title really captures things pretty well. You are a mystery, Todd Rundgren.

Mostly bland with one good rocky song.

Pas écouté jusqu'au bout malheureusement mais jusque là 5/5

Cool!

Not for me

I skipped around quite a bit on this one. It's a really long album and to me, all the songs sound really similar/have a similar structure. There were some decent parts, but overall, really nothing that wow'd me. This feels like the kind of bloated '70s music that the punk kids were really rebelling about...

This is the longest dang album yet! Some good stuff some really bad stuff....

It's not necessarily a bad album, but it definitely goes all over the place. It has its experimental and psychedelic moments that I really enjoyed, but then some of the songs sounded like stereotypical yacht rock and dad rock to me.

Largely really cool, kinda lost me through the middle (who puts a dumb intro/skit thing after like 8 songs!?). It was great 70s fun.

I was not familiar with Todd Rundgren's game. You mean the "Bang the Drum" guy actually wrote good music? The thing about this album that I feel like is a bit of a miss is that it's like four separate mini-albums, and Wikipedia tells me they each have their own named sections. Which you don't really get a sense of in the streaming era, which is a shame.

The songs are well made, and he clearly has a lot of talent, but you REALLY have to love this type of music to take 90 minutes of it on the chin. And I get it; when I love a genre, 90 minutes of it is easy, but I don't love this genre. I'm fine with it, but I don't love it. That said, the best 40 minutes on this record would be an easy 5 stars, but the bloat sinks this one. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing

for the most part everything on here was pretty good. side two and side three were both particularly good and wouldve received a 5 for the two of them but combined with the weaker sides one and four its entirely too long. i think any of combination other combination of two sides would be a 4 for me but all four together drops to a 3.

Hmmm, some really good songs here (I saw the light, Hello it's me). But this album felt long and hard to get through at points. Not bad by any means, just not my favorite after a while. High high 3, almost 4.

To say that Todd Rundgren doesn't take himself too seriously is an understatement. “Something/Anything” is nutty, in the best way. It's made up of proper 70s-style grooves across a variety of genres. As batshit crazy as things occasionally get, there's some seriously good tunes under the madness. Who is Todd Rundgren? No idea. I've heard the name, but never knew of him before. From the sounds of it, he's a musical virtuoso, playing all of the instruments on at least three quarters of the monstrous hour and a half runtime of this album all by himself. That's essentially what this is: the sound of someone having some serious craic in the studio by themselves. Shout-out to Ritalin and weed, which were also a major factor from the sounds of it. I love the way the album is split into four separate sections, each presenting a different musical theme. The first section brings us “A Bouquet of Ear-catching Melodies”, of which “Wolfman Jack” is a particular highlight with all of its icy-cool 70s rock vibes. Next up is “The Cerebral Side”. Here we're introduced to Rundgren’s irreverent humour with a weird and very meta spoken-word intro, where he challenges us to spot all of his production faux pas. Things get weird. There are strange affected vocal effects, carnival sounds and even a Viking rowing chant. “I Went to the Mirror” is a masterpiece, the standout of the whole album. Here's where the zany sound effects and production choices work best: augmenting the song’s theme. That moment when the sound shifts from muffled to clear right as the lyric “the first thing to come into focus” hits is absolutely inspired. More bubbly and blippity sounds layer the background as Rundgren sings about an identity crisis. It builds up from minimalist beginnings to something huge, ending with some seriously great slide guitar. What a song! What next? Next, “The Kid Gets Heavy” with some fantastic 70s rock. Genres aplenty here. “Black Maria” is a legitimately great rock tune evoking Pink Floyd, and “Little Red Lights” blows out the speakers with clipped distortion and some great solos. Ok, we've made it to the last section. I have no idea where he's going to send us next. The final quarter of the album is named “Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)”. Well that's pretty self-explanatory. We're left with a brilliant run of live performances, rough around the edges with false-starts and banter with band mates (he's been on his own up to this point, so I'm sure he's just glad of the company). It feels like a year has passed since I started listening to this record. Not that it was a struggle to get through in the slightest. It's been an immensely enjoyable hour and a half, and my head is spinning from the madcap range of musical exploration I've just sat through.

Glad this was very different from a wizard/a true star

One of the things that I think is most important in a 5 star album is cohesion, and this album is purposely not cohesive, so…eh? There were a couple solid tracks but this album is all over the place in many different ways.

Bloated Fave track: It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

It’s a little cheesy, but its fine. 3/5

This dude is kinda unserious, I like him

Not my kind of music, especially the front half with the lovey songs. Second half was better with more rock. Liked Breathless the best, probably bc there weren’t any lyrics. Viking song fun too.

Neat

It would be better as a couple smaller albums, than one big double album. Each section was fine on its own, it was just too much all at once. 3/5

Вроде бы много чего интересного, если рассматривать песни по отдельности, но вместе какая-то каша

Какой он крутой. Легенда слат-попа.

не могу сказать, что прям плохо, бывали и похуже, но больше 3х не поставлю

A bunch of super saccharine 70s pop that doesn’t get interesting until the first part of the second album and then only for a song or two. If you are familiar with either of the big hits off this album, Hello It’s Me or I Saw the Light, then be prepared for another 20 plus songs of exactly that and your opinion of those songs will be what you think of the whole album.

Jamie was right

I could not with this album it is dreadfully 70s pop in all of the boring ways. Every time something interesting proposes itself it slides back into music that just sounds like really it is sitcom music. It sounds soulless and music to fill some void. It is atmospheric without the atmosphere. A collection of ephemeral noise masquerading as music. 1 bad

5 decent tracks hidden in a pile of trash

this is the album of a guy that just had way too many songs and didn’t know what to do with them all

Listening session: august 6th, while getting ready in the morning Listened to before: no Thoughts: not bad but just mediocre on all levels, not one song that I remember after listening to the full 88 minutes Favourite tracks: I Saw the Light, Saving Grace & You Left Me Sore

Day 358 Such a tough one to rate as there’s probably a 5 star albums worth of songs here but the album is just way way too long, it really picks up towards the end though with the last 5 songs probably being my favourite on here. Highlights Piss Aaron You left me sore Slut

There is no way I'm listening to this whole thing. Just the singles and a few album tracks are sufficient. Through those songs, I can conclude that this album may be the very birthplace of a genre that has come to be known as "Yacht Rock."

This should maybe be a 2. Parts of it are just so boring. Should have cut it down to a single album. But there are just enough interesting tracks that I can't see it dropping below a 3.

It just kept going and going and I kept not caring

I really liked it and then it went too long. Could've been higher but the length

Some cool stuff, but it's so uneven. I'd like to rate it 3.5, but I'm rounding down in this case.

This album is full of musical gems! Moody love songs, outrageous rock numbers, heartfelt stories, a beautiful instrument piece, and a spoken highlight reel that adds to the character and appeal to this artfully crafted release.

Just went on and on and on

A Wizard, A True Star is a better version of this album and truly one of the great albums of the 1970s but this will do in a pinch!

Odd (and a little annoying) that at album #935 this is only the first of two Todd Rundgren albums, and a massively long one at that. And while I respect his (fairly arrogant) decision to forego studio musicians and try out playing all the instruments himself, I think that contributes to the generic-sounding pop songs through at least the first three sides (apparently the fourth side was recorded in New York with session players chosen by his future Utopia bandmate Moogy Klingman); given the lackluster results, I doubt anyone is putting him up there with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Trent Reznor, etc. And his somewhat questionable decision to get amped up (and down) on Ritalin and THC undoubtedly contributed to far-too-numerous and generally boring/mediocre songs across the various thematic sides of this album. Aside from the higher energy side four, too many of the songs made me think of the opening credit songs for 70s/80s sitcoms, so there weren't a lot of highlights for me, sadly, but the most interesting seemed to be "Wolfman Jack" (despite the unfortunate falsetto), "I went to the mirror", "Black Maria" and his faster-paced version of Nazz's "Hello it's me". On the positive side, it seems that Rundgren really liked this self-produced, self-taught and self-played album. Apparently Axl Rose too, at least in 1989.

My first introduction to Todd Rundgren was in Peter Cummings' bedroom. His house was the last stop on my paper route and if he was feeling benevolent, he'd let me in to smoke his weed and listen to his albums, of which he had many. I first listened to Harry Partch, Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Frank Zappa, and the Bonzo Dog Band in his room. So I was wasted per usual and Peter puts on the 2nd track of A Wizard, A True Star, and my mind was blown plus I started laughing hysterically. Naturally, I immediately bought that album, listened a few times, never really got into it, and have schlepped it around with all my other albums for the past 40+ years. I never really listen more to Todd Rundgren and always thought of him as one of those intellectual British wankers, like those guys in Yes. Today, listening to this album, I comprehend the error of my ways. Rundgren's more Elton John than anything else and, honestly, I could care less. Snoozefest.

Sort of hard to review because it's not technically bad but it still made me like of angry to listen to

Great album!

A delightful album from perennial pop weirdo Todd Rundgren, right as he was beginning to stray down his bizarre path. For such a long album it did a remarkably good job at holding my attention - any time I was starting to get tired of it, it'd hook me back in with something. From the more straightforward bangers to the bizarre ditties, the album really does have something for everyone, and while I doubt it'll remain my favourite Todd album, I can see why it's his most well-known.

This did not deserve a double album

Album so long it took me three days to finish!! At least he keeps this fresh throughout the runtime, as he experiments with just about every sort of pop and rock imaginable. Can't hate it! Standouts: I Saw the Light • Cool Morning Light • Breathless - Instrumental • Dust in the Wind • Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me

This is a very, very long album that starts out as absolute gas for the first six or so songs and then completely loses me in the middle before picking up briefly at the end. This is my second listen to this beast of a recording and I could not tell you anything about the ELEVEN songs between Breathless and Dust in the Wind.

How is this here? It's basically nothing, not even really worth deriding, just... present?

A mixture of the middle of the road - with a mark away for not respecting my time and another for the misogyny of the final song.

Love this album. Reminds me of the band "Of Montreal" but older. very solid.

Definitely a fun album of many different varying genres. Cool that this guy has the ability to cover so many bases but if I’m being honest this is another album that just seems to go on forever. Maybe I just can’t handle albums longer than an hour but by the end of this I was just counting down the minutes. Biggest redeeming quality is the song being mostly good regardless of genre, definitely impressive

I liked it about 68% which is in the 3 star enjoyment range.

It’s only one guy!! I like the name of the album something anything. Can he make something? Yes. Can he make anything? Yes. He can do what ur favorite 70s rock band, yes any kind of rock, better than they can. He hits glam jam blues pop everything that came out of the branching of the 70s he NAILS so well. And so nonchalant. There’s something about when a talented person doesn’t take them self seriously that I genuinely love. This guy is a legend.

Another day, another good album that I’ll never listen to again

Genialidad Pop Rock que empieza algo genérico a mi parecer pero va ganando personalidad conforme avanzan las pistas del álbum De verdad da gusto la entrega que le pone Todd y su grupo a cada canción Es un álbum largo así que esos componentes lo convierten de un álbum recargado y cansado de escuchar, a una invitación genuina a pasar un excelente rato acompañado de canciones bien pulidas Canción favorita no podría decir, como todo es un resultado bien producido Reescuchable y recomendable

Not that exciting. "Hello, It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" - which I always thought was a Carol King song, because apparently he was "inspired" by her - are on here. Outside of those it's a lot of messing around in the studio. He plays all the instruments on the first 3 sides, and he is NOT very good at the drums (or the bass for that matter) so this all ends up sounding like polished demos. The side 4, except for the aforementioned hit, is populated by some dubious, immature lyrics that I hope to never hear again. It was okay in the background while i put new wheels on my suitcase, but when I was paying attention, mostly blue-eyed soul and wandering from one genre to another without any real feeling. Self-indulgent.

Too long but fun. I’ll listen to it another time

I'm aware of Todd Rundgren and I have two songs already liked on this album. They are "Hello, It's Me" and "I Saw the Light". These are the songs I remember from the radio back in the day. I also have 1 other song of his from a different album called "Bang The Drum All Day". When I pulled this up and saw that it was 25 songs and almost an hour and a half long, I got worried. Never a big fan of most double albums. Seems like there's too many songs where he comes across as kind of a pathetic, sad sack - "One More Day (No Word)" is a good example but there are several others too. And related to this his voice seems kind of whiny sometimes. I have been getting more and more into instrumental music in the past 10 or so years - and was excited to see the instrumental track on here ("Breathless") but it just seemed too hokey to me. Didn't like. And then on "Marlene" he's a 24 year old man simping over a 17 year old girl. He comes across a pathetic and desperate and creepy. And then on "I Went to the Mirror" - the lyrics are pretty dumb and the music is not good until about 20 seconds before the song is over. "Little Red Lights" - sounds southern rock-ish and is actually pretty cool. "Dust In The Wind" - sounds like it could be a bluesy/gospely Stones number. "Couldn't I Tell You" - sounds like it could be by Big Star or Matthew Sweet. I ended up liking the 2 songs that I started with + 4 new to ones - "Black Maria", "Little Red Lights", "Dust In The Wind", "Couldn't I Just Tell You". I wanted to like more of this and was hoping it would be a good discovery - especially since I have liked those 2 songs for a long time and think they are cool. I do respect that he plays most of the instruments on most of these songs. But you gotta make it sound good if you want to make a good album - especially if you are doing 25(!) songs. This is just way too long and has so many forgettable tracks. I kept wondering what the purpose of this album is. It almost seems like a demo to say "hey guys, I can imitate a lot of different styles of music" or something like that. But for the most part it doesn't seem to actually add anything new or super interesting. Perhaps this is why he became known as a good producer? This felt like a chore - glad I'm done with this :) But, hey - I added 4 more songs to my Spotify library. So that's good. Liked songs on Spotify: 6/25 Rating: 2/5

At this point, this 70's sound is pretty cliche. Probably ground-breaking at the time, but now its two good songs and over an hour of filler.

Just okay. Feels very edgy for the time. 5.1/10

Ehhhh

Another pleasant surprise

Fine, not much to add. I liked I Saw the Light the most.

There are albums that ask "What if?" and albums that ask "Why?" Something/Anything? spends much of its eighty-nine minute running time asking the first question while repeatedly dodging the second. That's frustrating, because Rundgren's talent is never in doubt. As a musician, arranger, producer and engineer he's astonishing. The first three sides are packed with melodic ideas, key changes, structural left turns and dazzling studio craft. Yet I found myself becoming increasingly detached. Songs begin, mutate, wander off somewhere else, and too often never justify where they've ended up. The result feels less like listening to finished songs than eavesdropping on an exceptionally gifted mind thinking out loud. My background is in theatre, and one question sits at the heart of every rehearsal: why? Why is this character saying this? Why does this prop matter? Why is this moment here? Good songwriting asks exactly the same question. Every chorus, every modulation, every lyrical image should earn its place. Then, on the fourth side, something changes. A band appears. The transformation isn't miraculous, but it's unmistakable. Suddenly the songs breathe. They have grooves. They return to choruses. They develop rather than merely accumulate ideas. It dawned on me that Rundgren doesn't simply benefit from other musicians; he benefits from writing *to* them. A band has to understand where the song is going and why they're being asked to play what they're play. That simple act of communication imposes a discipline missing from much of the preceding hour. Even fairly ordinary songs become oddly comforting because they possess utility. They know what they're trying to do. After three sides of being asked to admire Rundgren's imagination, hearing songs simply function felt almost like a relief. The lyrics proved a separate stumbling block. Rundgren often reaches for profundity without quite finding it. He's a considerably stronger musical thinker than lyrical one, and when the words strain for significance they can become self-conscious rather than illuminating. There's a remarkable album hiding inside Something/Anything?, and there are moments where its reputation makes complete sense. But at nearly an hour and a half, I couldn't escape the feeling that it needed someone in the room asking the one question Rundgren too rarely asks himself. Why?

Second album après 'A Wizard, A True Star' que j'avais assez apprécié (noté 3/5 pour son originalité et ses morceaux barrés). Par contre il n'y a rien d'original dans cet album beaucoup trop long : 25 (!!!) morceaux pop/rock très standards, pas désagréables mais vraiment ennuyeux. Je ne suis pas allé au bout (-1). =>1/5

This album is a lot. I can imagine it was a trip back in the day, but speaking bluntly it's just like average examples of several genres rather than anything individually excellent. A nice idea, but not a great album.

Enjoyed it a lot

omg it's so long. like come on. i got another album of his a while ago and enjoyed it but this one...... in the words of Bojack Horseman, "shut up Todd."

90 minutes. I'll try. Title seems not so optimistic. Liked it. Saved one or two.

I like the cover. Crazy impressive that he played all of the instruments and did the vocals for most of this. Songs were mostly fine but nothing I would seek out again. Little Red Lights is a banger, though.

It feels like the 70s equivalent of a symphony. Almost perfect. "Hello, It's Me"? Chef's kiss...

An odd and eclectic grouping of avant-garde/pop songs. Not really my cup of tea, but the fact that Todd performed virtually all of the instrumentation & vocals is quite impressive. Still, the double album length doesn't feel fully earned, and IMO it would've been stronger if he trimmed some of the fat and made it a ~45 min single album.

Todd seems like a weird dude

He was rocking but I hated when he be talking

I’m really glad for this one. I know a couple (literally, two) songs off this album, but I feel like I see this album cover all the time. Now I understand why. This is an adventure. A complete work. It has ballads, rockers, love songs, moody singer/songwriter, experiments, instrumentals. I was more impressed the more I listened. Some dont exactly land for me, but the majority do, and I now kick myself for the times I’ve seen this in a record store and passed over it. It’s close to a five for me. This really impressed me, and I think it might be a perfect work. At the absolute least, 4.75-4.8.

Really fun weird unfocused progressive pop album. Not quite as good as the other one I had in here but still enjoyed it a lot. I actually heard this one ten-ish years ago because I wanted to hear the original Hello It's Me. I appreciated the album more now, but I can see why it didn't stick with me, as it's kind of all over the place.

It’s not for me chief. Bile inducing self-indulgent wank-rock. There’s a new genre for all you genre fans out there.

Overly long, not my thing, but ok in places. Smoother and less rocky than I expected him to be.

It feels like the guy who wrote this book automatically assumed any double album was important and worthy of inclusion in the book. I promise there are maybe five double albums in the history of recorded music that you need to hear before you die. The rest should have been cut down to be single albums. This boring mess is not one of the five you need to listen to, either.

I laughed so hard. I kept thinking about the review that compared this album to 70’s era TV show intros. So true

That's a whole lot of soft rock

lively lovely office background music

3/5

Is this something? / is this anything?

Albeit not quite hitting the highs that A Wizard / A True Star hits I really love this Todd Rundgren album and he was one of my favourite discoveries of recent years. I read more about his relationship with Liv Tyler and that seems really nice too... cool guy all around. I need to listen to his 1993 theramin abstract hip hop album called No World Order. Nick, remind me.

In terms of variety, this was -really- good. Meanders between beautiful piano arrangements to straight up hard rock n' roll. Even though it is lengthy, it didn't outstay its welcome for me. It does seem like a one-man project where he's just playing whatever he feels like it, but he stops and thinks "does this sound good?" rather than the more experimental shit out there.

A vertical slice of everything 70's. Piano ballads, blues, psychedelic rock. A little bit of everything. Some of the material could have done with a trim but little red lights makes up for that.

I don't know what to make of this. Some of the songs are unremarkable 70s music. Some of the tracks on this album are somebody who has production money, creating an album as if they're in their parents basement with a cassette deck. Some of these songs feel like and sound like they took open Mike songs and somehow crammed them into a workable piece of art. I can't tell you that I will listen to this album again but I also don't regret listening to it. It's just a very strange ride and maybe it's because I just listened to Led Zeppelin IV and expect better but honestly white stripes is up next and I guarantee you that I'm going to like that way more than what I just listened to so three stars it is

What/Why??

This isn't really a review but this is my 5th album in the last 7 days that's and hour+ long what the fuck man....

An hour and a half is far far too long. A couple of nice songs but also some lyrics that haven't aged too well. I do quite like the 70s sound though - a bit Elton John-y

I gotta say I was so underwhelmed at first. I really didn’t think I’d come around to liking anything about it. First off it commits one of the worst sins an album can commit (to me personally) which is its long, really long. BUT that’s gets me to my favorite thing about the album, there is a healthy amount of humor and variety. I didn’t get pulled into the album until I got to the song “Black Maria” because it’s the first real rock song on the album, everything before it was slow or uninteresting to me, but then they came out with some power with the guitar solos in that song, which made a big impact into getting me back into it. Then the other songs that I really liked were “piss Aaron”, “hello it’s me”, “slut”. All of which I really loved! Piss Aaron and Slut are both silly humor songs that really brought some sunshine and joy to this slow album which I felt was really needed. And the song “Hello it’s me” is an all time great piano rock song! Not exaggeration. The horns, the backing vocals, the excellent piano playing, this song has everything I wanted from the album as a whole!

How is this classified as rock? This was boring as hell.

If the whole album was like the singles it’d be great but it wasn’t so it’s not

This album is pretty generically 70s but a nice listen. Docked a point for being SO LONG.

Sounds like generic 70s or “oldies”. Docked a star for being 90 minutes.

67/100.

Everything and the kitchen sink but what fun!

I had the impression of this dude being more of a rock guy than this album let on. Doing a little research, it seems that he went more in that direction after this album, as he didn't want to be pigeonholed as the "male Carole King" (is that a bad thing, though?). This album is interesting, as it seems to split its sound between singer/songwriter soft ballads, and of-the-time power pop. It's okay, but it's incredibly long and I zoned out pretty bad by the time Side 4 came around. Just too much material. Trim about half of it and you've got a decent record.

Something/Anything? is a remarkable technical achievement before it's anything else — a double album recorded almost entirely by one person, Rundgren playing every instrument, writing every song, producing and engineering the whole thing at a time when that kind of solo studio ambition was essentially unheard of. The craft is real and audible throughout, and the peaks justify the considerable time the record asks for. Those peaks are genuinely something. "I Saw the Light" is blue-eyed soul done with enough conviction to transcend the genre's usual limitations, and "Hello It's Me" — originally recorded with his earlier band Nazz and reimagined here — is the kind of melodically generous pop song that sounds inevitable in retrospect. The first side in particular moves with an ease and warmth that makes the whole enterprise feel effortless, which is the highest compliment you can pay to something this technically demanding. The honest limitation is the length. A double album runtime asks for commitment that the lows don't earn — the forgettable stretches between the peaks are a tax that a tighter single record wouldn't impose, and there are enough of them to keep this from the conversation that a more focused collection might have earned. The bloat is the price of the ambition. Worth noting that Rundgren produced Bat Out of Hell — the same meticulous pop craft sensibility is audible in both records, just without Steinman's operatic maximalism pushing everything to eleven. The fingerprints are consistent even when the contexts couldn't be more different. A four that the peaks earn honestly, delivered at greater length than strictly necessary.

Really cool album, only complaint was really long however they cope with that with pure original bangers. Listened to this day 2 of the sperm camping trip and the vibes truly couldn’t be matched. ❤️❤️ so much love for this album

Impressive, expansive yet almost too much.

2 whole discs of material, 25 songs, just shy of 90 minutes. It’s no monument of the art, and certainly not perfect, but Rundgren’s voice is wonderful, and he has an obvious talent for songwriting and musicianship, as well as the fact that it does have its unmistakeable highlights, most notably “I Saw The Light,” a shining example of what a good artist can do with a phenomenal tune and good lyrics, and easily the best song on the album. “It Takes Two To Tango (For The Girls),” “Breathless,” “Dust In The Wind,” and “Hello, It’s Me” are all obvious highlights, too. But FUCKING SHIT, this album is long. By the time you get to the end you’re just like, what the fuck man? Why was this so long? There’s no concept. All of the songs are either pretty cool pop rock or uninteresting hard rock. Again, not bad. Not perfect. Whatever. 7.6/10

long as fuck and i did not care about it at all. sorry

A pretty impressive multi-instrumentalist achievement but (aside from a couple of songs) not one I want to listen to.

Got better towards the end. But without this challenge I would never have found this out. It started very badly.

The DIY classic that influenced so many others, most notably Prince. Todd Rundgren had grown bored of basic 60s and 70s pop, and bored of himself, and before he abandoned both completely with his next album, he pushed the form to its limits here, playing every instrument himself (teaching himself any he didn’t already know) and producing too in the days when creating something this meticulous and complex in its arrangements took insane skill. And then by side D, he got bored of that too, and assembled a band in New York to record songs in the studio as messily as possible. This is pop music teetering on the edge, reshaped in an image of a guy with no interest in what its success may bring him, who abandoned the audience this brought in within a year of amassing it. The whole here is greater than the sum of its parts — a jukebox possessed with a fit of mania.

This was much longer than necessary. I think if the songs were 30% shorter and this was split into a couple albums, I’d have liked this a lot more. That said, I did enjoy the music more than some other music in the same genre from the same time.

Ich hab’s probiert. Leider packt mich auch hier kein Song, geschweige denn das überlange Doppelalbum.

3.5

I thought the album sounded really good overall but was maybe a bit longer than it should have been so I’m knocking it down a bit

A 2 with a couple of the songs

I got halfway through this album and had to quit. The first song was pretty good but that was it!

What a weird combination of songs and unexpected artist. A couple of good songs but mostly pretty boring.

****A really good album. Easy listening.

7/10

Excellent album by a bonafide genius. The hits are great, the album tracks are delightful .... and what a diverse array of genres/influences. And, wait, this is from *1972*? Good lord. I'm surprised by the # of haters on this list, but to each their own. I loved this.

I'm sure lots of couples tried to get it on in the backseat of a parent's car with this on 8-track. So... Some level of gratitude to Todd is in order. But I'm not a teenager trying to get to second base in the backseat of a 1975 Opel Rekord or Ford Taunus, so this isn't for me.

I can understand why Todd Rundgren is so highly respected. His talent as a songwriter, singer, musician, and producer is incredible. There were a few tracks that appealed to me, particularly Overture - My Roots and Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me. However, I admired the album more than I loved it, and I don’t think I’m likely to become a fan.

An epic, strange pop record. He reminds me, for some reason, of Kurt Vile. I think it’s because Kurt has similar pop inclinations in his weird (but fantastic) music. There’s a lot to absorb in this record, but it sounds fantastic even today and was certainly a bold release for its time.

From the Vault #18 (May 30, 2026) Heyo. Yet another album that I've listened to previously. After "A Wizard, A True Star" proved to be a total knockout, it became my imperative to check out Rundgren's other works, with this album being my initial go-to. Unfortunately, I didn't gel with it. The meek, soft rock style isn't really in my sphere of interest and the double album format left me twiddling my thumbs for much of the runtime. My tepid reaction to this album didn't stop me from checking out his debut album from Utopia, which I also didn't care for. I had also intended to listen to "Hermit of Mink Hollow", but never got around to it. Once I'm through with this list, the first thing on my agenda will be to work my way through Rundgren's entire discography. I owe it to the man after how phenomenal A Wizard, A True Star was. Anyways, at the time of writing it's been just over a year since I first listened to this album and I'm keen to give it another shot. Here's hoping my opinion of it has improved. Bummerrrrr. I'm still not into this album. The prominent soul influence just ain't my thing. The obvious highlight of this album is that Rundgren is performing on it. His vocals are adept, the songwriting is playful and there's an impressive level of variety and range across the hour-thirty runtime. While the instrumentals aren't to my speed, they're generally adept. The raw, crunchy guitars are fun on the songs where they feature, which can also be said about their bluesy side. I also quite like the delicate pianos, which are once again versatile in their utility. There's also a wide number of backing instruments which give the album its sense of variety. In particular, I favour the brass numbers, the glockenspiel, the synths and all of the bongo-adjacent percussive instruments. Obviously, what devistates this album in my eyes is how fucking long it is. My impression of it would be considerably more favourable if this album was cut down to 50 minutes at most. Overall, I still can't reckon with how underwhelmed I am by this album, though hopefully I'll come around to it in a few years. I am favourable to giving it a third chance. I'm going to be letting this album through regardless of what the book says because Rundgren is my boy and I know the critic response to this album is similar to that of A Wizard, A True Star, but I'm consulting the book nonetheless. Here goes. Rundgren strong-armed just about every aspect of this album's creation. He produced it, played every instrument, sang on 19 of the 25 tracks and wrote all but two songs. I should have expected as much given that A Wizard, A True Star was produced in much the same way, but wow. This guy really is something else. Rundgren's most commercially and critically successful album. "Hello It's Me" peaked at No. 5 on the singles charts and lingered for a few months. I mean, ya heard me the first time. I cosign this inclusion.

Impressive feat, recording this massive project basically on his own. Then again it suffers from overindulgence like most double albums without a producer to streamline it. Might have been a decent 40 minute record, but this doesn't capture my attention. Might be, because this rather soft pop rock isn't my favorite anyway.

Love this album

First half has a lot of songs that are a bit too easy listening/yacht rock adjacent. But the second half is a lot of fun and has some great songs. First half: ⭐️⭐️, second half ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

music is love

don't hear anything here that would make me think of this as one of the 1001. pretty standard for this genre

A lot funner than a wizard a true star. Just kinda silly 70s rock and roll.

This was bizarre. It felt so disjointed and way too long. More like a compilation than a coherent album. Some songs were pretty good but they just didn't land because there was way too much happening around them.

2.3 2x a little too light folksy

This record was mostly pretty good. There's so many tracks that some are bound to be misses. The ones that stand out, really stand out. Favourite Track(s): Dust In The Wind, I Saw the Light Least Favourite Track(s): Little Red Lights

The older I get the more I adore these gratuitous acts of creativity by musicians who just don't give a fuck how odd they are. Fortunately, for the past 40-something years, I've had the understanding that Todd Rundgren made music in the vein of EL&P. No idea where that notion came from; but I was pretty sure. It was fortunate, because the first listen to this was such an experience of cognitive dissonance that I had to listen to it again. (Yes, three hours of Todd Rundgren over two days.) I say fortunately because, as with most truly great albums, it took that second listen to start actually hearing the music, rather than reacting to its novelty. I love what I hear.

czemu to jwst takie dugie aghfjfgg i czemu intor na poczatku nawrt nje jest bracie co to jest Bize ile mozna ta sama plyte klepac no to sie nie konczy nawet juz nie pamietam tego zby

Overall: 3.29 (rounded to 3) Consistency: 3.17 Originality: 3.5 Enjoyment: 3 Virtuosity: 3.5 1. I Saw the Light - 5 2. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference - 4 3. Wolfman Jack - 3 4. Cold Morning Light - 3 5. It Takes Two to Tango - 3 6. Sweeter Memories - 3 7. Intro - NA 8. Breathless - 3 9. The Night the Carousel Burned Down - 4 10. Saving Grace - 4 11. Marlene - 3 12. Song of the Viking - 2 13. I Went to the Mirror - 2 14. Black Maria - 4 15. One More Day (No Word) - 3 16. Couldn't I Just Tell You - 4 17. Torch Song - 3 18. Little Red Lights - 3 19. Overture-My Roots - 2 20. Dust in the Wind - 3 21. Piss Aaron - 1 22. Hello It's Me - 5 23. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me - 2 24. You Left Me Sore - 4 25. Slut - 3

ok heaps of fun, had heard some of it but as an album its epic to listen to

Good but too damn long

While I can appreciate the fact that Rundgren played most of the instruments on the album by himself, this album vastly overstays its welcome.

A bit uneven at times but the lows here are better than most.

It was not bad, but I didn’t see how it earned its spot. It really felt like they needed a placeholder and this was the lucky winner.

I know all his hits and enjoy catching one on the radio. This was a long album and I’m not sure how to rate it but it makes me want to explore more of his works.

Very long album... some few good songs on here

The highest praise I can give this is that it really didn't feel like a 25-song, 90-minute drag. The four sides being so different kept this fresh and the record was so versatile and elegantly arranged. The mixing was superb but this was a 2015 remaster, not the original. Could have definitely skipped 1-2 songs per side and tightened it a lot.

Strong start. Interesting melodies. This starts to drag and is definitely too long but I have to commend the fact that it remains pretty interesting throughout a mammoth album

Långt men rätt kul

Långt och mycket som händer, men en större del lät bra ändå.

Stark trea. Bra men lite för långt.

There were a few songs I heard that I did not realize were by him, so it was a nice surprise. Not a bad album overall, just not one I would go out of my way to listen to.

3.5 plenty to like

This was unique in the way of he is playing all the instruments so I like that and it's sounds good but it didn't like completely wow me. I'll say it's a solid 4

Another Todd Rundgren album. And another grand-statement, sprawling double album. For some reason, it didn't feel as significant as A Wizard, a True Star, even if the ambition is all here. Still, I liked it about as much as that one. Key tracks: I Saw the Light It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

Not bad

I love me some Todd Rundgren but this one is way too long. There’s some awesome & fun pop rock here but idk.. it’s just backgroundy? Like nothing sticks out. It’s just really long winded especially considering it truly is an easy listen. I’ll have to give another listen. It’s right up my alley, like I said I’m a Rundgren fan and already had several of these songs saved. Just a tad overwhelming all at once.

Soft rock can sometimes just hit the spot and the best soft rock knows how to keep the time. Go too long and you’ll soon have an audience too tired to even enjoy it. THIS is one of those maximalist moments where there is too much of a good thing. THE INTRO is the 7th song and it’s pretty good it’s a look into Todd’s mind I just get so lost. These long albums that all sound quite similar. This is not bad music and Todd is Randy Newman,Billy Joel and a bit of Steely Dan. Songs like piss Aaron really showcase how silly Todd is but it can’t be alongside hello it’s me. It’s cut so terribly that it ruins the whole flow of the album. I’m not sure who this guy is but the instrumentals are awesome and Todd has a beautiful voice. I have to rate it lower just due to the terrible bloat. It’s also weird some weird songs on the back half

It's cool that he played all the instruments, but I didn't find it very engaging other than side 3. 2.2

I read somewhere he sounds like the male Carole King. Turns out that is exactly right. Nothing more.

Truely was not bad but there is about 100 songs and I’m tired 2.5-3

done

I definitely wish this were like two albums instead of one large one, but it's still a pretty great listen. The problem with larger albums like this is that there's more potential for there to be songs I just don't care for or remember after. The first two sides were great, the third side was pretty nice and the last one sorta petered out aside from one great hit. It's very funny to have a song as iconic as Hello It's Me follow a song called Piss Aaron. Todd's a pretty funny guy.

It was nice. Just not impressionable

album largo pero increible de escuchar. cancion preferida? Hello its me

Todd’s best

I Saw The Light is a classic for good reason - one of those timeless pop tunes that never seems to age - but aside from that, one or two yacht rock style tracks and a playful tune here and there, it all sounds a bit drawn out and aimless to me. He’s an impressively talented multi-instrumentalist and studio whizz, but doesn’t he just know it. I’d have whittled it down to ten tracks, held a few back for b-sides then binned the rest but what do I know? He seems to have done pretty well for himself without any input from me.

I thought I knew Todd Rundgren but when I listened to this I recognised everything and yet nothing specific. It sounded like something that would have been on constant play on the radio when I was a kid in the 70s. Well executed cheesey forgettable pop. Inoffensive but ineffective.

Rv

Surprisingly weird album

Tremendo disco loco

I'll take albums that were an hour too long for $400 thanks Alex

Nope. Nothing.

That’s too much Todd Rundgren. Double albums should be special. This one isn’t.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for here, but this ended up being a long, kinda boring trip through 70s super soft rock. The musicianship is great, and Rundgren knows how to write a catchy tune. Songs like "I Saw The Light" and "Hello It's Me" are almost like a super polished Carole King. The production is cool and has a ok-to-good vibe. But, at 25 songs and 90 minutes, it's a fucking drag. For every good track, there are a bunch of lame jams, outtakes, and filler that kill it. I get the DIY thing, but there was no quality control. It didn't need to be a double album, a shorter version would have been a classic, not a chore to get through.

This is a three star album grafted onto a one star yacht rock album

Interesting, first song the signature

A strange mush mash of songs that didn’t really feel cohesive as an album. Also a range of conflicting song styles though most were on the bland side. A couple of good ones though and certainly this offering was much better than the last we had of his. Way too long though as well.

Hmm pretty bland and nothing like the eccentric album we had before. It all plodded along in a 70s style that didn’t get anywhere but took a long time getting there.

In its defence it’s nowhere near as appallingly awful as his other album we’ve been given. But that was an epically low bar. So this one is just mostly really tedious in comparison - double album length as always not helping. He does wheel out a couple of half decent tunes when he gets a bit rockier. Generally speaking though there’s just some weird bits that feels like the whole thing is some sort of strange joke that we’re not in on. Scrapes a 2*.

Bits are good, but I felt like overall it was long.

Little too soft rock for me

Sweet sound of pop salads... A bit sickly sweet. And... misogynist early manosphere entitled lyrics. Nah.

Another boring double LP I have no interest in listening to. Was abouth as mid,uninteresting,repetitive and bland as is it possibly could be.

Perfectly fine early 70s pop music but I struggle to see why it is on this list.

Other than the two big hits, I was disappointed. There's still a lot of 70s pop that's well produced here. Liked Songs Added: I Saw The Light Hello It's Me

Dated and cheesy even for the time

Pleasant. Not necessarily my cup of tea but I didn't hate it. Okay as background music but not sure I'd listen to it out of choice again.

Das Doppelalbum wirkt wie ein endloses “schumm‑schumm” ohne echten Spirit. Die Stücke plätschern aneinander vorbei, ohne Konzept, ohne Zug, ohne Funken. Viel Fleiß, wenig Seele – und am Ende bleibt mehr Ermüdung als Eindruck.

In the same vein as Nilsson I think, total killer songwriter, appreciate that this was a one-man job for basically the entire album, no mean feat and a true testament to ADHD and the drugs that can be abused to counteract it. I knew I Saw The Light from the Licorice Pizza soundtrack, which is full of This Sort Of Thing

Pretty mid ngl, don’t really feel like this went anywhere or did much thought the hour and a half it was on. Didn’t have time for multiple listens (due to the runtime) so may have missed something, but I’m not racing back to this 2.5

Well, it was quite varied stuff. I enjoyed more than not

Don't really know anything about Todd Rundgren but I recognize the first song. It's a bit cheesy for my taste but we will see if it gets any better. Yeah this is just like generic 70's rock, nothing that stands out. Maybe it was the first time this cheesy style was ever made and if so good for them but def not for me. Like what the hell is Piss Aaron?

Absolutely no reason for this to be 90 mins long

Nice listen.

Too much 70's yacht rock on this list Best Song: I Saw the Light Rating: 5/10 Stars: 2

Well, banger the drum all day this is not. Thats all I ever knew about Todd rundgren and I kinda want that back. But let's back up, this isnt horrible. Its a bit too produced and clean. Its pop rock I guess. Not really my bag. Its also incredibly dorky at times. The viking song? Yuck. The song about a piss guy? Kinda funny but still not very enjoyable. And it just never ends. 90 minutes is too much for music that feels this shallow. I was checking how many tracks were left constantly. Only 18 more to go woooo. I wad done after like 5 or 6 tracks. My favorite song was couldnt I just tell you. But favorite is a relative term. I still never want to hear it again. It just had some teeth. Hello its me is also OK but i was so beat down by the time I got to that track i couldnt enjoy it at all. So at the end of it all its fine but im not into it in almost any way. Too poppy and uninteresting. And it has never heard of brevity. And thats the worst of it all.

Je ne connaissais pas mais il y a quelques bons morceaux

Steely Dan’s Aja then this. What have I done to upset the random generator? This was even more dull than Aja.

(2.75)

Great album! Songs are really good!

Finally, a double album that doesn’t suck. This shit slaps. It's really diverse and even more amazing that he wrote and recorded it all himself.

This was a cool chill album.

This is a weird one. I listened through twice. There a 4 all timers on here, 6 or 7 really good songs and the rest range from meh to utter dreck. I'm not a lyrics guy but the words in I Went to the Mirror made me say, what the fuck Todd, put down the Ritalin and take a nap. This would've been a killer single LP.

A bit same same. Can’t say I’m going to rush out to buy a Todd Rundgren CD.

Todd Rundgren made ‘Something/Anything?’ when he was 23. He recorded the double LP almost entirely on his own, at a time when self-recording meant turning the tape on, running to another room to play each instrument, then running back to press stop. ‘Hello It’s Me’ ‘It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference’ ‘Couldn’t I Just Tell You’ ‘Wolfman Jack’ ‘Cold Morning Light’ ‘Saving Grace’ ‘Black And White’ ‘Marlene’ ‘Dust In The Wind’ ‘Torch Song’ It’s banger after banger, and a remarkable showcase of songwriting, musicianship and sheer inventiveness. Sure, there’s some filler and weird studio experimentation across its sprawling double-album length, but even then it’s still pretty fun. Let me remind you again: Todd Rundgren made this tour de force when he was 23. When I was 23, I could barely tie my shoelaces.

Good album, just way too damn long for me to rate it any higher. There’s a lot of strong stuff on here, but by the time it was over I was definitely feeling the length. This is one of those albums where trimming it down probably would’ve helped me a lot. “Little Red Lights” gave me some Hendrix vibes, which I liked. “Piss Aaron” sounded familiar too, even though I have no idea where I’ve heard it before. And I definitely knew “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me” already. There’s plenty of good music here, I just don’t need quite this much of it.

Favorite Tracks: I Saw the Light / Wolfman Jack Rating: 3.1 Listened to a 2015 Remaster version in Lossless from Spotify. Bloated but overall pretty fun of 70's pop & soft rock, with some weirdness mixed in.

I liked it, except for Slut. Bad song, kind of brings down the average.

Surprisingly excellent. Immediately wanted to listen again. Musically similar across the entire album, but I found it very pleasant.

Two of the tracks are great (you know which ones) but the others are quite boring

Too long. Too diverse. A few good ones but much of it crap.

Nice

There were bits of this that I enjoyed but it needs some serious serious editing - I am bored at the 50 min mark, how am I only halfway through? Cut it to a 40 min album and this could get a 4. As it stands this is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road without the hits 2*

Bang average, don't get the hype at all!

Interesting, dynamic, but wayyyyy too long

Ass

Can't decide whether it's not anything or something

Great, laid back album in the beginning, boogie rock album at the end, interrupted by bizarre skits that sound like outtakes - fantastic, liked it a lot!

This really did not need to be a double album

Don't know why, but this is giving me vibes of stuff like Carol King (Particularly something like I Saw the Light), Seals and Crofts (Although not as easy listening), and Looking Glass. It's a pretty damn good album, but at an hour and a half, it wears on a bit. I think if I had more nostalgia for this like I do for the above listed albums, I'd be liking it more.

Snoozefest

Enjoyable listen, but damnnn did this drag on

A very well made and surprisingly diverse album that leans a little to strongly into the easy listening category for my personal tastes. Quite a "modern" sound for 1972.

Some good stuff in here, better than I thought. Interesting backstory to how this was made

I'm honestly tempted to give this album a higher rating feuled by the nostalgia of long car rides where my mom controlled the radio. If I could give partial stars it would get 3.5

I saw it in my peripheral vision. Thank god, something familiar. Something to tether myself to in this sea of mediocre adult contemporary schlock. No matter it is still 17 songs away, I can do this. Wait...oh no...this isn't what I expected. Noooooooo! If there was a spare star to penalize Mr. Rundgren I would have. Alas, the scale has a hard lower bound and this album had been firmly entrenched there for 19 songs already.

#337/1001. Should I say something about this album? I don't think it was anything.

A fever dream marathon that doesn't earn it's length. 4/10

Decent but nothing super impressive.

My new mood

65

It’s long one for sure. The double-album curse is probably what keeps it from a 5. But overall it’s a fun, inventive amazingly creative Rundgren work. Always an explorer, he really started taking steps on this one.

el primer 5/5 de esta pagina, entendi la vibra del tipo y su afan de explorar sonidos, me dio ganas de seguir explorando su discografia. GENIO 5/5

Something/Anything? really is the perfect title for this album

This is my first solo Todd Rundgren project on this generator, but I already know about him, I've got the Utopia LP. What is it about this motherfucker and excessively long releases? I guess if you have it in your brain, you might as well create it, and if you create it, you MIGHT AS WELL release it, but that's why there's re-releases with extra material for the fans. Because artists are supposed to curate their efforts to turn it into a project worth listening to when you're not already a fan. I could be wrong about this being excessive, since Rolling Stone mag seems to love it, but three quarters into it and I've been wanting it to end. Not because it's bad, it's actually pretty impressive, most of this is a one-man-band with the energy of a well oiled machine. I want this to end because the energy it's feeding me doesn't feel like it should last more than 45 minutes, and this is a personal problem. Maybe there's rockers out there in the '70s who appreciated having a hefty rock and roll experience as everyone else was submerged in disco-fever. Having finished the project, I'm surprised none of these songs have been waiting in my memory, there was no "oh this is THAT album" moment, and it confuses me because on paper this really is one of the most popular rock and roll albums of the '70s. I've even heard of Todd before, it's not like I lack the cultural background to have heard this. And if I have heard it, and it just wasn't memorable enough, then we get to my general feelings about this effort. It's not bad, the composition and choice of instruments is real top-tier stuff, it's just not a very fun listen. Some more background spins, letting the investigations seep, I figure this is probably an ideal release on vinyl. Each side is its own project, making 4 short efforts that you can play interchangeably. That's why you get an intro track a quarter of the way through this listen, which also arguably is something that makes more sense in physical media. Weirdo talking into a mic like that. It's odd, and maybe it'd be pulled off differently now in 2026, but it makes sense for something from decades ago. Still. 2.8/5

This is probably a 6/10 if it wasn't so damn long. Definitly didn't need to be an hour and a half long. 4/10

A bit long, but it's Division into four unique parts makes it easier to digest.

A guy walked into a restaurant where I was working, and I could swear it was Todd Rundgren. I asked everyone around, but no one knew who he was. Eventually, I realized it wasn’t him and moved on. No shit, about a week later the real Todd Rundgren came in for lunch.

Maximalist soft rock, like Gram Parsons meets Stevie Wonder - piano-driven songwriting with lush arrangements, loads of synths, easy-going moods, gentle harmonies, a hint of twang, and a blissed out hazy California sunset vibe. But its so easy-going and so soft it rarely coalesces into anything tangible, its a series of loose impressions, of passing feelings. It feels like it was made as a demonstration of what you can do with a state of the art early 70s recording studio.

Angenehm zu hören, überwiegend ruhiger Pop 3/5

This seems like a wild experiment and a show of force. I liked some parts and some were less interesting to me. The heavier rock songs were the best to me. Seems like an album Tyler The Creator would do if he was alive in the 70s and liked rock.

Joar.

Half of this shit just sounds like the Carpenters to me (no offense to the Carpenters).

Middle of the road 70s.pop.

Generally finding this rather bland and not inspiring - but I did like Black Maria. Album not really to my taste though.

I didn't really get this one after two listens. Felt like it could do with a serious edit.

This grew on me as I listened - I'm still not sure if it's really a 3 (could be a 2 or a 4)

Gear: HEDD Audio HEDDphone Two Artwork: ️🌹🌹🟪 Production (2015 Remix): 📈👂😖 Music: 🧐🤦‍♀️🙅‍♀️ Rating: 🥀/5

I thought the first song started strong (may have heard before) then nothing really started with me after that, except for one song I've definitely listened to before on a soundtrack. I thought intro and slut were amusing, but it felt every bit as long as it was

3.5

Se me hizo levemente largo pero muuuy bueno

Album #114 Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything? I only just recently decided to finally listen to the solo career of Todd Rundgren. I have long been aware of him, mostly for producing one of my favourite albums of all time, Skylarking by XTC, yet his individual albums always seemed somewhat daunting. Todd has a knack for double albums; he’s never been the kind of guy who tries to appeal to the masses by making a really ‘clean’, digestible album. He always makes sure to put everything out there that he wants to say. I listened to ‘A Wizard/ A True Star,’ and I was quite grasped by it, a perfect blend of art rock, psychedelia, and pop rock, which made for a very good listen. And though I have heard some tracks from ‘Something/Anything?’, namely his breakout hit ‘I Saw The Light’, the length of the album led me to put this one off. But put off no longer because this list decided to force my hand, and I’m quite glad that it did. I would say that this album is a bit weaker than the other Rundgren albums that I listened to, which is inevitable when being an hour and a half long; there will be some songs I’m not too crazy about. But I would also say that this album is a lot more normal than ‘A Wizard/ A True Star’ as well. But even though it has more bloat and is less experimental, it is still quite a good album. The highs are as high as I’ve heard from Rundgren, and he is able to maintain his humour and carefree attitude throughout. This album feels like kicking it with your most talented friend who plays you a bunch of songs he’s been working on; it’s a very relaxed listen. Other than Brian Eno and David Bowie, Rundgren might be the producer with the most works produced that I enjoy, with the aforementioned Skylarking, Forever Now by the Psychedelic Furs, and The New York Dolls, to name some highlights. Ultimately, this album’s length both helps it and hinders it for me, since it has so many great tracks that I have to give it a good score, but also it is so long to the point where I won’t be as eager to return to it. Best Tracks: I Saw the Light, It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference, I Went to the Mirror, Couldn’t I Just Tell You, Torch Song Worst Track: Piss Aaron Score out of 10: 7.5

Well, I enjoyed some of it but really don’t care for it.

I have a new found appreciation for albums that are less than an hour. This felt like a saga time commitment and challenging to fit in one sitting. I hadn’t come across Todd Rundgren before, but instantly recognised some great songs like Hello it’s Me, I Saw the Light, It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference. The album has a three parts to it: up to Sweeter Memories it’s fun laidback jazzy soul harmonious (although I really didn’t like it takes two to tango). Then it transitions into a genuinely irritating annoying phase. I would believe you if you told me Todd was drunk in despair and feeling petty, then smoked a j when he wrote Song of the Viking as he fantasised about a different corporeal experience. I went to the mirror is when the album picks up again for me, like he’s getting his shit together after being in a weird pit of misery. Enter the beautiful powerful guitar mixed with the piano. Black Maria he’s back in a groove, slowly standing up. Overall I liked the transition of the album as if we’re joining Todd in getting through the pits of life. It fits different moods, but I definitely prefer the songs on the rockier side, as well as the beginning others harmonious sunshine simple jazzy songs.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I expected very little based on his last album, but this one has a good mix of upbeat and melodic songs.

Hello It’s Me is such a strong song. Tells a great story with great lyrics and wonderful supporting vocals.

Less is more. Should have been pulled down to one album.

All the Todd - brilliant, loopy, soaring, excessive - in one place. 4.5

Wow that album is really long.

Although the album came out in 1972, I see that Hello It's Me was a hit in 1974, which supports my memory of being amazed, as a young pedant, by the grammatical complexity of the phrase "seeing anyone as much as I do you." I would have been 9 by then, which is more plausible than 7. Obviously this is an enormous mess, like the other one we heard, leavened by a few great songs. What can I say, the guy's nuts and in this case no one even tried to rein him in.

Album muy raro, comienza siendo algo rítmico y feliz, mientras avanzan las canciones el album se vuelve medio oscuro, con sonidos raros luego se transforma en una especie mas de rock n roll. Es como si te hubieras drogado y el grupo juega ping pong con tu cabeza en diferentes velocidades y no entiendes que está pasando

Nice 70ies Pop-Rock Album

album com faixas simpáticas e um final beeeem arrastadinho.

6/10

I couldn't get into this at all. It opened ok and then I lost interest. I made it through the first album but couldn't face the second one.

Why is this so long

Wel een paar sfeerige Laaaang album though

What I wish the Beatles actually sound like.

Really didn't like some of this, quite liked other bits. The benefit of an album going on too long, I guess. Always assumed Rundgren was more rocky, so that was a surprise.

I'm not really as obsessed with Rundgren as I used to be a few years back, but this is still a really good album. Unfortunately it can feel at times like the record fell victim to the curse of a double LP being burdened with filler, as besides the smash hit "Hello It's Me" the rest of Side D falls very, very flat. That said, the rest of the album is a very fun journey through a ton of different flavors of 1970s pop rock, "Couldn't I Just Tell You" in particular will never get old. 8.5/10.

Surprisingly "long" for 90 minutes since it's broken up into 4 parts. Doesn't feel perfectly cohesive even within those parts but it's definitely a kind of experimental I can dig. Favourite track: It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

8.5/10 I think the amount of variety, without necessarily having any bad songs, is impressive on its own. There are a few songs I personally wouldn't include, but it’s nevertheless a great record.

A total cacophany in the best of ways.

This is like 70's pop or rock. Feels a bit like the Beatles but faster paced and with more rock undertones, maybe put a bit of Queen in there. The singing is good and the album has a great spread of different sounds. I have enjoyed the listen but have not heard anything that stands out to me. It's between a 3 and 4. I don't think I'd ever come back to it, but I do like it overall.

The beginning felt like it was just the same song over and over, but as it progressed got more interesting and tried some different styles and takes. Not bad

Nice album cover. The album was ok.

Easy breezy and competently done.

First half of 1-st disk is perfect. Second - so-so. However, Song Of The Viking is very nice. Disk number 2 is very nice.

It's so beige

When you ask an AI music generator incapable of memorable art to spit out some 1970s light rock or soft pop, this is what it will produce. Listenable without attention. I’m surprised any of these songs are remotely popular because I can barely tell them apart.