Something/Anything?

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Artists: Todd Rundgren.

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68 customer reviews.  5.0 out of 5 stars.

Digitally remastered reissue of his 1972 album. Features the original cover art & all 25 cuts from when Bearsville firstreleased it as a two LP set in 1972, including the top five smash 'Hello, It's Me', the top 20 'I Saw The Light', plus 'It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference' & 'Couldn't I Just Tell You'. Double slimline jewel case. 1999 release.

This double record from 1972 remains the definitive collection of Rundgren's long career. With Rundren acting as a one-man-band for three-quarters of the session, it was also his bid for a Ph.D. from the college of musical knowledge. He deserved the degree for simply writing the lead-off track, "I Saw the Light," a melodic pop-rock gem that remains Rundgren's greatest hit. Rundgren excels at Beatles-esque pop-rock ("Couldn't I Just Tell You," "Wolfman Jack") and Philadelphia-styled soul ballads ("It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," "Hello, It's Me"). He also sticks his toe into heavy metal ("Black Maria"), jazz-rock fusion ("Breathless"), and cerebral pop ("The Night the Carousel Burnt Down"). Like most double albums, there's fat on the play-list, but the best of Something/Anything gave credence to Rundgren's boast of being a wizard and a true star. --John Milward

I've just finished listening to this album AGAIN. This is pop music at a level that very few artists could get close to. The Beatles could for sure but not many others. There is only one throwaway track which is 'Overture - My Roots - Money...'- I could live without it easily but even this track works in as much as the following song is such a knockout and the contrast is just great.
I have many Todd albums. Love them all but this will always be my favourite. I came to Todd through I Saw The Light which I heard on the radio and fell in love with. A final mention. How beautiful is 'Cold Morning Light'? It's a heartbreaker.

When I first heard this in 1972, I was swept away with his melodic genius. This is Todd on all 8 cylinders: creative, melodic, eccentric and eclectic. There is pretty pop 'I Saw The Light", "Your Saving Grace" and "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" and the gorgeous "Marlene", motown shades with "Wolfman Jack" and bizzaro songs like "The Night The Carousel Burnt Down" which sounds like something from a black and white Fellini movie. Todd plays all the instruments and although he's a wonderful talent, everyone haas been waiting for something/anything like this from him again......and it never happened. This was his shining hour. A pop masterpiece!

Something/Anything? is to Todd Rundgren what Abbey Road is to the Beatles or what Dark Side Of The Moon is to Pink Floyd. The 1972 album is his magnum opus of 3-minute pop songs and blue-eyed soul, including the hit singles "I Saw The Light," "Couldn't I Just Tell You," and arguably the greatest pop song of all time, "Hello It's Me." Rundgren wrote, played, sang and produced everything on three of the four sides of the double album, establishing him as a studio wizard and a true star. Other musicians including Rick Derringer, and Hunt and Tony Sales backed Rundgren on the fourth side. Something/Anything? marked the end of a trend for Rundgren, before turning to more experiment albums like A Wizard, A True Star. Album tracks include:

1. I Saw The Light 3:00
2. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 3:51
3. Wolfman Jack 2:55
4. Cold Morning Light 3:34
5. It Takes Two To Tango [This Is For The Girls] 2:41
6. Sweeter Memories 3:33
7. Intro 1:11
8. Breathless [instrumental] 3:15
9. The Night The Carousel Burned Down 4:28
10. Saving Grace 4:12
11. Marlene 3:54
12. Song Of The Viking 2:31
13. I Went To The Mirror 4:04
14. Black Maria 5:20
15. One More Day [No Word] 3:43
16. Couldn't I Just Tell You 3:34
17. Torch Song 2:53
18. Little Red Lights 4:49
19. Overture: Money [That's What I Want]/Messin' With The Kid 2:28
20. Dust In The Wind 3:49
21. Piss Aaron 3:26
22. Hello It's Me 4:37
23. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me 4:00
24. You Left Me Sore 3:13
25. Slut 4:04

G. Merritt

This is the best album ever by the multi-talented Todd Rundgren. My best friend back in my high school days turned me on to it and 34 years later I'm still groovin' to it. Mostly Todd on all instruments and vocals, it is a very impressive body of work. Best cuts (IMHO)--""I Saw the Light", "Hello, It's Me", "Saving Grace", "Couldn't I Just Tell You", "Cold Morning Light", "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference", 'No Word", "Marlene" and " Dust In the Wind". Well worth having in your collection.

I heard the first song Black Mariah on a satellite radio station. I was astounded with it, and how great it sounded. I loved everything about the song. It is so different than any other rock tune I've ever heard. So I was bound to have this song no matter if it was the only good song on the CD. Well this is exactly what I got. This is a double disk set. I didn't really care for anything else on the CD's. This seemed to me to be the only coherent, directional, melodic song in the entire entourage of songs presented in this set.
I also tend to be pretty focused on what I like and consider to be worthy of my music library. To the rest of the folks many of these tunes would probably be acceptable. Playing guitar for 30+ years installs a permanent filter that constantly needs adjusting to the ears of most musicians. I'm no different so I just didn't like the rest of the album. To me it has a sort of sophisticated Jimmy Buffet sound to it. Again just me.
So how would I rate this album? On the basis of overall value for the money it's a total failure to me. On the basis of any really outstanding music available it's outstanding just for Black Mariah.
Would I buy it again knowing this? Sure. I love the first song that much, and it makes it worth the price. Had this song not been on the CDs I wouldn't waste the lighter fluid to burn it up. Todd does a good job on the guitar work as do the rest of the musicians on the CD. The songs don't work , they just seem lame to me. Again just my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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