Something/Anything?

A classic avant-pop with some true hits from that era.

This was a total, pleasant surprise. It's somehow quite experimental, especially in its production and songcraft, but also highly accessible. I didn't read until after my first listen, that this was divided into four distinct sides; the opening run is all safe, soft-rock ballads, but that's not to say they lack creativity and edge. Then he starts *trying stuff out*. And a lot of it really, really works. The songwriting is great, the guitar work is fantastic and the production is frequently excellent and very engaging. It simultaneously reminds me of late-60s Brian Wilson and early-70s John Lennon and I am definitely listening to this some more.

Not knowing anything about this album other than the artist and date, I expected it to suck. But in fact it's very good--lots of different and interesting musical styles, and a couple of hits that I recognized. My only caveat is that I'm not that into the aesthetic of the early 70s sound.

Some great tunes, in a variety of styles. So many tunes on the album, good value at the time. The sound is a little thin as in under orchestrated by current standards. I Saw The Light 4/5 It wouldn’t Gave Made Any Difference 4/5, Hello It’s Me 4/5, the rest 3/5 so 3.5/5 overall.

Can’t believe my parents used to listen to this trash. 4 stars

sprawling genius, packed with ideas, some brilliantly executed

Whatever else you can say about this album, the first and last songs are absolute bangers. This album reeks of someone who’s played the game for a while and is letting their hair down. Between the length, the “look for mistakes” interlude, and all the tracks that have Easter eggs and conversational tidbits in them, it feels extremely relaxed. A lot of the songs have similar vibes and feelings so I don’t think it needed to be quite this long, but part of the point feels like it isn’t about what I want. He’s comfortable - he’s having fun! If you like Todd and what he’s capable of, it is a treat. I liked that in certain songs you could really hear influences. Like I think I hear a lot of late Beach Boys Carl Wilson vocals (Wolfman Jack) in there. A few of them sound like they could be Carole King songs (Cold Morning Light). The man just clearly loves what he’s doing and I can appreciate that a lot. Worth a listen. Even if it’s just a smattering of songs - at least listen to I Saw The Light and Slut.

I really dug this. Sophisticated Pop songs. Some shades of Alex Chilton in there. A tad long.

Long as shit but good

Nice discovery! I had heard the 2 hits over the years. The entire album is great! I wish I had known…

Nice 70s album

Todd, Todd, Todd... your musical mind is such a beautiful thing. There's no reason at all for this to be an hour and a half long! But man, the many highlights of this album are so good

This sounds very 70s rock and I like 70s rock. Stand-out: Saving Grace

After years of trying to "get" Todd Rundgren (beyond the hits, I mean), yesterday it finally happened. It just finally clicked. I love the bizarre arrangements. And he uses some of the weirdest chords and chord progressions I've ever heard. And the overall aesthetic finally appealed to me. I'm going with a 4 because this is a double album and it was too much for me to digest in one day. (I couldn't even finish it.) And not everything worked. But there is an obscene amount of creativity on this album, and I can see this one growing in my estimation over time.

Brilliant

The most apt phrase I can think of to describe Something/Anything? is “funhouse mirror Elton John.” Rundgren has the same kind of pop polish, but likes indulging in the wackier, slightly juvenile side of things too.

I will listen when I'm good and ready; I understand it's not as leftfield as A Wizard, A True Star but as it's like the 5th double album in the last lil while, my attention span is not at my (already low) standard. I HAVE made time for several smaller albums this week from my personal list (Tom Petty, Kris Kristofferson, B.T.O., so I haven't quite left the 70's singer-songwriter sphere). October 25, 2024 Side 1: wonderful set of songs, and "I Saw the Light" is a great example of the rest of the album's pop rock HLs: tracks 1, 3 and 4 Side 2: less consistent batch, but still very likable HLs: tracks 9, 10, 11 Sides 3 and 4: S/A joins the ranks of All Things Must Pass and Double Nickels on the Dime for saving all the worst for the final quarter. Ya think I wouldn't notice a song called "Piss Aaron"? Shame on you, Todd HLs: tracks 2, 3, 4, 7 Bloat aside, I am super impressed how the one-man show of Todd Rundgren sounds like an actual band (well 3/4s of it, as he has other people for the last stretch). Even during the asides before the song starts, he has chemistry with himself ("alright alright, 1-2-3-4...") And really, when the biggest fault of a good album is that it's too long, there really could be worse problems to have

Really didn't know this side of Rundgren. It fits nicely with the other greats of the era. 4.5

wow avg 3.02 this hurts me never heard of this guy before the list but this album is very good, how can people dislike him? yeah some not much tracks but overall very good and a few awesome tracks bonus points for randomly using 'la bamba' melody

liked this a lot, glad it didn't all sound like the same song. it was kind've long for me today tho. 8.5/10

7/10 - I really like this album. It is pretty chill but exciting at the same time. He does a great job with the electronici-sh sounds. Also I love the song intro where he is just complaining about people bad at mixing and editing.

I really liked it. Lots of different stuff, kept me engaged the whole time, a few great songs.

Yet another artist I've listened to songs from but never a complete album. Really glad I'm finally doing it because this is quite good. It's very varied but still feels relatively cohesive. I love the mix of poppy catchy songs with more experimental and psychedelic material.

Disco esencial de una de las figuras de la música, sobre todo de los 70. Es un disco doble, hora y media de buenas melodías. Dividido en 4 partes, la cara A la define como "un ramo de melodías que atrapan el oído", I saw the light es una gloriosa apertura con una de ls mejores canciones jamás escritas. sigue con otras gemas como It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Sweeter Memories o Cold Morning Light. El tono de voz, e incluso estilo de estas canciones siempre se ha visto influido por Carole King, lo cual indica la magnitud de las mismas. Wolfman Jack es un poco más dura, pero tiene suficiente azúcar para encantar a cualquiera. La cara B es "el lado cerebral", con una intro hablada y otra instrumental. Sigue con la circense The Night the Carousel Burned Down y Saving grace es otra golosina. La cara C "El niño se pone pesado", La última parte del álbum es una opereta titulada "el niño necesita un nuevo par de botas de piel de serpiente" Court't I Just Tell You " ha tenido una gran influencia en los artistas del género musical power pop Hello It's Me " había sido grabado por la antigua banda de Rundgren, Nazz Otros discos de 1972 fueron: Debuts de Steely Dan, Roxy Music, Paul Simon, Big Star, Neu¡, ¿Fela Kuti? y Lou Reed (además de su espléndido Transformer ) Discos expecionales como los de David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Stevie Wonder – Talking Book y Music of my mind, Elton John-Honky Château, Nick Drake – Pink Moon, Yes – Close to the Edge, Miles Davis – On the Corner, Neil Young – Harvest, The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St, Curtis Mayfield – Super Fly, Raspberries- Fresh, Genesis – Foxtrot, Van Morrison - Saint Dominic's Preview, Deep Purple- Machine Head y Made in Japan, Joni MIttchell- For the roses, Tangerine Dream - Zeit, T Rex- The slider, Kevin Ayers- Whatevershebringswesing, la banda sonora The harder they come... una cosecha excelente.

Miellyttävää rokkia, vähän psykedeelistä ja ehkä proge. Kappaleet kivan poppisia. Tulee Yes mieleen hyvällä tavalla. Parhaat: It Wouldnt Have Made Any Difference, Black Maria, I Saw The Light

Excellent album, super original and creative. Will be listening to this more.

Album 520 of 1001 Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972) Rating : 4 / 5 Not always enthused about double albums. Always seems to be a lot of throw aways with them. This holds strong all the way through. Some moments better than others, but overall a fine album. Great listen.

I have to admit that I read the wiki page first and let out an unhappy fart when I saw “straightforward pop ballads”, so I went into this with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. I was pleasantly surprised by most of it and really loved some of it, but there are also some fart inducing passages in there. Bonus half a star for being creative and kind of kooky.

It took me almost the entire double album to figure it out but I hear so much Hall & Oates in this album. I can’t say that double album helped this one as there were a handful of clownlike songs that really werent great. There was a few fantastic songs, the album opens with “Saw the light” the most recognizable and best song on the album. It definitely struggles to keep up the momentum after the first song but is still a pretty solid albeit long album. 7/10

pretty damn good if you ask me

Ambitious, melodic, the musical equivalent of deep fried chicken

Wow, j’avais jamais entendu parler de cet album là, on est dans l’underrated territory du folk rock. Seul bémol, l’album est trop long (1h30), compressé en 45 minutes ça aurait mérité l’étoile de plus

Nice tunes. They feel both catchy and fresh

An epic, double LP from Todd Rundgren, that is as much a self-indulgent vanity project, as it is a pop-rock masterpiece from the early 70's. Everyone that has ever listened to classic rock is familiar with, I Saw The Light and Hello It's Me, joyful pop gems that alone give this album classic status. These two songs have been stuck in my head for over 50 years! I've never actually listened to the whole record and to call it sprawling would be an understatement. Spread out through four sides, Rundgren explores all kinds of sounds and noises, as if he threw all his song ideas against the wall to see what would stick. Fortunately, more stuck than fell, but the length of the record began to dilute the quality and it would have been more of a banger (for me, at least) if he stopped at one disc. Still, an essential listen.

Not sure how I missed this! I like it quite a bit.

He's got a nice voice. Very 70s. Too long. Love his irreverence, though. Intro was surprising!

A generous 4, way overlong but the highs see it through.

Not every song is incredible and it's a bit too long, but there are some great tracks on here. Solid 7-8/10

Very schticky but it works for me. Some of the tunes sound like they're from the mid-60s and some sound almost modern, pretty impressive for a 1972 release.

I actually liked this surprisingly

Some nice pop rock album, with some variety. Nothing extreme special but I had fun listening.

Love this album (with the exception of the song where he is in love with a 17 year old what the fuck). However the album is too long. A whole bunch of the middle could be trimmed out. Those first 3 songs are heaters though!

This album sounds like a lot of fairly typical 70s ballad-style rock/pop music, but also contains much more on subsequent listening. In fact there is enough variety that I wonder why this collection was arranged into the (double) album as it loses its cohesiveness a bit. That being said, I believe Rundgren is quite groundbreaking as some of this material could fit in many subsequent eras, and it’s quite impressive that he was behind basically the entire arrangements, vocals, instruments, and production. This easy listening is simple enough for background music, but also sophisticated enough to delve into deeper. 4/5

Found this hard to rate. Most of the album is some decent stuff mixed in with less good.. Saw The Light is a classic and there's some other fun songs like Wolfman Jack and the instrumental. The album has a few too many soft rock ballads that made me kinda bored (examples: Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Marlene). The last side / mini album of the 4 is great and definitely my favourite bit, maybe it's the energy of having a full band that helped revitalise my listen. Overall, plenty of highs, but a slightly disjointed and inconsistent album. I'll go 4 maybe because of the recency bias of the final few tracks being good!

Banger

I really enjoyed this. Todd seems like a fun guy, and is happy to have a giggle at himself. The intro track, which is notably track 7 of the album, points out sound glitches and makes a game of it. The actual music is really pleasant old school pop rock. There are lovely vocal harmonies and nice musical arrangements. This album is long, but never became boring. This was an enjoyable one today, and likely one I’ll remember for a while.

4 - I think there are so many good songs, but it is wayyyyyy to long. It just doesn't need to be.

Just when I thought that I was tired of the album we got some really fun stuff at the end. Still a bit too long.

if there's one thing i've taken from this project 34 albums in, it's that phil spector really did change music forever. the production of this (and the earlier born to run) is exactly what i love about pop production. there are not quiet moments on these albums, not truly. or maybe it's more accurate to say every moment in this production style is a busy moment, maximized to the edge of overproduction. would another melody sound good here? how about another instrument? perhaps another harmony? more keys? if the sound is harmonious, it gets included. its hard to get a voice, guitar, bass, and drums to sound magical. its even harder to do what rundgren and springsteen and many others were doing after phil spector unleashed this on the world. Something/Anything is the perfect album to follow up yesterday's Peter Gabriel - So. So will never leave the 80s, it is wholly married to the sound of that decade. Gabriel's wonderful voice and melodies will always be marred to me by a sound that was in fashion until it wasn't. Its synths, sax, and airbrushed dramatics helped define The Sound of the 80's but what about every other decade of music? It's not that there is no place for it but it's so shortsighted in eschewing the timeless for the timely, and often for something to achieve greatness it must be timeless, befitting any era of music. This is what I discovered for myself last year finally giving the great classical composers a true listen. The way they made music wasn't the same but the melodic and harmonic heart of their compositions can last through any era. That's what Rundgren does on Something / Anything? (and the next year, A Wizard / A True Star), it's what Beethoven did on his 5th Symphony, it's what the Beatles and the Beach Boys did, it's what Phil Spector did on all his hits, it's what Phil Elverum did on The Glow Pt. 2, it's what Joanna Newsom continues to do today, it's what Black Country, New Road did in 2022 on Ants From Up There. I'm definitely getting ahead of myself though, after not knowing quite how to express my feelings on So I had to get all that out. I'm not sure S/A and AW/ATS carry the emotional weight that those albums/bands do that make them my all time favorites but these albums absolutely carry the musical weight of the greatest. I don't think I have many words for the actual songs on the album itself. Similar to Songs in the Key of Life, this is just something I instantly knew I would love and I absolutely want to give it more listens. It's length is a little imposing but it's not like its a wasted 90 minutes, it just will take more time to dig through. It kinda does every genre and idea well, in a way that may annoy some who'd rather hear it excel at one thing but I don't mind at all. I enjoyed my constant "damn." moments and really do look forward to hearing this again and again.

I was extremely intimidated by the 90 minute run time of this album especially after that shitty 60 minute drum and bass album and even more so after seeing that it’s 70s psychedelic rock/pop but all of my fears were allayed. This is the fun kind of 70s psych pop that’s catchy and energetic and while it might’ve still been a little long for me I still had positive feelings toward it by the end. I saw the light and dust in the wind were my favs.

The 70s was rife with double albums that featured a handful of great songs and then a lot of filler, where bands clearly grew big enough to have complete creative control and no one to reign in their less cohesive ideas. This is an exception to that rule. Granted not every song is perfect - Piss Aaron is hardly on par with Couldn’t I Just Tell You - but it’s incredibly diverse and consistent for such a huge project, with fantastic songs and a production masterclass

This is a really impressive album. I groaned when I saw it was a double album, and realising I rated his other album 2/5, but this flew by pretty quickly. There's a real consistency across the whole album, with no real dip in quality. There's plenty of variation too, from soft ballads, to more upbeat rocky numbers, to more soulful ones, and weirder interludes. He makes it all work together. There's an impressive amount of instruments across this, that he apparently all played himself, and does so excellently.

I liked this one a lot more than I expected to! It took multiple days to listen and relisten, so I never had a smooth listen from start to finish, but still enjoyed. Loved songs like "Wolfman Jack", "I Went to the Mirror", "Black Maria", and those last few tracks. A fun mix of Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers, The Cars self titled album, and maybe Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Could've done with less of the very 70s ballads.

like a mixture of the beatles, elton john, and frank zappa. if i rated it purely as a piece of art i’d probably give it a 5. unfortunately this is still a music review and the music didn’t ALWAYS hit so i’ll have to go with a high 4

Great songwriting and amazing production, it being a double album it does drag a bit at times due to its length but there are enough quality tunes to justify listening all the way through

What a lovely adventure of an album.

Tbh I didn't finish it because it was so long. I'll have to go back for the second half another day and come back to edit this. It was pretty good. 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Una canción sale en My Girl, I Saw the Light. Le doy un 4. Aunque igual no me gusta tanto. Es agradable.

A whole double album of songs that sound like the guardians of the galaxy soundtrack mixed with some super creative parts. A teir

why is this shit so fucking quiet?!

Una canción sale en My Girl, I Saw the Light. Le doy un 4. Aunque igual no me gusta tanto. Es agradable.

Damnnnn. Out of the gate loving this. extremely my shit. Really nice grooves. Some crazy chords going on here too. Love the layered vocals & harmonies. The drums on this thing are so good. Aw man. I just read he was a Lennon hater. Gonna try my best to get through the rest of the album without my complete Beatles bias.

this was pretty good but a bit long, i liked his other record but i think this one is better, idk how to describe it to be honest, but i think it was worth the listen

Lots of good tunes on this one, kind of sounded like something a former Beatle would write. There were some weird transitional bits and odd lyrics that weren't really necessary

I've heard a lot of good things about this album, though I did balk at the runtime at first glance. It is really quite long, but the songs consistently run from pretty good to great. There aren't really any outright clunkers on here. 'Something/Anything?' is an achievement, but it might be awhile before I listen to it again in full (at least in one sitting.) Highlights: Wolfman Jack, Cold Morning Light, Sweeter Memories, Breathless, The Night the Carousel Burned Down, I Went to the Mirror, One More Day (No Word), Couldn't I Just Tell You, Dust in the Wind, Hello It's Me, You Left Me Sore

Þristur við fyrstu hlustun, I saw the light mjög gott en svo mistæk rest. En það er þessi þriðja og fjórða hlustun sem leiðir svo margt í ljós, og svo er þessi áttundatugar hljóðheimur svo næs.

Todd Rundgren does the White Album. This succeeds and fails under those same principles. A bunch of dope awesome tracks, surrounded by some more mediocre work. Not to mention it's colossal run time which means it lacks a bit of identity after all that time. I did thoroughly enjoy it however. Fav songs: - I Saw The Light - Wolfman Jack - Black Maria - Little Red Lights - Hello it's Me + more

listened to most of it. i thought it was pretty good. moght come back to listen to the rest of it at some point. probably not but maybe. intro was fun

Iummmm I did end up listnentinf to the whole thing but I may have been a little bit asleep for some of it so can’t promise my rating will be perfect however I enjoyed what I got. The intro was funny and I enjoyed it and then all the tracks were well done in of themselves. I just don’t understand why it was double the length of a normal album

I groaned when I noticed it was a double album, but I ended up enjoying how it was split up quite a bit. I will say the "heavy" side (side three) wasn't as heavy as I was hoping, but the rest of the songs do what they say on the tin. The "Intro" on side two makes me think Todd Rundgren is the type of person to be able to fuck around, and also just knows what the heck he's doing. Call it a 4.5. Favorite tracks: "I Saw The Light", "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference", "The Night The Carousel Burned Down", "I Went To The Mirror", "Piss Aaron", "Slut"

Seems like I should be complaining about the length of this one, as I just did for Genesis - Lamb Lies Down, but the songs on here are more varied so I didn't feel the length as much. I like this album a lot. 4/5

Standouts: Hello It's Me, I Saw The Light, Wolfman Jack Others: It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 3.75

Very fun and upbeat! Classic

I loved the many different elements of this album. The crazy, psychedelic 60s vibe, with some tracks that sounded like that could have been released yesterday. Some proper catchy ear worm instrumentals we well as great story telling lyrics. I'll give it a second listen.

After the first few tracks I was hooked, I thought this was going to be one of those albums where every track is top quality. Sadly, there were a few lulls where the tracks became stodgy and repetitive, but there were still many more strong tracks than guff. There are so many different styles on this album, I was reminded of The Faces and Motown and everything in between. All in all, I greatly enjoyed it and will listen again.

I liked this

70's 🤗

Enjoying this album and his annoying the studio intro. Ballads aren’t too corny for me and has a nice amount of rock. One songs lyrics were a bit cringe cos he was dissing all his ex girls

“Before we go any further, I’d like to show you all a game I made up. This game is called Soooounds of the Studio” and I thought my player was playing Hot Chip in the middle of the album. Their version of the game is more fun. Good album by the way.

interesting, creative, well-done. Not sure I will seek it out for multiple listens.

I saw the light is a great song. Holds up 50 years later. Anyway, like lots of albums from the 70s it can drag if youre not in the mood for it, but its a pretty damn good album all things considered. 4/5

I recognize some of these tunes. Rest seem to blend in.

This was a nice listen - really like the mix of genres incorporated here. Perhaps overstayed its welcome a little bit, but overall a solid body of work.

Hello it's me is one of my favs from the 70s.

Una canción sale en My Girl, I Saw the Light. Le doy un 4. Aunque igual no me gusta tanto. Es agradable.

A bit scatterbrain, but thoroughly entertaining.

Just good classic singer songwriter tunes. Didn't know the artist at all but enjoyed the album immensely.

to be honest, i'm a todd fan. i haven't dived super deep into his greater discography, but this album is one i have loved for a long time, ever since i heard "I Saw the Light" on the radio one time and was mesmerized. i think you have to be a certain type of person to really enjoy todd and i'm that type of person. he is terrific at crafting catchy melodies and doing lots of studio wizardry. he plays most of the album himself! that is never not an impressive accomplishment, especially because YOU CAN'T TELL BY THE PLAYING. to me, this album is sort of like his version of the beatles' white album. is it overly long? yeah. is it a bit uneven? yeah. does it get kinda weird? yeah. and, like the white album, i appreciate how off kilter it is. although, still not my favorite album of his, and definitely not his most off kilter, but still very much up there for me.

Lovely record, shocked I've never heard it before. Like McCartney, Rundgren plays all insturments on 3/4 sides of the album. Only a couple stinkers, but that's expected with a double album. A strong 4 - 8.5

Bingo!

This was a decent listen. I liked the first half better than the second.

sounded good, needs a relisten!

I can do without Intro, but at least it's only about a minute. I thought I Went To The Mirror was a bit too mumbly. I thought Little Red Lights is messy, but the guitar solo in the middle is cool. The rest is very good. Why hadn't I heard of this guy before this project?

"Something/Anything?" is the third album by American musician Todd Rungren and a double album at that. Rock, pop, R&B and pyschedelia. Yep, they're all appropriate. The album is divided into four parts. The first three parts are all Todd. He played all the instruments, sang all the songs and produced it. The last part was recorded live with a band and no overdubs. The album hit #29 in the US and widespread critical acclaim. The album opens up with the first single "I Saw the Light." Piano, guitar, backing vocals. A nice and catchy melody. Easy listening pop at a high level. "I Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" continues the pop. This is slower and pretty much a ballad. All the songs of this first section are winners. I thought the most interesting song of the second section was the instrumental "Breathless." A weird bass. A wah-wah guitar. An organ. The pace picks up. The highlight of the third part is the single "Couldn't I Just Tell You." Acoustic and electric guitars. Urgent vocals. Very melodic. A searing guitar solo. The fourth part with the band was my favorite. "Dust in the Wind" is soulful with the female backing vocals. Rick Derringer on guitar. Mike Brecker killing it on the tenor sax. No, this is not the Kansas song. His big song "Hello It's Me" begins on the third attempt. Smooth. The organ. Horns giving it a jazz feel. Maybe Todd's best vocals on a song. This is quite the one man achievement. The songs are very melodic. Three rock radio staples. I do like Rungren's next album "A Wizard, A True Star" quite a bit. But, this album has to be his pop zenith. An album that needs to be listened to all the way through.

This is some yacht rock, but fun. I am really enjoying this - the more rock my songs are great.

There are folks who swear by this album to the point of it becoming overrated. It's clearly something of a power pop master work, especially with the two timeless hits (both I Saw The Light and Hello It's Me are forever 5's). And there's an album within this that's a 5, but I've long been of the belief that a double album is just too much. Someone should have made Todd trim the fat.

I really liked parts of this and others really fell flat for me. Disc 1, side 1: 5/5 stars This is prime time simp music right here. I Saw the Light comes out swinging with a vibe that screams “I’m going to embarass my kids in front of their friends by having a couple of beers and being super in love with their mom at this barbecue” Disc 1, side 2: 3/5 stars The night the carousel burned down really wasn’t doing it for me? I enjoyed the transition into Saving Grace though. Disc 2, side 1: 2/5 stars Surprisingly, the hardest listen on the album. It was just, dad rock. It was fine. The songs mostly ran together. Disc 2, side 2: 5/5 stars Hell yeah, ended on a high. Overall, going with a 4/5 because while I like the different clearly defined sections, they felt very disconnected? Just release several shorter concept albums if that’s what you are trying to do? A 4 part, 1.5 hour album is hard to give a perfect rating to.

Considering I saw the Light is one of my favorite songs, this album ranks high with me. Very diverse album from an influential artist. It's long-25 songs-but if you want a great overview of Todd Rundgren, start with this album.

I only really knew Todd Rungren from that song in the Toyota commercials in the 90s. This was great. I may even bump this up to 5 upon relisten. Wolfman Jack is my standout.

Really easy listening. Fun stuff. 4 of 5

Really loved this

Ah, sitä hyvää. Todd on kasvanut pieneksi suosikiksi viime vuosina. Kantaa pituutensa mainiosti.

Really good

This album is really closer to four EPs. Side A is packed with melodic pop and soul inspired songs that owe as much from Motown as they do from the Beach Boys and early 70s soft rock. Side B takes an experimental and impressionist turn that foreshadows what direction Rundgren will take in the future. Side C take a heavier hard rock turn though songs like 'One More Day (No Word)' and 'Torch Song' show his finesse. 'Couldn't I Just Tell You' is a power pop masterpiece. Side D is a self described pop operetta and much of it recorded live giving the side a spontaneous and intimate feel.

incredible. just far too long.

Took my awhile to finish because it’s a long album. Solid album. Each song flowed well into the next. Very relaxing and chill.

3.5, a guilty pleasure

Very modern sounding pop-rock album, an in depth listening is required.

A double album of 70's soft rock from the king studio geekwizard of the 70's. Songs are smooth, lushly produced and have great tunes. It's a double but there are no duff tracks on here.

It's another Todd Rundgren album and another surprise. It's not as good as the "A Wizard, A True Star" that I got here before, due to the inconsistency along the album. Still, it's the kind of thing that makes following this list worth it.

not quite as interesting and fun as *A Wizard/A True Star*, but it's pretty good. Enjoying Todd’s entries on this list so far, but in terms of “Producer guys’ projects where they’re composing the music” Brian Eno’s easily tops for me, and I’d probably even put Alan Parsons over Todd a lot of the time.

?/? everything and more

Much more something than nothing, but maybe a bit too much of both everything and anything (e.g., studio chatter) to give the highest rating (largely because this probably didn’t have to be a double album). Still, there are 4-5 excellent songs and an equal number of very good ones. Overall, the feel is baroque, with a near overwhelming wave of melodies and hooks and ideas, and near endless filigree, and it's not unpleasant on balance, just exhausting after a time, with a certain sameyness too, given that there is so much of everything on every cut. Clearly less woulda been more, but one senses that TR wouldn't liklely have know where to draw the line. Perhaps it's equally a highly personalized and eccentric masterpiece, and an extended hang with a cool and somewhat goofy (and certainly self-involved) kid who has all the latest toys and isn’t afraid to use them (or show off how much he can do with them).

billy joel-ish, sometimes like Queen. i like it

Un Todd en très grande forme qui va passer toquer à notre porte muni de pétards et de claques-doigt fraîchement volés la veille au vieux qui nous les vendait beaucoup trop cher à la kermesse de fin d'année. Il est très certainement mort d'ailleurs.

4-

There is a lot of musical skill and good songwriting on this album, although the production is pretty schmaltz. It also verges into the strange quite a few times, apparently Todd Rundgren thinks of this as his cannabis/ritalin album? Audio-wise, I'd throw some shrooms into the mix as well. But between the bland 70s soft rock songs and the weird crunching/popping sounds, there are some great songs here. I had never heard of Todd Rundgren (although I definitely recognized some of the songs) so this was new and I didn't know what to expect. I liked a lot of the songs quite a lot. As an album, it's scattered feeling and far too long. Overall, a pleasant surprise. 4/5

Before today, I'd never heard of Todd Rundgren before. Todd's type of music is pop rock with some psychadelic elements to it. It's like the Eagles crossed with Jefferson Starship. Nice easy listening. Something impressive about this album is that Todd produced it and played all the instruments on 3/4 of this record himself. That takes a lot of talent. Apparently after this album, he focused heavier on the psychadelic elements of his music, but this stuff is super chill. This album would be excellent as background music while doing work or sitting back and enjoying a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. There are a lot of different things going on with this album. Everything from psychadelic rock to blues rock to pop. Even a few live numbers at the end of the record. Overall, an excellent album today. I enjoyed the genre changes throughout the album. Given the fact that this was a double album clocking in at 1hr 30mins, the constant changing kept it fresh. I will definately listen again! Favourite songs: Wolfman Jack, Slut, Piss Aaron, Messin' With The Kid, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Couldn't I Just Tell You, Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me, I Saw The Light, Cold Morning Light, Black Maria, Hello It's Me, You Left Me Sore Least favourite songs: I Went to the Mirror, Breathless, Marlene, Money (That's What I Want) 4/5

Long album, but packed with good music. Sometimes sounding like Steely Dan, sometimes like Beach Boys and sometimes like early 70s guitar rock. Enjoyed far more than the other Rundgren long album.

Piss Aaron gets 5 stars.

Pop-rock algo psicodélico. Venga, un 4.

Una canción sale en My Girl, I Saw the Light. Le doy un 4. Aunque igual no me gusta tanto. Es agradable.

Todd Rundgren, hit machine? No! Todd Rundgren, music maker! This MF sits “Hello It’s Me” at #22 on a 25-track album! But before that are plenty of terrific songs. His sound is unique and he’s one prolific artist. He puts out so much but it never sounds “filler”. Another musician I need to spend more time with.

Listening to Something/Anything?, it’s pretty evident that Todd Rundgren is a genius and you should heed the advice he gives on track 7, “Intro”: listen to this record with headphones on and “crank ‘em up”. It’s an exceptionally well produced and enjoyable record, but his follow up, A Wizard, A True Star…That’s my brand of crazy.

Just quirky & interesting enough. Hello It's Me is a 70s classic, and some of the stuff here touches on the experimental. I need to give him props for helping other artists (Sparks comes to mind), so this guy is talented. It's just not something I'd reach for. 3.5 stars.

Oddly enough I enjoyed this one. Weird in all the right ways.

As dusk settles on another summer night I can't help but wonder whether Todd Rundgren has ever made sweet love to a woman. He seems like the kind of dude who wanks into a jam jar and keeps it on the mantlepiece.

Very cool in places and more good than bad.

Blimey Nora, this album is LONG. I first started listening to it in 1997, and I still don't think I've finished the first disc. I can't say that this music is offensive - it isn't. It's audio wallpaper, mostly. Kind of like the soundtrack to a "Based on real events" TV movie. Some experimental stuff started kicking in around 2005. And that is actually pretty good. It's just surrounded by nearly a decade's worth of beige.

A monster of a double album, comprising 4 distinct sides, all written and recorded by one man. The accurately titled Side One, 'A Bouquet of Ear-catching Melodies', is a 5/5 collection of lovely pop songs. From there each side gets progressively more experimental, culminating in Side Four, called 'Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)'. Whilst the whole album is enjoyable and the increasing experimentation makes it a more ambitious and interesting record, I'm basically a sucker for lovely, well crafted singer songwriter pop, so more of Side One would have been more to my tastes. Rating: 4/5 Playlist track: I Saw the Light Date listened: 11/05/23

This album is WAY TOOO LONG but i really enjoyed it regardless! Floaty and atmospheric without being directionless. Really pretty songs. Just very pleasantly beautiful.

Quite delightful. The opening track "I Saw the Light" set a great tone. I appreciated the track where he talks about the "game" he made up in the studio, then plays examples of audio hiss, etc. - nice way to keep it light, even though I can't help but think it was filler to fill out a double album - which is, of course, the primary problem with this album. The problem is twofold - it's gets too long to listen to in a sitting, and it means that songs that shouldn't be included are included. But I really did enjoy it despite that last point, and am slowly becoming a Todd Rundgren fan.

My friend's band in college would do a cover of "I Saw The Light" as one of their signature tunes. That track in particular has a very special place in my heart for that reason, and it's no wonder Todd led with it as a single. There are plenty of other spectacular tunes here as well, but he hadn't refined his manic creative energy yet like he went on to do with "A Wizard, A True Star." I kind of admire his kitchen sink attitude, and it still amazes me how he played the vast majority of the music himself, but yes, it is too long. A classic example of what could have been a brilliant single album that gets bogged down in its own ambition.

Something Beautiful Strong 7

Liked this album! Quite an eclectic mix of songs over it’s 90 minutes, and the studio banter makes for a fun atmosphere. Thumbs up from me :)

Dehä va swag, chill, blev aldrig långtråkigt. Bra pop och rätt bra dubbel lp!

RIP LIV

Score: 80 Album art: 70 This is like if the Beatles were talented There's a lot to like about this album. The production is good, it flows well and it goes pretty decently fast for a 90 minute album. I like that he doesn't always take himself seriously on some tracks and intro and overture are just joke tracks. Some tracks go pretty hard and I enjoyed those ones the most. I also really liked I went to the mirror and I was it was longer and didn't abruptly end. It's a pretty insane accomplishment for a singer songwriter to do most of this themselves. Sure some tracks aren't as interesting but out of 25 songs there's a good amount of really good and fun ones. Also 3 or 4 songs are just a lot louder than the others for some reason. Other than that and some pacing issues which isn't this albums fault, it wasn't released as 1 single disc, I enjoyed it a lot.

This man self produced this entire album and played all the instruments on almost 3/4 of it. He thanks drugs for helping him. It's as long as a movie with 4 different sides, so it's a little self indulgent but I can respect it. The track 'Intro' is hilarious and a perfect representation of making this record. Now there is a lot of quantity but is there a lot of quality? It has some great tunes and some mid ones. I enjoy his voice and the talent is displayed well. What I like the most is how random and weird it can be. You never know what's coming next. I don't agree with a lot of the low reviews. My ranking is based on the effort and the music itself, there is a little bit of everything. Fave Songs: I Saw the Light, The Night the Carousel Burned Down, I Went to the Mirror, Black Maria, Couldn't I Just Tell You, Hello It's Me

Somewhere between ABBA and Queen? Some bangers with spring vibes

A good album, and I like the concepts behind each side, but there's quite a bit of fat that should've been trimmed from this album (namely the cerebral side and the half-baked story, overture & last two songs of the "operetta side"). It would've made for an even better album, though a more accessible listen too, which Todd wouldn't have gone for. favs: Hello It's Me, Black Maria, I Saw the Light, Couldn't I Just Tell You, Dust in the Wind, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference least favs: I Went to the Mirror, Breathless

New to me. I knew the name, but this is solid classic 70s-ish rock. Hints of psychedelic music. Poppy. I’m not sure I’d search it out normally, but I like it and I’d listen again.

lepo

Þetta elska ég alveg út í gegn. Þetta er svona... byrjunin á skúturokki, myndi ég segja. Forveri þess. Talsverður Hall & Oates fílingur í þessu, enda var Todd að pródjúsa fyrir H&O um svipað leyti.

Surprisingly great album. See a lot of influence over later 70s power pop acts (hear a ton of Big Star). Will return to this in the future!! 4/5

C'est bien beau

très très belle pochette Todd

4.25

Todd Rundgren is definitely an artist who contains multitudes. This is an eclectic album with a lot of different styles on it. Side 1 is particularly strong - a fantastic batch of pop songs with “I Saw the Light” leading the pack. From there, the album is more eclectic and there are a few tracks I could have done without ("Song of the Viking," for example). It starts to feel more like some of the other 60's/70's rock albums we've had on this list, where the artist throws every weird idea they had onto the album. But there’s a lot of good stuff too, including a fair amount of hard rock. The rocker "Black Maria" is a highlight. Man, “Slut” is a weird closing track. Great energy but don’t love those lyrics. 😬 Overall, really enjoyed this one and I’m especially looking forward to revisiting the opening stretch of songs.

listened to before great album

It’s a bit meandering but dang it starts strong. Love Rundgren

Classic dad rock upside, plus some weirdness sprinkled in to keep things interesting. I would give this a 3 normally because honestly most of the tracks were kind of forgettable (as in, I don't remember them less than 24 hours later)... HOWEVER Todd is getting a bonus star from me for the track halfway through the album where he reads the recording industry for ABSOLUTE FILTH by highlighting shoddy production values and it's hilarious.

My introduction to Todd was the purchase of the Nazz single of Hello It’s Me from the discount bin at Grace Bros record bar on Broadway in 1969. I think I prefer the version on this album. Never heard this record before and was only familiar with I Saw The Light, which still gets played on retro radio. Thoroughly enjoyed it - very poppy but so well done, because he’s such a good producer. I think Side 4, which involved using other musicians, is the weakest side. He didn’t need them. Love his vocals & guitar and his ability to create 2 or 3-minute pop masterpieces.

It's really quite good. One of those Prince/Dave Grohl type works where it's quite brilliantly the work of one singular multi instrumentalist. However, this is somewhat traditional - if a few years ahead of its competitors. It's when Rundgren embraces his inner weird that he truly becomes a master and one of my favourites.

Super awesome. I wish it was a single album so bad. There's so many good songs though.

Such a chill album, can't believe I'd never heard it before.

LOVE love love love - went to my first football game !! we lost … but it was SO FUN regardless <3

09/03/2022 Listened to this one on 09/04 tbhhhh, but!!! I have loved this album since I was in high school, so I was so happy to get it yesterday. This whole album has the feeling of music that would be played at a 70s house party or a party that someone’s parents would have thrown with everyone else’s parents dowsnstairs while they all get drunk off the bar in the house. — Yesterday was a beautiful day. Luke and I went on a date to shiro and i got to shop around. I visited boysville, chica, and crazy. I found an INCREDIBLE hand made quilt at boysville that I’m going to use for my bed now. I really love San Antonio so much

Pop-rock algo psicodélico. Venga, un 4.

not as bad as expected <3

Big vibe, never heard of this bloke before but enjoyed the hippy rock. I imagine this mad booffed hella droogs.

I have "A Wizard A True Star" on vinyl but this is much different. So far kind of easy classic rock. I think Todd Rundgren is pretty eccentric so I'm excited to see how much this strays away from the sound on AWATS. "I Saw The Light" is on classic radio stations all the time I immediately recognized that one. Can't get over the "lightness" of this album so far 4 songs in. My god this album is long! I do like it, but idk if I like enough songs to add this huge giant album to my Spotify. Also unique in that a lot of the chatter was just left in between songs so it has a very informal feel while the music is very polished.

&&

There's something about Todd Rundgren that's hard to nail down. It's also what makes him a fascinating artist to me. Rundgren is clearly talented. He has a natural ability to create pop music with charming melodies and clever lyrics. His mastery of songcraft seems like something he takes for granted. He knows he could just record "Hello It's Me" a hundred times over and he would have been a huge star. But he doesn't want to do that; clearly that bores him. He has an experimental and somewhat impish inclination underneath it all. Sometimes he just likes to follow that into whatever weird corners it may take him. That's Something/Anything? in a nutshell. It's my contention that all great power pop is a little quirky to outright weird. I imagine a lot of that can be traced to Todd Rundgren in general, and this album in particular. Rundgren comes in strong at the beginning, with infectiously catchy pop hooks and one of the more engaging vocals in pop music. His musicianship is surprisingly nimble, as he negotiates a variety of styles. But there's always a little edge to everything he does. The more accessible stuff is chased with a hodgepodge of random silliness, noise and strange playful diversions that often seem like they're musical in-jokes between Todd Rundgren and, well, himself. Some people will hate that. All that said, on balance, this is a really fun album that's never boring. It has two of the most iconic pop songs of the 70s ("Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light") as well as a number of exceptional deep tracks that are well worth the price of admission. It's an enjoyable listen that's also very forward thinking for its time. Fave Songs: Hello It's Me, Couldn't I Just Tell You, I Saw the Light, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Dust in the Wind, You Left Me Sore, Saving Grace, Torch Song, Marlene, One More Day (No Word), Cold Morning Light, Sweeter Memories, Black Maria, The Night the Carousel Burned Down

nothing

One likes the kaleidoscopic, even messianic, pop here; one senses TR’s urgency and immense commitment and that he wants to share. There is a nearly tangible joy and exuberance in the considerable sprawl; one pictures a boy with the run of a fully stocked toy store, a mad scientist in his expertly equipped lab (see silly Studio Sounds spoken word piece and the much better “Breathless - Instrumental” that follows). TR comes off as a solitary visionary than a tortured artist, and it’s quite good fun, if excessively accessorized, too densely layered and obviously show-offy at times. Sameyness is a fair criticism, especially the over-reliance of keyboard manias (some of it sounding quite harpsichordy). Also, it probably didn’t have to be a double album (“Money” doesn’t feel absolutely necessary, e.g., and the studio chatter adds nothing). But there’s a wealth of quality – if not quite an embarrassment of riches: “Couldn't’ I Just Tell You” and “Dust in the Wind” are excellent, while “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me” are hits for a reason. “It Wouldn’t Have …” “Cold Morning Light” “Marlene” “Carousel Burned Down” and “You Left Me Sore” are all very solid. “Slut” highlights how sexual perceptions and boundaries have changed. Definitely worth knowing, this one.

4, groovy

Well the title of this album was appropriate. I admit that this album was more or less just background noise today while working, but it did a good job of having tracks throughout that would make me stop and listen. And that is why I am giving this album 4 stars. I enjoyed it and will definitely at some point be going back and listening to it again and maybe check out some of his other work.

A mellow and good quality easy listening album. Crazy that it's 50 years old, as the production quality belies its age.

Bumped up to 4 stars because of the consistent quality throughout a long album

Bangers pretty much top to bottom I saw the light is the biggest banger of them all, the great song of the album Solid 4

Interesting and diverse

The beginning wasn't my type but the Intro is cool and Breathless really made the listening worth it.

+I Saw the Light, Intro, Hello It's Me There's a lot of music here clocking in at nearly 90 minutes of audio. Most of it pretty good! It's psychedelic and soulful, among many other things, it seems like there are a lot of genres crossed here. It also never really takes itself too seriously while it's also apparent that care and pride was taken to produce a quality product. There are various outtakes scattered around making it clear that the artists making this album had fun while doing it. A strong start with "I Saw The Light", a feel-good classic. "Wolfman Jack" sounds like it was lifted right out of Motown. "Intro" takes a lighthearted jab at mastering technicians, usually I don't enjoy non-music tracks, but this one was a fun little detour. Some of the tracks are downright funny (Some Folks..., You Left Me Sore). There is a lot to enjoy here!

I just love Todd Rundgren. Why has he not been in my life before this year..

Crammed full of joyous, catchy tunes. Impossible to dislike, surely?

Did know much of his stuff. This was worth the listen

C'est quatre albums en un, les deux derniers dont j'ai pas grand chose à faire mais les deux premiers sont des masterclass avec d'abord plein de lovesongs puis de l'expérimental (breathless)

The term "musical genius" gets thrown around a lot, but in Todd Rundgren's case it is well deserved. You can tell by listening to this double album that this was a particularly fertile period for him, with an explosion of ideas. My only complaint about him is that his music leans a little toward the soft rock side of things. 4 stars.

Something / Anything? is an album that touches on a variety of different sounds. It feels like a sprawling journey, one in which you don't know where you're going but you can sit and enjoy the ride. Overall a really enjoyable listen and one I'll definitely listen to again! Of note is the fact that Spotify and Youtube Music don't carry the full album (both seem to only have the first 13 tracks. Fortunately, there are playlists to be found that contain the full album.

Wantlist

This is not what I expected from Todd Rundgren - some lovely songs and early power pop! I had to dig on Spotify to find the second LP though.

Ambitious and varied, if a bit overlong.

Fantastic production

Very varied, very seventies. Proto-prog, and all performed and produced by one guy. I really enjoyed it; it could have handled being a bit shorter, but I'm not sure what I would remove! Saving Grace and Black Maria were my favourites, but it was all pretty good

A whopping ladleful of fun and creative 70's pop, with enough weird to keep it interesting despite its length.

cool fact: on most of these songs Todd Rundgren played all of the instruments. Whether that fact alone affects one's enjoyment of this or not is unclear, but you could make the case that there's something unique and special about an album like this because of the very fact that it is *not* democratic, and all under one person's vision. Contrast that with a lot of pop music today that has up to 10 or more songwriters -which runs the risk of drifting towards "the middle" or whatever might be popular at the time. That risk is nowhere to be heard here - there are some undeniably all-time classic singles that many people will know ("I Saw The Light" and "Hello It's Me"), but amidst the 23 (!!!!!) other tracks the variety and non-commercialism shows; yet at the same time even though many of these couldn't have been singles they're mostly quite accessible. Incredible sense of melody (this guy never met a major 7th chord he didn't love - I approve). "Couldn't I Just Tell You" should have been a bigger hit, that's a great pop-rock song right there. As for the "non-traditional" parts of the album, not only am I not put off by the spoken word parts (e.g. beginning of "Couldn't I Just Tell You" "Hello It's Me" and the entirety of "Intro") it adds to the experience for me (being a studio junkie). It's almost like (well, it essentially was) being there for a home recording yet decidedly NOT low-fi (thank god); you'll hear Todd talking about recording techniques, counting in other musicians (I believe the only songs he used other musicians on are in the final 1/4 of the album). Ok so... the album is long. LONG. Some of my favourite albums are double-albums but they tend to have a theme; maybe it's only that I'm not familiar enough with this one and/or it doesn't have enough cultural touchstones (outside the 2 aforementioned singles) so at some point I get just a little tired of it before it picks up steam again over the last half. But overall: the album sounds amazing; I'm a sucker for these kinds of melodic turns. It's Rundgren's most famous album for a reason and much more accessible than the one to follow... (A Wizard, A True Star) because when at their best, many/most of these songs are cohesive and a great intro to both Rundgren and 70s melodic rock in general. 8/10 4 stars

Quite a strange album but some interesting songs, and the Record Game was funny.

2/4/2022 Today's Album: "Something / Anything?" by Todd Rundgren - This will be a bit harder of an album because it is so long, given it is a double album clocking in at just under 90 minutes. However, I will still give my general opinion, which is that this album is pretty fantastic. There's extremely well crafted melodies, a ton of really great solos, and the vocals are spectacular. There's some interspersed bits of spoken word sections, like the comical track "Intro" which is the 7th track despite it's name and plays around with record sounds. There's a handful of colorful instrumentals and every song either has an excellent backing track or a solid vocal performance. The style is right up my alley with a lot of early 70s psychedelic guitars and tons of really bright, but well mixed instrumentation. I listened to it while doing homework and instantly turned it on again when it finished because it simply a very nice experience to listen to it. There's some well done experimentation with things getting really weird or dark at moments and there's tons of charming chatter and banter from the band members. The album's production is also top notch and sounds just as good as an eagles record, but with imo better playing. Tons of different genre breaking songs make this album sort of hard to pin down, but it's still a fantastically paced record all the way through. I think it could have placed lower than what I am going to rate it just because it still is a pretty typical sound for it's time, but just the sheer amount of great music on this thing, given its a double lp, and the consistency of quality makes it really respectable in my opinion. Give this one a listen if you like 70s soft rock. Also Black Maria and Little Red Lights are straight up awesome tracks. Score: 8.75 Really dang good Highlights: Wolfman Jack, Breathless ,The Night the Carousel Burned Down, Marlene, I Went to the Mirror, Black Maria, Little Red Lights, Dust in the Wind

Clever, musically and lyrically. Not sure how well this album has stood the test of time, but I was fully appreciating it

Solid, inventive, and with a lightheartedness that is often lacking in big arty magnum opus type productions. A fair minority of it felt like filler to me and I thought the bulk of it more low weight pop than I expected given the critics, but maybe I did not attend to the lyrics well enough based on some of the reviews.

Really cool album. I know Todd Rundgren only for his bang on the drum all day song, but this is a very interesting album. Probably longer than it needs to be, but it meanders through a number of different styles and genres, and I really like that strange interlude (intro but not at the beginning?) of him talking about record static. So many tracks on here that I ended up enjoying, one or two that I recognized, and there are some hilarious track titles on here. Piss Aaron? I don't know, this is wild. I'll be saving a lot from this one. Also looked this up to find that Todd himself sang and played every instrument on at least 75% of the album. I need to know more about this madman. Favorite tracks: It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Sweeter Memories, Saving Grace, Dust in the Wind, Hello It's Me. Album art: I like this, like an old floral print couch. It's a nice artistic cover, and much like the album itself, I don't really know what to make of it. But this is really cool. 4/5

Quite a head full of sounds. Pretty enjoyable ride!

Huh. Todd Rundgren. Like him. It's like the lighter side of 70s music, but with the proficiency of the 70s music I like. The "Intro" track (half way through the record) was a strange choice. And that synth line into "Breathless" is really great. I like this record and will definitely return to it. 4 but it really should be 3.5.

I only really knew Todd Rungren from Hello - so this was a really nice education for me. I really like the “just stupid enough” lyrics for songs like Piss Aaron and Slut. Even at 90 minutes, the album did t seem to long - quality just about all the way through. Even the other Hello-ish ballads were mostly great. I also really enjoyed all the studio talk before some of the songs - especially the scavenger hunt for hissing and other evidence of “poor engineering” - really fun stuff.

This got pretty cool in a few spots, with some hyperpop elements thrown in. Good fun album, even thoigh im suffering a bit of fatigue from albums of this era at the moment.

It has a character

121021 17:53 3.5

Amazing album, Rundgren is a genius.

GOOD album!

so how many sounds did you guys find and who is the winner??

Great melodies, solid voice and lines. Very classic 70s disco sound.

A tale of two halves. The first half is a really enjoyable 70s Pop-Rock album. The second half, starting with the track ‘Intro’ featuring Rundgren explaining the extra background sounds of a recorded album, then proceeds to turn into a more psychedelic rock album with some really experimental sounds. Finishing with the song ‘I Went to the Mirror’ which starts off with Rundgren mumbling most of the lyrics until the song peaks with a George Thoroughgood/ ZZ Top guitar riff to end the track. An interesting overall enjoyable experience to say the least.

rundgren 4/5

yeeeees

I never knew this was a double album! Have to say I liked the first two sides way more than the rest but it's still a great body of music. It really lives up to the "catchy" billing and embodies the best of early 70s rock/pop. Will definitely be revisiting chunks of it.

Very well done, variety of music.

Poppy 70s goodness.

2nd album was better than the first

Experimental in the best sense of the word, when new textures and sounds are in the service of great songs. In its best moments (I Saw the Light, It Wouldn't Make Any Difference, Hello It's Me, Black Maria...) takes the form of a masterpiece. A lot of content though, not always at same level, but very compensated and a necessary listening altogether

Una canción sale en My Girl, I Saw the Light. Le doy un 4. Aunque igual no me gusta tanto. Es agradable.

Pretty fun album

This is like finding a brand new shiny thing. Montage of many artists in one dude. Pretty good

bello! non tutte però fresco e ascoltabile

Odd collection of what seems like love songs and experimental songs. Almost everything and the kitchen sing when it comes to recording.

What a down to earth human

I'm really digging this record. Very fun!

good stewfs

I really liked this. I think I'll checkout more about Todd Rundgren

Ranges all over. But these are the guys who did bang a drum all day. So they know how to make a pop song

Poprock, multiinstrumentalist, melodiøst, kærlighed, harmonier

Should be 4.5 stars, but just too long for my taste. Great old school pop music

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Another pleasant surprise

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

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.

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

That's a whole lot of soft rock

3/5

Is this something? / is this anything?

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

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!

67/100.

Impressive, expansive yet almost too much.

3.5

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

7/10

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.

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.

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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 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

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

Good but too damn long

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

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

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.

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

Rv

Surprisingly weird album

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.

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

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

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

Je ne connaissais pas mais il y a quelques bons morceaux

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.

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.

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.

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

Interesting, dynamic, but wayyyyy too long

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

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.