Reviews (page 6 of 8)
3.5/5 goodish, i'll have to relisten
A decent enough album. A bit long. There is good guitar and instrumentals throughout. Some songs pretty mellow where others rock harder. Strange mix. A few classic hits...Hello it's me... Overall ok. Although nothing truly exciting to listen to repeatedly for me.
Not my fave...
Старый лирический рок-ен-рольчик)
Bloat central, but I liked a lot of what I heard.
mmm very unmemorable. it wasn’t terrible but i just didn’t like it and it went on much longer than i wanted it to. it was just fine.
3/5
Very inoffensive
Very interesting and talented musician, but the 4 movement album seems all over the place and not as well planned out as say Stills’ double album. Production and musicianship is great but the songs never really take off.
Decent album that's a bit too long and too all over the place to really get going and leave an impression
Groundbreaking stuff, but the constant experimentation gets a bit tiresome over the course of a long album
There was a bit too much, but I liked the personalization of a few of the spoken clips a little. Some interesting sounds. Favorite songs were I Saw the Light (pre-existing, but still), Wolfman Jack, Saving Grace, Couldn't I Just Tell You, and Dust in the Wind.
Saved Prior: I Saw the Light Off Rip: It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Wolfman Jack, It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls), Breathless - Instrumental, Couldn't I Just Tell You, Little Red Lights, Dust in the Wind, Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Too long. Probably a 4 if the filler is cut but the filler to me is probably why some people love this because it's like half the album. Album bats a varied 9 for 25 so it just sneaks into 3 territory but he really should've killed his darlings.
Liked his songs
This was a little much. Best track: Couldn't I Just Tell You
Didn't end well but was quite an interesting listen
There's a lot of schmaltzy 70s MOR rock here, but at least it's super well produced. The rockers here can really rock too, so all in all a worthwhile listen.
it may sound dated, but this is the album that influenced 80s and 90s rock and is still influential today.
Well that album did include my very favourite track by him ! Nevertheless, much as I enjoyed listening to it it only scores a 3*
Didn't get it. Very common sound.
3.5. Pretty chill. Noting truly special.
I couldn't believe how long this was, so I had to look it up. This was his first double album, and he played all the instruments and did all the vocals himself as well as produced it. Pretty damn amazing. Definitely know Todd Rundgren, but never knew he was such an intrumentalist. The first two songs are decent. Wolfman Jack caught my ear. There's a motown vibe, but I can't get over the fact that he wrote an ode to a damn DJ. You can see how the business has changed. The idea that pandering to an DJ is just completely acceptable makes my head spin. Sure you want to get played on the radio, but come on, man! He also covers "Money, That's What I want," so... Cold Morning Light reminds me of the Eagles. I get the sense that these LA artists of the early 70s really tapped into something that all manifested into a "sound." The Intro is brilliant. How often do you hear the artist talk to you like this? And for it to be about poor producing is even better. I would like to see more records have a track like that. The Night the Carousel Burned down definitely has that relatable feeling of loss. Interesting, sad and eerie. Saving Grace has a weird opening mix. Otherwise, a sing-songy song. Feels like a George Harrison song, which is funny since Rundgren apparently things the Beatles are over-rated. This album is an odd listen. It kind of goes all over. A love song about Marlene followed by the song of a Viking? Marlene was a beauty though, so I get writing a song about her! A few solid rock songs in the middle of this record. He can certainly rock on the guitar when he goes after it. I like Dust in the Wind. Has an Elton John/Billy Joel quality. Piss Aaron - it is stupid, but it's cool. Hello it's Me - Everyone knows this one. I didn't realize it had that little count down start. He's really working out a constructivist approach to this album. Slut is also Elton John-esque. The Bitch is Back kind of vibe.
Apart from the ingenuity (and that he produced and played everything himself) and the "mimicry" skills, the sound is somewhat still washed out and has little personality. The real creative approaches are found in the instrumental parts. (6/10) Favourite Tracks: I Saw the Light, Breathless
Why does Todd Rundgren have to make his albums so long? I do enjoy every single song on this album but I do not have the patience to sit through 25 songs.
No Really sounds very 70s, harmonising not unlike elo, keyboards
Yeah I dunno about this one. I keep flipping between 2.5 and 4 stars. The middle of the album started to drag / sound same-y and then a Viking song appears out of nowhere? If it wasn't so long then 4 stars. If he didn't play literally every instrument, a 2.5 stars. Feels like just over a 3 for me,
This is by no means a bad album, but it felt like it dragged on a bit. This is a 3.5 because I understand why it's on the list, but for me it started to get bloated about halfway through.
Not great. Some decent and catchy, some weird, and some just bad. 2.5/5
I learned something new about him.
iha ok
Mediocre album. The first song, I saw the light, was the highlight of the 25 song album. For the most part, It was all pretty cheesy soft unremarkable pop-ish types after that- with the exception of songs like wolfman jack
A bit forgettable
solid but realllly long
A bit folky but a bit weird sometimes
This album is pretty good! I like it a lot. Highlights have been I Saw The Light, Wolfman Jack and Couldn't I Just Tell You. The only thing is it did get quite boring due to how many songs there are on the album. 3/5 stars.
Pleasant pop, but nothing special.
I thought it was great, if a bit too clever for its own good. However, it was waaaaayyy too long and I tired of it about half way though.
Difficult to understand how this made the list. It is too long to be consistent. It works as a record as each side has songs of a similar style. The singles are magnificent and the album shows off his song writing ability and musicianship.
Album kao album mi se čini dosta ciljano da bude perfektno, bar što se tiče zvuka, kad sam čuo na intru onu igru koju je on izumio. Stoga, intro mi je čak malo i edukativan. Inače, drago mi je da sam našao vremena za album. Album ima puno pop elemenata, a u nekim pjesmama i onaj stari rock. Iako nije moj tip glazbe u neku ruku, skužih, nije samo do toga. Album je dost dugačak, a ako mi ne sjeda u potpunosti album, to može samo biti minus. Ima stvarno dobrih pjesama kao što su: Breathless, I Went to the Mirror, It Takes Two to Tango, The Night the Carousel Burned Down, Couldn't I Just Tell You, Little Red Lights, Hello It's Me. Naravno, puno pjesama na albumu, bilo bi žalosno da nema minimalno pet dobrih/odličnih. Zanimljiv album, playful, ovako za pustiti si u pozadini, shifta iz jednog žanra u drugi kroz cijeli album (iz popa u rock, pa u soul, čak i malo country na jednoj-dvije pjesme), dobar je ae. 3.3/5
Iznenađujuće oke, nis ti loš Tode.
Alright 70s rock. 7.6/10
spannende Mischung aus GIttarrenrock, Funk, pop, Hippie...
I'm actually ranked global elite at the studio game
This album started off great, but it's over an hour and a half long. There's movies that are that long. And several of the pieces are sketch like interludes. If it was boiled down to its greatest bits it would be a great album, but as is its unwieldy. Favorite Track: wolfman jack
Proficient soft rock, listenable but not too exciting.
I think it might be too whimsical... Some great (if sad / meloncholy) songs, but quite a lot is too meandering. Why not just do a tight album of bangers? Who listens to the stupid bits?
Some really nice tracks. Doesn't quite do enough to get a 4 from me
.
Unexpectedly good. Fun album. Beatles vibe. Would listen again
I like the vibe of this record. Reminds me of bands like the Eagles and people like George Harrison and Steve Miller. Impressive that he played all the instruments on the album as well as produced it.
Decent background listening. Little grabbed my attention, but nothing offensive to my ears.
Nice enough in parts (Beatlesey) but fuck me its long. Just as you think its getting going there is a bad track. Saving Grace, Black Maria, and Wolfman Jack are my highlights but there is just way too much filler. Could probably have made a decent 40 min album A generous 3/5 for the bits i liked, especially the 2nd half.
Nice songs but did not stand out for me
Decent
Pretty cool
It's all right. I like the piano in it occasionally. Couple songs I know.
Chill but boring at parts.
Sounds like typical white guy 70s music.
A few great songs, some are a little bit yikes
I had not heard this one, so I did a quick google about it, and was excited when Axl Rose called it his favorite album. It was a fun listen, thought of like a gay Tom Petty. Soft 70s rock, I'm on board. His 'game' was pretty weird. Odd inclusion. 3.5 if I could.
Sounds like 70s soft rock. Not bad, just not my favorite.
Not horrible, but incredibly dull. Definitely should not be on this list
Nothing.
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....
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.
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
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
It just kept going and going and I kept not caring
Sort of hard to review because it's not technically bad but it still made me like of angry to listen to
This did not deserve a double album
How is this here? It's basically nothing, not even really worth deriding, just... present?
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.
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.
Ehhhh
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?
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.
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."
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
What/Why??
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
While I can appreciate the fact that Rundgren played most of the instruments on the album by himself, this album vastly overstays its welcome.
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.
It was nice. Just not impressionable
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.
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.
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*.
Little too soft rock for me
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.
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.
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
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.
Steely Dan’s Aja then this. What have I done to upset the random generator? This was even more dull than Aja.
(2.75)
A bit same same. Can’t say I’m going to rush out to buy a Todd Rundgren CD.
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*
This really did not need to be a double album
Snoozefest
#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
65
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
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.
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.
Well, I enjoyed some of it but really don’t care for it.
Wow that album is really long.
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
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
Nice album cover. The album was ok.
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.
25 songs and only 2 hits. This album should have been edited down to 8 songs and it still would have felt like a drag to listen to and the length too long. Double albums almost never work. Yet again here is another example.
Favorite Song: I Saw the Light
i don't understand the mindset of a person who has the audacity to record a 90 minute album but then produce something that is so safe. for the most part it's not even that this is actively bad, most of it hovers around Perfectly Fine, and occasionally even good, but there's not something that is binding this together beyond ego to make its length feel warranted. this is a double album split into four distinct segments, so a quadruple EP if you will. that's quite tiresome. capstone it all with a song that is just rank misogyny. a shame when it opens well, the only saving grace.
I just didn’t quite vibe with this. Very long, didn’t love how much it leant towards 70s easy listening/pop, which is not a preferred genre for me
That was a rather insipid album. Nothing I need to ever hear again.
Ein Album seiner Zeit aber ein vielseitiger Musiker
Not a Rundgren fan but I love “hello, it’s me.” And it reminds me of this movie Duets from 2000 with Paul Giamatti, Huey Lewis and Gwenyth Paltrow. Giamatti’s character covers Hello it’s Me - classic movie
Most double albums can feel like a bit of a slog, and Something/Anything? unfortunately falls into that category for me. There is no doubt that Todd Rundgren is incredibly talented, and you can hear the ambition all over this record. With 25 tracks there is a huge amount going on, shifting between pop, rock and more experimental moments. The harmonies are strong, particularly early on, and there are some interesting musical changes that show just how capable he is as a songwriter and producer. The problem is simply the length. At over two dozen songs it feels far longer than it needs to be. For me the album would be much stronger if it had been cut down significantly. After the opening stretch the songs start to blur together and it becomes repetitive rather than engaging. In My Eyes is a fantastic opener and sets the album off brilliantly, but from there it gradually loses momentum. The intro sections and some of the instrumental pieces feel unnecessary and add to the sense that the record could have been edited down into a far tighter and more impactful album. Favourite song: I Saw the Light Least favourite song: The introductory segments and instrumental passages that slow the album down Album artwork: I love the cover. Bright, memorable and very much of its era
This album had me questioning if it was ever going to do Something/Anything. After an hour of nothing "Little red lights" was pretty good. Overture sounds like a demo but I love that shit/ High 2. Too long and aside from the above 2 songs didn't do anything to standout.
Opens with the hit single "I Saw the Light" which I vaguely remember. But on the whole I found the album rather boring - it might have been cutting-edge back in the early 1970s, but it sounds a bit jaded now.
Oh, fuck me. 90 minutes of 70s easy listening pablum? No thanks. I jumped around a bit to try different songs and they all sucked hairy coconuts.
An "interesting" historical document at least, and from that perspective I suppose I'm reasonably happy this is on the list. But it's dated and far too long, obviously. I see this mainly as a representation of all the odd appearances on Top of Pops repeats from the early 70s by artists that you have absolutely no recollection of ever existing. And which sound terrible with modern ears. There are exceptions of course (Fox mainly), but there was some absolutely shite in the charts at that time. And this represents much of that quite nicely. It has merit on the list, which saves it from a panning. But it's really, really dated.
Not my thing
I liked this album. I didn't realize this was Todd who sang, "I Saw The Light." This album hit all the right nerves for me.
Låååååång! Massor med låtar och en hel del skips för min del. Gillade I saw the light och några till men inte riktigt min grej. Lite tråkig...
This was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. At first I was extremely skeptical. A double album of seventies blues rocks did not appeal. It sometimes feels like there are more seventies blues rock albums by bearded men on this list than the total number of albums by women. Then I grudgingly had to admit that there was more interesting stuff going on with the production and musical styles than I'd expected. Then he started singing about loving teenage girls and calling women sluts.
Sounds very 60s but just kinda keeps going
Not sure why, but this just doesn’t do (something/) anything for me. The same is true for all the Todd Rundgren albums I’ve listened to for this project. They just feel generic and unremarkable. Also, I’m annoyed to have gotten several extra-long albums this past week, none of which I’ve especially enjoyed. A spiteful 2.5
2 stars Double album of mostly lounge music. Often uninteresting and at times annoying. Side D could have been scrapped all together and could have easily been a mediocre single LP rather than a frustrating double. There were moments of interest (good instrumentation on “Little Red Lights” and a decent opening ditty), but I’d never sit through this album in its entirety again.
It was pleasant, not particularly memorable
It’s nice for Todd that he got to indulge himself in the studio. Not so good for the listener though. He could have done with some supervision. This just doesn’t engage me at all. I was willing if to be over. And some of the lyrics are questionable. Not feeling it
Butt
Eerste 2 nr aardig. Rest niet mijn ding
This is my second Todd Rundgren album in a week. The previous one (A wizard. a true star) slightly surprised me - it was better than I expected, more psychedelic and adventurous. This album though, is full-on hyper-boring soft rock. It's so faint and inoffensive that is almost becomes offensive. And "Slut" - what's that about? I'll give a 2 because I keep my 1's for music I dislike AND wasn't even written by the artist themselves. At least these songs are of the artist's own doing, and musically it's played well, he sings in tune etc. Definitely on my "must not hear before I die" list.
quite bad aged, not only this album but the whole genre
I'm intrigued by the fact that he played all the musical parts, besides the female harmonies. I'm less intrigued by the songs themselves. But the fact that he's Liv Tyler's biological father? Fascinating.
Baustelle, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Furchtbar öde.
First it was kinda good, then pretty bad, then okay again
Something / Anything? / Too much of everything at the end.
turra
Tiene algunas canciones buenas, pero es una buena turra
Oh just fuck off ...some nice songs and soundscapes
You start making an album of the Greatest Rejected TV Theme Songs, get bored and drop the tiniest little bit of acid, get a little trippy, but then you realize it wasn’t even good acid and now you’ve plateaued, your album is as exciting as a reheated microwave dinner, and you’re just a whiny boring coward. You wish you were cool like some of the rock stars who sometimes let you hang out with them.
4/10 You really feel every one of those 90 minutes.
Ok album. Didn't like the ballads but all of the songs had something interesting going on in them. Also the album was way too long for my taste especially as the songs were ok at best.
I want my hour and a half back. Critics, explain yourselves.
todd needs to learn to quit while he's ahead
Weird journey of an album. Obviously miles too long but seems like this is because its actually two or three albums rolled into one. Didn't like the start but it morphed into something more psychedelic towards the end and I quite liked some of the tracks.
There isn’t a double album in existence that justifies its length, and this certainly didnt change that
This was such a bloated album. It's way, way too long for how boring it is
It’s impressive that he did all of the instruments and produced this himself, but the end result kind of feels like and Elton John ripoff. And it’s so, so long with many songs that, while not bad, are not particularly good. Dust In the Wind and (unfortunately titled) Slut were the only ones I was interested in. Could have cut so much. High 2.
Another artist where I am familiar with the name, but had no idea what they sounded like. Quite a diverse record musically, but not always to my taste. Not really any standout songs (at least on a first listen), but also not a lot I would skip on a re-listen (maybe a couple songs).
An grand experiment that honestly requires a libretto to understand as there are so many different pieces. Just did not do anything for me.
Starts strong but becomes exhausting really fast.
To my reckoning I only know one Todd song. Luckily it's a good'un, appearing on arguably the greatest Comedy and greatest movie soundtrack of all time - Dumb and Dumber. The CD soundtrack is so packed that that song doesn't even appear on it, bizarrely. Todd "Carty" Rundgren is of course better known for his infamous stints in both Grange Hill, EastEnders, and for skating 'uo the wrong chute' in Twats On Ice. Before he was Tucker Jenkins-ing all over the Dining Hall, he was recording unnecessarily long albums featuring songs about love, falling in love, being in love, luvin', and love. This seems to be one such album. Some good tracks on here, none quite as good as the Grange Hill theme tune, and it far outstays its welcome - also like the Sausage launching kids show. I am currently eating very potent Salt N Vinegar crisps. Points for all the faff and experimentation and for doing most of it himself, but the majority of the songs aren't very good. There are simply too many songs and for all of the experiments so many of the songs are copy pastes. I will never fathom why songs 9-13 are all present when any one of the songs would have been enough, each sharing the identical plinky plonky piano sounds and rhythm. The spoken word song has no business being on the album - indulgent, dated nonsense. It's disappointing as I was looking forward to this, having loved Can We Still Be Friends and enjoyed the first handful of songs. But my patience only goes so far and as much as I held out to give this a three star review, it just isn't deserving.
Not really/no
Definitely less out there and interesting than his last album we had. None of it grabbed me at all really. It all felt more familiar though, like it had been done before. Which I didn't really expect. Meh. 2.5. Won't be back
Slow and cheesy 70s rock with some weird stuff mixed in. Really didn’t enjoy this at all. And way too long. Could’ve been a 1.
Pretty forgettable 70s soft rock.
Dull
Schmalz from 71.
ok
A few somethings, mostly nothings. A lot of the material seems jokey. Reminds me of a Zappa album - and that’s a bad thing - in that there’s a lot of just dicking around in the studio. Notable tracks include I Saw The Light, Couldn’t I Just Tell You, Dust In The Wind, Hello It’s Me.
Pop, 1972 -> 2
no
First song is one of those I've heard before slapped on a hits of the 70s and then immediately forgotten about. Maybe this is a bigger deal somehow but doesn't seem to be any different than the midfield.
Muy happy flower pero y habria sido no demasiado cansino si no fuera porque tiene 300 canciones, como me suele pasar, disfruto mas de las canciones instrumentales (en este caso 1, que me recuereda a una mezcla entre plantasia y mario kart)
Decent start, but the whole second disk could easily be cut from this album.
52/1001 First listen. Never sought out a Todd Rundgren song before much less a whole album. A double album even! I like that each side has its own theme. I like that they’re only 3 or 4 minutes long. There’s a clear radio single here and then the rest. Sounds fine but I’m not coming back to this. 4/10
I was looking forward to this one, but it's honestly a slog. There are some gems on here, but it's definitely full of some garbage too. If the tracklist was reigned in 15-20 minutes, it would be much better. Best Songs: I Saw the Light, Cold Morning Light, It Takes Two to Tango, Black Maria, Hello It's Me Worst Songs: The Night the Carousel Burned Down, Overture, Slut
Soppy shite. Just bland run of the mill saturday tv family gameshow appearing drabness.
Snork. Første låta er det eneste som er noe her.
Don't think I'd ever listened to Todd Rundgren before. Not sure I will again.
Individual songs are good but I’m rating the entire album and man it was tough getting through this.
This was too long, and somehow - despite the changes of style and genre - all very similar. Maybe the idea of developing a song while recording it isn't the best way to create something unique.
As is always the way with hugely talented musicians, there's a total lack of quality control. Track 1 is clearly one of the greatest pop songs ever written. It goes massively downhill from there. While there's the odd pleasant moment, with editing this could have made a pretty good single LP. For a double, it drags. The decision to leave in the studio chatter on side 4 makes that feel like a bunch of bonus tracks, and the last track leaves a really unpleasant taste in the mouth. Some good tracks, but I don't think I would recommend this to anyone. A mid-high 2*
A weird hodge podge of not very interesting songs. I thought I would like this. I didn't.
Some good songs but certainly didn’t justify its run time. Meh.
Singer gems in there but not an album you're likely to put on ever
It’s been over 900 albums since I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star, and here we are with its predecessor. I don’t remember much about AWaTS, but I gave it three stars, and my review says that I thought it was fine (for some reason, I remember picking up some dry cleaning on the day I listened to it, but that could be a bullshit memory; there’s a mural close to my dry cleaner’s that has a similar color scheme to AWaTS’s cover, so maybe that’s where the association comes from. Isn’t the mind a bizarre thing?). I’m curious to see what this album is like, but I’ll admit that I’m not super keen on the idea of listening to Todd Rundgren for 90 minutes. Unfortunately, Something/Anything wasn’t really my cup of tea. Yes, the amount of work that Todd Rundgren put into this album himself is impressive, and he’s a talented musician, but Something/Anything is bloated, and pretty uneven across its four sides. There were a few good songs on this album, but there were also large swaths of it that I really didn’t care for. I think Todd Rundgren is one of those artists who falls under the category of “your favorite musician’s musician,” but his work just doesn’t wow me, because I don’t find it particularly unique, and it’s not the type of music I gravitate towards. I have some notes on each section of the album: Side one of the album was pretty good. “I Saw the Light” was definitely the most notable song on the whole record. I thought it was just a really good, beautiful pop song. Its sound was really well-layered, and there was a lot of emotion in the softer sound of the vocals. “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” was good too, but not as good as “I Saw the Light.” There were some good little details in the arrangements, like the tinkling of the cymbals. I thought the bridge was pretty strong too. “Wolfman Jack” sounded great, and it was really fun. I loved the backing vocals and the horns, and this song had a strong bridge too. Side two of the album definitely lived up to the name “the cerebral side.” I really hate calliope sounding music, so “The Night the Carousel Burned Down” was not my speed. Also, I hated that garbled intro on “Saving Grace,” and this song had a melody very similar to “Carousel,” which I didn’t care for. I was glad there was no calliope involved on “Saving Grace,” but man, I wanted to move really far away from “Carousel,” and this song didn’t deliver on that. The only song on this part of the album that I remotely cared for was “I Went to the Mirror.” I didn’t care for it when it started, but I liked the bluesy sound it developed into. The third side of the album was my favorite part. “Black Maria” was pretty good, and I liked that it kept that blues vibe from the end of “I Went to the Mirror.” “One More Day” was really nice too, and I liked its soft sound. Todd’s vocals went along with the music really well. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” had a great foot-tapping rhythm that I really enjoyed, and I thought the overall rock sound was really good. On the last side of the album, only a couple of songs stood out to me. “Dust in the Wind” was good, and I was glad that this wasn’t related to the Kansas song in any way. The lyrics were good, as was the overall sound, and I liked the backing vocals and the saxophone. “Piss Aaron,” while feeling pretty out of place on this album, was pretty entertaining. The lyrics felt like something off of a Primus or Ween album. While Something/Anything had some good moments, most of the album just wasn’t my speed. A lot of these songs failed to do anything that I thought was unique or interesting, and side two of the album was really grating to me. Sorry Todd Rundgren, but at least we’ll always have “Bang the Drum All Day.”
Why is it so long?????
Trying to write a review for this album has given me a headache. The album started well, opening with “I Saw the Light”, which is a Rundgren song I have always loved. When I also enjoyed “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference”, I did wonder whether I might be onto a winner. Almost as soon as I had that thought, two things happened: I realised this was a double album, and I know enough about Todd Rundgren to know the wheels would come off at some point if you give him long enough, and “Wolfman Jack” started. From there on in, it was a steady descent into madness, culminating with the last few tracks. I’ve never heard a blues track about a teenager who pisses wherever he feels like it, and nor do I wish to again, and the less said about the closing track the better.
This was looooooooooong. I ironed all my kid's school uniform, then prepped a Sunday dinner and made a chocolate pear pudding, and it was still going. I knew I Saw The Light from somewhere but otherwise was going into this blind. It was surprisingly varied, so there was bound to be at least one good track for most people. In my case I really liked Wolfman Jack, The Night The Carousel Burned Down (which felt a bit Harry Nilsson to me) and Little Red Lights. I Went To The Mirror was interesting, though I'm not sure I could entirely say I enjoyed it. Surprisingly I did enjoy Todd explaining studio screw ups during Intro (the last time I got a lesson on a 1001 Album, it was Ravi Shankar trying to educate me about Sitars and I did not appreciate that one little bit). The hit rate was pretty low for me, and the ridiculous length means it gets marked down. Would have been a 2.5 with half marks, but I'm rounding down. 2/5
I listened to this yesterday but literally don’t even remember anything about it while writing the review now. Was definitely greatly overshadowed by my discovery of the new Cure album yesterday.
Nobody needs this much Todd rundgren.
Something/Anything? must've been his criteria for inclusion on the album. Occasional gems that are not the hits can be found, but it's nearly 90 minutes of Todd Rundgren when a brief 30-minute EP would've been my preference — at least it was an easy listen?
I Saw the Light...the big hit off a double album. I wonder what makes bands think double albums are a good idea. I Saw the Light is the big hit and it's the first song...this is going to be a long listen. This is vastly superior to the other album he had on the list though. I might actually like Todd Rundgren? Nevermind, Todd Rundgren sucks. And his stupid Intro seven tracks in is really dumb. Wow, this just keeps getting worse. Little Red Lights is one of the least cool songs about a car ever and there is some serious competition for that dishonor. The little interlude of a studio session is better than most of the album. My god, it gets worse as it goes on. If this was two sides, it would be at least one side higher...the second two sides would still be one lower so maybe the system works? Piss Aaron makes me realize that this is like a combination of Chicago and Harry Nilsson, but it is definitely worse than the sum of its parts. Hello It's Me doesn't have that many listens on Spotify but it's definitely the song I'm most familiar with other than I Saw the Light.
Cheese overdose
Was considering giving this a 3 when the track "Breathless" came on and just tanked the entire fucking thing. And then I realized that it wasn't even halfway over. I'm sure these were new and exciting sounds when this album came out in 1972 but it just sounds old and dated. There's some really good guitar stuff on here like Black Maria but it's few and far between. Would have liked this a lot more if there were more songs like "Couldn't I Just Tell You"and "Little Red Lights" which absolutely slaps. Yeah, give me a whole album of Little Red Lights, Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me, Black Maria, Couldn't I Just Tell You and Rolling Stones inspired Slut (which seems at odds with the rest of the shit he's got on this album). Overall, too goddamn long, too all over the place and just a slog. This is an hour and a half I can't get back.
This is not Harry Nilsson's best record.
# Album Name: Something-Anything # Artist: Todd Rundgren # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Honestly, i was fleeting between a 1 or a 2 for this. Starts out with a banger then just goes on and on and on and fucking on. No one in there right mind should produce a double album unless you really are that good. We've seen it many times on this list. why do people think its a good idea? Couple of good songs but considering theres 25 tracks its like fuck me dead. Wayyyyyyy too long. # Top Tunes: i saw the light / black maria / wouldnt make any difference / hello its me / # Would I listen to it again? No
Eh
4 albums in 1 ? I liked the third one best.. It was more psychadelic - especially the ending.
On this double LP, three sides feature songs with Rundgren on every instrument - ambitious certainly, but ultimately yielding little more than a string of sub-Beatles pop rock tracks, with no real magic aside from "I Saw The Light". Side four sees him working with a rotating set of musicians and contains the excellent "Hello, It's Me", along with several *really* regrettable choices. When working with other bands (like XTC and The Tubes), Rundgren has shown himself to be an excellent producer, but perhaps having someone else in the producer's chair for this record might've made for a much tighter single LP.
Not only is this album exceptionally long, it's also impressively boring and unmemorable. What is it doing on here? 2/5
Not for me
boring
25 songs that all sound the exact same
An overly long mish-mash of largely mediocre tunes.
90 minute album which felt 300 minutes long. So boring.
This was a mixed bag. A couple of tracks were ok
I understand that Todd Rundgren is well respected in the business as both a musician and producer, but by the end of the 90+ minute run time of this album, the answer to the title question could easily have been 'Something/Anything?/Nothing.'
Oof this was not a great one. Went on for way too long and just the most bland dad/yacht-rock out there. Very little enticing me to come back to it at any point in the future. 3.75/10 (1.875/5)
torturous listening experience 4/10
typical 70s pop rock.... which means "shitty". That's what I mean when I say that. Shitty.
Not particularly impressed. Apparently he's a big deal.
Meh
A handful of enjoyable tracks but seemed few and far between with such a long runtime. Could have been a three if it was shorter.
After the first track: where have you been all my life Todd? After the rest of the album: yeah, ok, back into obscurity again please. As with other albums by ”geniouses” that play all their instruments themselves it lacks that certain groove tight bands can create together.
If you’ve ever wondered how the popular TV format Gogglebox – “Celebrity Watch Party” in the USA; I’d like to say something sarcastic about that, but I absolutely can’t imagine normal Americans watching normal Americans watch TV either – would work for music, then toss a coin into Todd’s uncanny jukebox and experience the joy of wasting money. Talent here isn’t the problem, either in front of the microphones or behind the desk. As a musician and as a producer, Todd is good, maybe even one of the best. The songwriting, similarly, is consistently strong, often interesting. And yet something rankles; I’m increasingly irritated by the feeling that I’m listening to an eclectic mixtape of mangled pastiches. I’ve stepped into cave of wonders where the treasures are the echoes that bounce from the walls. Yes “Song of the Vikings” sounds very much like the Beach Boys, “I saw the light” like Carole King … but why should I give a shit? If we put the dodgy tribute acts to one side (and let’s say nothing about the final seven or so tracks … regrettable), there’s stuff on this double album to actually enjoy – “It wouldn’t have made any difference” is a sublime pop song with a truly fantastic middle 8, “Wolfman Jack” is silly but also a quite brilliant vocal. On the whole, though, this album feels like it sets out to prove a point but ends up confirming the opposite. Pop music might be formulaic, but something about “Something/Anything?” just doesn’t add up.
Awww 70s soft rock... not even fun enough to be called yacht rock.
Rather boring.
Talented obviously but not really my thing
Yes, it’s always impressive when one person can play all instruments and mix and record everything singlehandedly. But oh my God this is boring
Thankfully, YouTube only had half of this long double album so I was spared the pain of listening to the whole thing. A couple of the songs were OK, most were garbage. The 2 radio "hits" are mediocre at best. I always thought one of them was by Carole King. Sorry to disparage you Ms. King!
This was okay. Then it was way too long. And weird.
A fine album, just not for me.
Not for me
Went from fine to annoying by the end of this very long record.
JFC, this is a long ass record. There's some stuff on here I didn't mind, but the sheer amount of it made it fairly insufferable by the end.
Really, this hasn't aged well and I don't think many of these 70s/80s albums were something special to that older crowd, yacht-rock lovers. But really, this is just banal studio work. Great, Todd. But learn to play well with others. Another voice in the room might've pulled you back from the general boring shite this is. The 1st 2 tracks are truly awesome and then it just drops off the cliff into a pile of boring shite. And then to make matters worse, we have CD filler for a 2nd album/disc. OMG...crap!
Just kinda boring
piss aaron right before hello its me is crazy
point8.
Didn't really care for it. Was noodly and fun in spots but it just didn't really come together for me.
Bit of a struggle to get through this double album. A few very good tracks but most of the material felt lightweight and inconsequential to me.
I had high hopes but unfortunately I just couldn't get into this.
Didn't really enjoy this one. Had a lot of styles and a few decent tracks were hidden in there.
There's a good (but likely not great) album buried in this sprawling mess. If you, say, took the top 3 songs from each of the album's 4 parts and then mixed them together. You'd probably having a solid album of sunny 70s AM radio pop. But, as is, this album collapses under Todd's inability to self edit.
I know mainstream media is dead and there isn't really a monoculture anymore, but it's crazy to think there used to be this gamut of programming on network TV that had an entire sector of people devoted to it - actors, writers, craft services -- and obviously music: theme songs, scoring, etc. & it wasn't just the seminal shows everyone's parents watched like MASH & Happy Days. There was mediocre dreck too like One Day at a Time, the White Shadow, and Reno. You wouldn't even know if I made one of those up. But all of Todd Rungren's music basically sounds like music for those mediocre 70s shows. Aping some form of a real genre but never really nailing it. Cheesy and obvious. Not really enjoyable. But it's there because the Valerie Bertinelli spin-off needed a theme song.
A variety of styles in one album. Feels a bit too long and indulgent though, these types of songs Paul McCartney does better at.
if he could pick the 10 best songs this would be a 3 or even a 4 stars album
Nothing about it was bad, but I found it boring and long. The pop rock sound isn't really for me. 4/10
126th album I listen to… first time I comment. Todd… you gotta know when to stop. Soooooooo loooooooong.
This is so outstandingly average. If it was half the length it would be a 3, but how could anyone listen to an hour and a half of this?
Ajoittain ihan hyviä biisejä mut liian sekava
The guy who shot Lennon was a huge Rundgren fan
Probably deserves more than 2, nothing really wrong with it. But I'll never listen again, didn't interest me.
2 - Solo lo salva la primer canción,... sino sería 1
Some real drivel, close to Steely Dan in its unpalatable array, but there are some interesting tracks that make this not an entire miss.
Idk
Like nok bedre da andre albumet hans
60s/70s pop/rock just aint it for me
So many songs, so many different types of genre. Really impressive that Todd did 3/4 of the album all alone. Unfortunately, none of the songs are any good
Nothing really grabbed me.
for the most part this is fine to listen to but then it goes on for so long and Piss Aaron is there and it fills me with contempt
Mostly inoffensive but overall forgettable and a large amount of it.
Long, boring album that all sounds the same.
Not really my cup of tea, but wouldn't be bad as background music. Wolfman Jack was pretty good, but the rest wasn't for me. 2*
This gave steely Dan but less zazz, then went Free / Bad Company. A lot variety here that ended up feeling a bit beige, pretty inoffensive. Piss Aaron and Black Maria were standouts. Slut has not aged well at all so album loses a point for that
Nice album art. Sonically it was catching my attention. Twice I assumed it should be done or that it had looped over. It all blended together a bit much.
Feels like Todd was trying to change up the genres on this album. Some of it was yacht rock, some straight up adult contemporary/soft rock, and then out of nowhere a doors sounding track or two. And none of them worked for me.
dadcore
Not enjoying this. My favorite song is Slut because it’s fun and kinda rocks. There was a LOT of filler on this album.
I understand the importance and influence of Todd Rundgren from reading about him. But I can’t say that I hear it listening to his solo albums. At least “Something/Anything?” is better than the wizard one - he was never really a true star despite his impact, and certainly not a wizard. Doesn’t take much to be better than “A Wizard, A True Hero,” though. “Something/Anything?” starts out bland and innocuous enough, but once you get to the “Intro” on the 7th track, things occasionally go off the rails. And when the whole thing stretches for an hour and a half, there’s no tolerance for that. And, um, is that final song serious or satire?
The Good: It isn’t nothing! The Bad: Still don’t know if it is something… The Ugly: Wasn’t really hoping for anything… Is it easy listening? Is it pop? Is it Rock? Is it experimental? Todd needs to make up his mind, that’s for sure. I am grateful that he’s been able to totally explain to me what hiss sounds like! In good faith I can’t score this album higher than 2 1/2*, and because he’s unsure as to what the album is, that means a downgrade…
3/10 No thanks, Todd was too mellow in the 70s. Its like listening to carpet being tred on. 3-19-2025
I had to search my memory to come up with a Todd Rundgren song. Not exactly memorable. I see dome reviewers raved and gave this nothing in particular album a 5. 🫢 Perhaps they’d just listened to 5 heavy metal albums in a row?
Didn't like it. Reminded me partly of Carole Kind and her I don't like at all.
The opening is actually fairly decent. Hard to hate, but nothing to really love either. Goes completely of the rails with the examples of bad production techniques - just fix your shit man. The listener didn't hire subpar studio crew for you. Song of the viking is somehow even worse than the complaints about his producers. Maybe if he cut some of the completely pointless shit, we wouldn't have to suffer through 24 tracks and 90 minutes.
Pues lo he escuchado como el que oye llover, ni me he enterado, ni me he molestado en ver el nombre de ninguna canción.
Bloated and self-indulgent pop/ rock. The decision here was whether this was bad enough for 1 star, or if there was just about enough to scrape 2 stars. There was certainly a lot of padding, annoying interruptions to lecture about how to produce music, some comedy songs that fell flat, a little light rock. It felt like someone trying to rip off the Beatles, but ending up sounding more like Elton John. Not great, but the relief of finishing this made me decide to go for a low 2 stars.
This started off well, but then just turned into generic unoffensive 70’s soft-rock. If this was shorter this might’ve gotten a higher rating, but 25 songs was a lot to listen to without much variety. Also the random intro track about audio errors was odd.
I understand he was a pioneer on the forefront of a lot of things I like, but this album was both boring and long for me.
Most of the songs on this album have not aged well. "I Went to the Mirror" and "Couldn't I Just Tell You" are okay, but if I were to hear "I Saw The Light" or "Hello It's Me" on some 70s pop-music station, I would immediately change the channel -- way too saccharine for my tastes.
Middle of the road dad rock