Anthology (1968-1985)

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Artists: Todd Rundgren.

Lowest new price: $11.69.

Lowest used price: $1.75.

10 customer reviews.  4.5 out of 5 stars.

Singer, songwriter, bandleader, producer, cult figure, gadfly, self-promoting visionary, and techno-geek provocateur for any number of revolutionary musical and home-entertainment breakthroughs--which Todd Rundgren would you anthologize? On this 27-track, double-disc compendium, Rhino has ably distilled Rundgren's restless, often overblown ambitions and playfully obtuse artistic vision into what passes for its original essence. With the exception of the Nazz's emblematic "Open Your Eyes," these songs are culled mostly from the handful of solo albums Rundgren produced during a 15-year span that also saw him produce hit records for everyone from Grand Funk to XTC, as well as front the prog-rock Utopia. What the CD reveals is an artist not only fueled by the Beatles-led Brit invasion of his teens and Bell Records soul of his native Philadelphia, but one whose heartfelt romantic ballads ("I Saw the Light," "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference") are so perfectly crafted that they sound like nothing short of outtakes from Carol King's Tapestry. Given his tendency to zig when others anticipated zag, there is a sense of determined exotica at work here, too--one whose most obvious fruits are the Caribbean-tinged radio drive-time staple, "Bang the Drum All Day." If you only know "The Runt" from early hits like "Hello It's Me" and "We Gotta Get You a Woman," you may find this collection to be variously adventurous yet satisfyingly familiar. --Jerry McCulley

A true musical genius. Take a blow get a ZyR voduski and snapple lemonade and let the music cover you up. PowerPLUS from the 70's and 80's. Tight lyrics and pop masterpiece arangements. go todd go.

This is a good place to start for Todd Rundgren/Utopia collectors.
It has most of the essential hits and key album tracks
that the casual listener would want.

But for those who'd want to dig deeper(or already have,
like me), it's still enough to whet your appetite.

I would've liked to see some of the 'Faithful' cover
versions (especially the note-for-note 'Good Vibrations')
appear here, but that's a minor complaint.

With just four songs representing it here,the truly essential Todd Rundgren album "Something/Anything" is simply not given its due. Unfortunately, there really are no other worthwhile Rundgren anthologies out there, so what you may want to do is purchase this anthology and supplement it by buying individual albums with the bigger concentrations of Todd's best work. I would argue that 1974's "Todd" also deserved more tracks included, especially the "Sidewalk Cafe/Izzat Love?" suite (sweet!).

One nice aspect to this album is Todd's tongue-in-cheek bio, some decent notes, and all lyrics included in the insert. Including "Open My Eyes" was also a smart move, so this is set is certainly not a bad one by any means, and as noted, it's the best available.

Considering that most CD anthologies hold around 75 minutes of music per disc, this one clocks in rather short at about 105 or so minutes total for two discs. There WAS a European anthology which had fourteen more tracks, but it is no longer available new or used (so don't bother to look for it--I tried through four different Amazon Marketplace Merchants). So we are stuck with this strong but incomplete anthology; there really is nothing better available, so buy it and a few other Todd favorites to supplement.

I don't ever see the point in lengthy reviews. I'm not a professional reviewer, just a true fan. That being said, this is a great collection from an extremely talented man.
Buy it, and you won't be disappointed.

I got this CD set because I loved the songs "Hello it's me" and "I saw the Light". Typical pop fan of 70's music. What I got with this CD set was more than I had hoped.

After just 2 listens to the 2 CDs I was hooked. I fell in love with about 10 new songs I never heard before. I wont ramble on. What I will say is this..

GET THIS SET if you only know a couple of Todd's hits. I promise you will NOT be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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