Title: A Wizard, a True Star
Artiste: Todd Rundgren
Genre: Rock
Familiarity: Have heard of him, but don't think I've heard anything
by him
1. International feel: Reminds me of Devin, though I know he was going for a sort of Beatles Sgt Pepper thing. Very progressive. Nice start.
2. Never Never Land: From the stage production of
Peter Pan apparently. Meh.
3. Tic tic tic it wears off: Very short but quite nice instrumental
4. You need your head: Not mad about this. Also short but quite frenetic. Guitar is quite fantastic, can't be denied, but, you know...
5. Rock'n'roll pussy: Most of these tracks are pretty short aren't they? This one is okay, but just that. Very repetitive.
6. Dogfight giggle: Is this
Animals? No. Sod it then. Some dogs panting. Jesus. I'm sure it demonstrates Rundgren's prowess on the guitar, making these sounds, but for me it's just annoying.
7. You don't have to camp around: This one's okay. But again, just okay. Nice vocal harmonies, even though it only runs for a minute. Organ's cool. Actually I like this now. What can happen in a minute huh?
8. Flamingo: Another instrumental. Clever sure but meh.
9. Zen archer: The first thing approaching a proper song, with a nice carnival style rhythm that reminds me of ... no, I won't say it. Are they flutes? Like the midsection. Sax here is gorgeous. Changing this to Blue. Was Green.
10. Just another onionhead/Da da Dali: Quirky. Not bad. But a few too many of these are relying on their oddness, and this isn't a Zappa or Beefheart album. Meh. Second part is annoying. I hate it when they use twenties styles in rock music. Grrr!
11. When the shit hits the fan/Sunset Blvd: Well it's got a great title at least. Bit of a damp squib though. Instrumental. Not bad but nothing great. Oh, ok: vocals in the last few seconds. Still kind of meh to okay. Give it an Orange.
12. Le feel internacionale: Sort of a reprise of the opener? Not sure why this is even here?
13. Sometimes I don't know what to feel: Now it's a soul song. It's not bad, but I'm really not soul-ed. Sorry.
14. Does anybody love you?: And another soul one. It's okay.
15. Medley: This starts off well, but I don't quite get the idea of switching from rock to soul for the last three tracks, and this lasts ten minutes. I think it's a homage, so fair enough if so, but what about the other two? It's a great track for the most part, but if I want to hear a ten-minute soul track, I'll listen to a soul album.
16. Hungry for love: It's okay but nothing special.
17. I don't want to tie you down: Nice sort of folky piano ballad.
18. Is it my name? : Now this is more like it! Powerful keyboard intro, sense of Yes in the melody, good rocker. Why isn't all the album like this?
19. Just one victory: And a gospel one to end on. Impressive, but again, too many styles here and it's just hard to wrap my head around.
End result: Although I have never heard any Rundgren up to now, I feel this was not the album to make an introduction to him. It's just too quirky and the styles are all over the place. Hard to get a decent idea of what he's about. I would have thought maybe one of the Utopia albums instead? Confusing. Good parts, but not enough of them.
So, Love or Hate? Can only muster a
Like on this one.