Something/Anything?

Right now Rundgren is in the news for saying Taylor Swift ruined music and is the "Apotheosis of Mediocrity." I'm not gonna lie I chuckled when this album showed up today. I shook my head when I listened to it. Him making this album and then calling someone mediocre is absolutely hilarious to me. This album is so damn boring. Seriously calling out Swift for mediocre music is now the funniest shit I've read all week. This album is so adult contemporary Yanni wishes he made it. Then it switches to a kinda fun album that enjoys it's own weirdness. It's not fun enough to cover for the first part where I remember being younger and in a car while my parents listened to Hello It's Me while chain-smoking and not rolling down the windows. Yes I'm aware that song is on the back half of the album. It's even more boring because that song is after Piss Aaron.

4/10 "Hi Geoff, Barry here. Say, thanks for sending over Todd's tapes. I reckon with a bit of work we've got something we can put out. Maybe even enough for the start of a second release early next year, although he probably will need a little longer to write a few stronger tracks to lift it. And a couple of b-sides and some filler for the deluxe box set in 10years time. Not bad, maybe all that studio time wasn't wholly wasted". "Wait, what? Release the whole thing? Christ Geoff, you've got to speak to him. What about all the pastiche garbage? Oh man, you're kidding? Please tell me you're kidding. He's got ONE decent album here. ONE. What's the matter with him?" "Bloody hell, it's 90 minutes. I've not even listened to the last 8 songs. What does he want to call it?" "What, he wants me to decide? Oh, that's it, Something/Anything? Now I know you're taking the piss. Well done Geoff, you had me there for a moment."

So far this album sounds like 70s radio I would have ignored in the 70s. I know Todd Rundgren is a big deal, and maybe I need context for this album. But so far is just sounds like a 70s record. Somewhere around track 7 or 8 this started to pick up.

I'm torn between a 2 and a 3. It had some decent enough tracks in it, but nothing hugely memorable and there was way too much of it. My gut is telling me to give it a 2.

I enjoyed this! I thought he had a nice voice and the instrumentals were pretty good throughout the whole thing which was an hour and a half btw. There were also a couple fun spoken interludes like one was him telling us to listen for flaws in records we have and whatnot and there was a song where they kept messing up in the intro which was pretty funny. One thing was that a lot of the songs sounded the same to me and there wasn’t a lot of variety across the 25 tracks. Also the last songs chorus was ‘S-L-U-T she may be a slut be she looks good to me’ which felt kind misogynistic. Overall 3.1477/5, I may listen again.

Enjoyable

Very well produced/performed, but to me just background music. I've never particularly disliked Rundgren, but never particularly liked him either. And for something I wasn't really getting into, it was really f'n long.

At first ... I saw, oh, a Todd Rundgren album from '72 ... this should run oh what, about 39 minutes? Fuck! Its a double album! After the first track, this album started feeling like the six volume Ella Fitzgerald sings the Gershwin Songbook!

Mid

Some chirpy optimism here, got a bit annoying after 4 songs

Honestly it's a wonderful album It's one that I've always loved side one is probably my favorite of the studio side. Side four I think of it as the live side as it was live in the studio. i love the feeling of side four because it just feels in the moment 9.5 ★★★★½

One of the best Todd Rundgren albums. It is eclectic and experimental, but too long. 4 stars

I'm not very high on this album (or Todd Rundgren in general). I think it's too soft overall. It's like proto-Yacht Rock without the fun aspect of being on a boat. When Todd decides he wants to rock, it's somehow wimpier. Also, this is sort of irrelevant to the music, but I find Todd Rundgren the person to be sort of pompous. The studio chatter skits on this album don't do him any favors. "I Saw The Light" is a good song, even if it is a Carole King ripoff. 2.5 stars.

Stunning album. One of the best albums by somebody ever. So many beautiful songs and a few mad ones too. I’m glad I had my headphones with me and got em cranked up because they really helped me out on this one. “I don’t mean to treat you badger evil I’m just a good badger gone bad But if I catch you after dark Walking through the badger park I’m just liable to do something badger mad!”

I didn’t really like this. The slow songs were quite boring and pathetic. This will be a strange comparison but you remember that Brendan Frazier and Elizabeth Hurley movie called bedazzled? And he makes wishes with the devil to try to get a girl. And one wish is for him to be sensitive or something and he keeps crying. It sounded like that. Many of the fast songs sounded like themes songs for a 70s or 80s sitcom. And what was up with the start of Saving Grace? And why was this so dang long? Like maybe there are 8-9 songs (out of the 25!) on here that could come together in a decent album. Couldn’t I just tell you was pretty good. Little Red Lights is aight. I’ll give us a 2 but I’m tempted to go 1.75.

So long! Christ! They’re not bad individually but are each of these songs equally worthy of making the cut?

Alright but way too long.

Meh. I’ve heard worse

why are there so many songs waaaa 3

Some quality control would have been nice. Not all of these songs needed to be on the album. It was a fine album, but entirely too long.

Du pop rock absolument quelconque dont aucune chanson ne m'a marqué.

Album was extremely boring and much much too long. I feel like most of the songs were a waste of time and this could have been slimmed down to about 10 songs and maybe have been worth a listen. I found it hard to give it a good rating just based on the fact that after an hour plus it was just not getting any better. It gets a 4/10 and two stars.

My first reaction to a double album is usually one of dread with anticipation of bloat, unworthy filler and a lot of skipping. I enjoyed this and listened to it the whole way through. The 70's covered my teen years so I liked that whole vibe. I'd enjoy hearing this again.

A double album that could've been a single album

Ни о чем

This is great, starts out all sweetness and light, had amazing pompous 'check out my studio knowledge' skits and then switches through the gears. What a beaut, it even breaks my rule to ignore all albums that run at 1000 hours long. Todd is a total dude. Imagine being this good at every instrument on the album and at production.

How come I hadn't heard of Todd Rundgren before yesterday? "Something/Anything?" is a great album that exceeded my expectations. There wasn't a single bad song on it. "Something/Anything?" feels like the '70s condensed into a 90-minute-long album I hope to get something as good tonight. 4 stars for "Something/Anything?".

Remember, maybe a decade back my social media algorithm recommended all these record accounts at which point people were heavily revisiting Todd Rundgren’s catalogue. I didn’t check them out then, and I didn’t really need to check them out now. This to me is not especially interesting music. Lash well produced occasionally catchy but otherwise rather non-descriptive. I can imagine loving this if you grew up with it, but from my angle, it’s 70 pop not far removed Ron whoever the heck else. Admittedly I’m only for some of the album and I will continue listening. It’s by no means bad but not at my alley. Had. To take a break to wash the saccharine from my ears. Spinning zen arcade Will finish later.

Soooo long. Talented but same-y

Expansive and grandiose record. So many to unpack, probably didn't pick up on everything on the first listen, but very enjoyable.

This was fun. Only knew one song. The album felt maybe a little bloated but overall a really solid listen.

i don't know, i feel like this is a less condensed version of A Wizard / A True Star. and the density of ideas was a strong point in that album's favor. not to say this doesn't have hits or plenty of wonderful quirky writing and production choices! it's just a bit much to take in and there are too many forgettable tracks. i took a break in the middle and i think that was the right choice. deserves to be one of the 1001? i think Todd has earned a spot on here. flip a coin between this and A Wizard / A True Star

Agradable y disfruton. Canción fav: One more day lo volvería a escuchar si.

There is a LOT to like here - Beach Boys and MoTown influences are everywhere, plus some awesome chord progressions/guitar riffs - but a chunk of uninspired/experimental songs that I am not a huge fan of and makes this album a bit of a slog. If this was cut down to a single LP, this would be an INSTANT 5 and one of my favorites off this list.

I very much enjoyed this album. I thought the opening song was very, very good. The instrumental portions were very good and some of his vocal performances were very good. Overall this is a very good album

Most of this feels like a cover of a Carole King tune, but in a good way. The majority of this album being self-made is also pretty impressive. It’s not bad music by any means, but lacks anything particularly exciting to me. Also ridiculously long.

This album cover would make a great powder room wallpaper!

I do like the first song here. Placeholder 2

Another pleasant revisit. Favorite track I Saw the Light

apotheosis of mediocrity

Was good at first but just goes on wayyy too long, still very nice songwriting though

Если просто включать какие-то отдельные треки- то даже и не плохо, но мужик 90 мину, ты ебобо?

Alright/ok Rock music for my Mom

Far less weird than his other album on here, although the signs are there. I read that after this album he gave up on “conventional” songs and went psychedelic. This one is a bit overblown and comes in 4 parts and 90 minutes runtime. There is enough good stuff on here for a great 50 minute album but sadly it gets overly padded for little sensible reason.

3.6

This album bordered the line of generic 70s pop, but there were elements I enjoyed. I like the way it's structured, and how it doesn't take it too seriously. Couple songs jumped out, but was a little long for what it offered. Rating: 7.5/10 Favorite Song: Black Maria

He really did put anything in here.

What a hoot

(5/7) some good stuff on here but still kind of long

I like Todd as an expiramental artist but sometimes he seems more caught up in the idea of being experimental and forgets to do something interesting. There was a lot of charted waters on this album and it seemed like he was experimenting more with format than content and the content wasn't great. I do like that he put the intro at track 4. Very inventive. Probably made sense on a record but even on a record, I'm not sure.

Very stereotypical late 70s pop album, almost like yacht rock but without the hooks. I did enjoy the part where Todd tells us how to spot recording flaws and follows it up with a proto-Mario kart song, but the rest of it was like being in an American grocery store in the 80s. Strangely off putting. And very long.

way too damn long but a lot of life affirming stuff is in here

likely in my top 10 albums of all time, this album is foundational to me as a person

Rundgren is an extremely talented man, but also clearly an extreme control freak. I’m going to write the songs, play every instrument on every track, mix it, produce it, hell I’m even going to write the liner notes. 🙄 For all of that control the album - all 4 sides - better be “Beatles Worthy”, but frankly it’s just not. In point of fact side 4, with the few collaborations is by far the most interesting tracks. This is more of an ode to himself than a creative contribution to the world of music generally. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover he regretted the hits that came out of this because he’d have to share them with the public. But the talent is undeniable and - thank God, he’s not a fracking limey for a change. Plus 1 for that.

This is (so far) the most egregiously 70s thing I have ever heard. I enjoyed some of it but not nearly enough of it. Impressive that most of this was just the one guy. He's got a pretty cool backstory. I just didn't really care for it all that much.

Most is forgettable but a couple incredible tracks there.

Nice but long! It's quite difficult to go from not knowing someone's music to a double album! It reminded me of steely dan in a way which is a huge plus for me. Unfortunately there's some missing ingredient for that comparison. Definitely some cook songwriting and cool arrangements. If I spent more time with him I'd probably learn to really love it

The album is simply way too long. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Albums should be under 90 minutes(this one just surpassed the cusp, unfortunately). Even when an album is 75 minutes, I tend to think they're starting to drag. If an album is this long, it needs to be phenomenal. Maybe a greatest hits album? The album itself was at least versatile, and enjoyable at times, but I was happy when it ended. Favorite Track: "Wolfman Jack".

A Wizard A True Star blew me away but this not quite as much. I am sure plenty of people complain about it being too long and eclectic. Definitely had the Todd songs I had previously known, including “I Saw the Light” from the My Girl 2 soundtrack, the foundation of my musical taste.

Some really great stuff on here, but at 90mins, it's way too long and self indulgent. This could have been a 40min masterpiece, but it's a bit of a slog.

This is an embarrassment of riches. My only complaint is that it's a bit too long for me.

good but long af

Too long. I initially was giving this a 4 but that weirdo interlude where he wanted us to "guess where these are in the album" was mega cringe. Then it just kept going and wouldn't stop. It's annoying because this album could be nice and concise.

I have no reason for this, but I feel like someone named Todd Rundgren should play music way heavier than this

There were some good moments here but the album was too long. I think I would rate it much higher if it had been trimmed down to about half the length and got rid of all the fluff. I Saw The Light is a great song.

2.5 - Meh. I didn't really feel strongly either way about it.

Have heard of the name, but not familiar with this. I don't really like it, especially since it's so long.

Quite a pleasant listen - nothing that would make me particularly recommend, but perfectly acceptable

Hello, It's Me, was brilliant. The rest was less so. ★★★

Det er ikke nødvendigvis dårligt, men det er bare for langt til at jeg kan overskue at sætte pris på det.

Synes sådan set at det blev fint hen ad vejen. Men det var en meget lang vej. Alt for lang vej.

*47 En stor spand happy go lucky. På trods af gode numre og fede lyde, så blev det for meget for mig. Det hjalp ikke at det blev ved i 1,5 time.

Indbegrebet af soveværelses-pop, som i pop, der lyder som om, det er skrevet, lavet og spillet af én person i soveværelset Det gør i sig selv ikke noget, det bliver bare lidt silly goofy for mig, og så er det alt for langt. Vi har været igennem det før, men vi tager den lille én gang til: HAR DU NOGET AT BYDE PÅ? NEJ? SÅ SKAL DIT ALBUM IKKE VARE HALVANDEN TIME Highlight: Dust in the Wind 2.1

Alt alt alt alt for langt. Hvis man lige frem giver hver side hvert sit eget navn, så kunne man nok lige så godt have lavet 4 separate albums. Side 1 fungerer egentlig meget fint og numrene er ganske ørehængende, men de andre sider er både meget anderledes og noget mindre let tilgængelige - og desværre ikke på den gode måde. Synes det ender med at være både meget rodet og lidt for fjollet til tider.

418/1089 some classic pop rocky vibes. it’s aight. There are a few highlights but a lot of filler that sounds quite generic to me ending a one and a half hour long double album with Slut is CRAZY, what a wet fart of a finish faves: i saw the light (!!) breathless, couldn’t i just tell you, it takes two to tango 47/100

Great but too long

New to me, and really enjoyed. Obviously virtuosic as a one-man production. Smooth pop songwriting at times, then strange and inventive rock at others, but somehow cohesive as a project. Playful along the way, and interesting throughout. I don't love absolutely everything on here, but I have a few favourites, and I'm glad to know the album.

Sparse magic, mostly tuned out, 70's pop with sprinkle of rock magic ⭐⭐⭐

This hit

fürchterlicher Egotrip - einfach keine guten Songs

Some of the harder/glam-rock songs sound pretty good, although not very memorable, but most of the songs are very bland soft-rock ballads. Also, the studio chatter gets annoying (I don’t know if that’s only on the Spotify release I listened to, or if it was in the original), and a good number of the songs feel underbaked. I would not listen again, but Todd Rundgren was someone I’d only heard of but never heard, so I guess it’s good that the list got me to give him a listen. Not really essential though - plenty of 70s musicians did what he did but better.

Track 1, "I Saw the Light," sounds like Carole King singing George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." "Intro"is just strange and silly as Rundgren talks to you about quality versus shoddy recording techniques. "Breathless" is an instrumental that I kid you not sounds like it belongs in a level of Super Mario Kart. Rundgren scores points for being so overall well-rounded – he writes, he plays many instruments, he sings, and he produces, so that's cool. Are some of the songs catchy? Yes, of course! There's some good music on here, but this will not be making it into my personal top rotation.

There are a few decent songs here and there, but this album REALLY overstays its welcome. Could have easily been less than half this length.

24 fucking songs. "Something" represents what this guy wrote for the first 12 songs. He just did something. "Anything?" is the question asked by this guy after the recording engineer told him to just play anything because he got tired of the same shit. Or at least that's how I think it happened.

Good but not great

It starts off weird but sort of blends into middle of the road 70s music of no real interest. I’d probably complain if it had leaned into the weird more, but this turned out quite boring all told. And WAY too long. Not terrible enough to be a 1 but nowhere near threatening a 3.

Having reasonably strongly rated A Wizard, A True Star, Something/Anything album just falls flat. It sounds like a disjointed, jangling pop album with limited appeal, and it is simply too straight. Todd Rundgren can only exist surely when he is exploring unique, different sounds. There is nothing clever about writing, playing, and producing everything yourself if the end product sounds just like everything else on the radio from the 70s. Well done I guess but it is definitely not better than his weirder, more experimental work.

Well that was an absolute mission to get through. I had to keep tapping out because it was doing my head in. Weird Beatlesque soft rock noises with no substance for the first two thirds of the album. There were some heavier tracks that I enjoyed more towards the end, "Little Red Lights" being a mid, Hendrix ripoff. Generally unenjoyable and the length of the album is a complete piss-take. Perhaps a 3* album hiding in there somewhere but it needs some serious culling before it's palatable.

I could see why people would like this album, but for me, it was not something I would listen to

Thought I would like this more than I did. I can hear the influence it had, just seems really long.

Maybe the most indulgent record ever made. I don't mind it though. He's got a proper ear for melody and a real desire to make music as interesting as possible based on whatever he has access to.

Pretty amazing album in terms of variety of style, substance (abuse) and is at times quite funny. I did manage to finish and listen to it all. He's very prolific and still very much alive. Would I want him in my collection? No, I don't.

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

I love the 70s sound, but it mostly was just background music and nothing really stood out to me.

Some good moments but not enough or good enough to justify this long of an album.

Heard before?:❌️ Will listen again?:❌️

Todd Rundgren produced one of my all time favorite albums, XTC's Skylarking which came up in this project a few months ago. There are legendary stories about the friction between Rundgren and the band members which resulted in a masterpiece. From what I can gather, Rundgren performed all of the musical parts on this album and produced it. I can't help but wonder if the lack of friction held it back from even higher heights. I mean I liked this album, and I plan to listen to it more. But I wonder how much it could have benefitted from more pushback like Skylarking. All that aside, the song Slut has aged terribly.

There is plenty here to digest, with some great experimentation and exploration from a name who seemed to go underappreciated in his time. What holds it back just a little for me is that there are too many tracks mixed in that are a bit straightforward. This creates a bit of an odd, diluted mix but that doesn’t take away too much from all the enjoyable tracks and ideas on here. The quality of the sound is so consistent for such a long record. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: I Saw the Light, Breathless - Instrumental, Hello It’s Me, Black Maria, Couldn’t I Just Tell You

I have tried and tried but I can't get this album past a 3.

7.8