Todd Rundgren - Arena
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Free Music Notes for Arena
Free Music Review: It's good to be the King!
Hit: 5 Stars
While some guys go through their mid-life crisis by indulging themselves with a fast, two-door convertible, Todd has had no apparent crisis. In his 40s, Todd simply announced to his fans that he'd found his second wind by releasing an album of the same name. Todd has done it again. In a career that is full of twists and turns, he has taken the logical next turn. Having recently turned 60, Todd Rundgren's new album Arena could alternately have been called Third Wind. At 60, some musicians are content with having found a niche and continuing along that path for the remainder of their career, but not Todd. His fascination with music and its many intricacies is quite obvious to anyone who knows Todd's varied musical catalog. Those of us fortunate enough to have been following his career for many years, have seen Todd evolve and move forward in ways that would make any other musician's head spin. The ultimate irony here is that the new album finds Todd taking a musical step backward while simultaneously moving forward. And the idea works like a charm!
In the late `60s, Todd's band The Nazz had him front and center as a guitar wielding army of one. Showering the musical landscape with guitar licks straight out of the British invasion with a touch of American-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, teenager Todd made it look easy. Since then his career has included pop music (Something/Anything?, Hermit Of Mink Hollow, Nearly Human, Second Wind), synthesizer rock (Initiation, Todd), guitar extravaganzas (Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Adventures In Utopia), identical recreations of classic Hendrix, Beatles, Bob Dylan and Beach Boys songs (Faithful) and rap (No World Order, The Individualist). However, it would be difficult to generalize these albums into the afore-mentioned categories simply because each has a smattering of other music styles scattered around for good measure. Suffice to say, Todd has shown that he can master any music genre he chooses to delve into, much to the joy of his diehard fan base and much to the confusion of the general population who just don't "get it". We, the lucky few who get it, are rewarded with musical gems at every turn, while at the same time we are left scratching our collectives heads and wondering why the rest of the world just doesn't get it. Here's hoping that this new album will change all of that.
Todd celebrated his 60th birthday by writing, recording and, of course, producing this new album of original music that pulls together the music styles of Jeff Beck, AC/DC, Robin Trower, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, and ZZ Top, with a little bit of Burt Bacharach and Sade thrown in to balance things out. The result is a masterpiece, a journey through rock's finest moments as interpreted by Todd. Catchy guitar hooks and excellent solos abound everywhere on this album. It's amazing how many cool guitar riffs there are on this album. Some musicians would have to wait to release a "best of" album to collect this many brilliant songs. For Todd this is simply par for the course. Infectious melodies draw listeners in and keep us paying attention to every nuance. The catchiest in the bunch is easily "Courage", a song that recalls the album Faithful (Todd's 1976 solo album) and many songs from the pop side of the Utopia catalog. Beautiful harmonies and a guitar solo that could have fallen right out of "I Saw The Light" (from Something/Anything?) or "Love Of The Common Man" (from Faithful). Another new song that stands out is "Weakness" which alternates between two different styles, one employing a nicely distorted guitar sound and the other featuring lush background harmonies and a vocal that reminds me of "The Last Ride" (from his 1974 solo album named Todd).
There are several songs on Arena in which the source inspiration is painfully obvious. One is "Strike", a nod to AC/DC, complete with the signature vocal style that band is best known for. Another song is "Bardo", which recalls Robin Trower's song Bridge Of Sighs.....only Bardo is even better! And then there's the ZZ top inspired "Pissin'" with its twangy guitar riff and Texas-style vocal. This entire album is full of music that brings us back to a place we all know well and yet also takes us somewhere we've never been. Nicely done!
But let us not forget the lyrics. Todd has always had a way with words and although this album does emulate the styles of other bands, it's in the lyrics where Todd reminds us that it is still Todd and not someone else at the controls here. His ability to turn a phrase and make the listener perk up is unrivaled. No one even comes close. There is the soul searching in "Courage" ("Humbly pretending to be brave and strong, inside I'm wondering, what if I'm wrong"), or "Mad" ("Crowded world, how can I find peace of mind, with so many small agendas pushing at me all the time"). There is the call to arms in "Manup" ("Listen to me my friend, what you will not defend, somebody else will end up takin'"), or "Strike" ("Time to strike while the iron is hot") from the AC/DC sound-alike song. I bet AC/DC is smacking their foreheads wondering how they missed using a perfect phrase like that in one of their songs.
This is an album that should be spinning in everyone's CD player. Anyone who has ever liked rock anthems and classic guitar-driven rock music should immediately proceed to checkout and add this to their collection. This is yet another brilliant album by an icon in the music business. And what makes it yet more amazing is that there's no band playing here, it's Todd on all of the instruments, as he has done before on other albums. The difference here (as was on the previous Todd album Liars) is that this album was recorded entirely in Reason, a computer-based recording program. The sound on this album is outstanding, especially the guitars. On some tracks it's obvious the drums are programmed but they sound fine and fit in the context of the track quite well. On other tracks the programmed drums sound more real than a live drummer. His vocals excellent as always and the backing vocal harmonies are superb. Todd has captured the feel and essence of Arena rock, while in the process making us want to jump out of our seats and sing along. After you buy this CD, you might want to complete the experience by going to see Todd and his band on tour. You'll be glad you did.
For more information and tour dates, check out:
http://www.myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic
and
http://www.trconnection.com/
For an excellent Todd interview (done by Jesse Gress) about the album Arena, pick up the October 2008 issue of Guitar Player magazine. The interview includes guitar tabs done by Jesse for several of the songs on Arena.
For information about Jesse Gress, check out:
http://www.jessegress.com/
Free Music Review: HARD ROCK RELEASE FROM POP MYSTIC
Hit: 5 Stars
Arena harkens back to the gutsy R&R of Utopia, to the open
heartedness of his 1993 release, "Almost Human," and to the
suggestive hard rock tracks on numerous of his solo albums.
In a way, we can even hear this album coming from as far back
as 1973's "Todd" double lp and the song "Heavy Metal
Kids." But I had a strong feeling that this was coming because
the last album rather de-emphasized guitars and his recent
stint with The New Cars I knew would re-energize him.
2005's "Liars" release, while shimmering with a futuristic
glaze of high-powered pop positivity and what has become
the "Rundgrenesque" (if you will) sense of moral outrage and
fiery social critique, was an album notably lacking in prefrontal
guitar firestorms. Sure, there were solos and some beautiful
backing work, but no song that one could call "guitar-driven"
(a phrase which really means "lots of guitar overdubs.") I
imagine Todd even got some criticism a la "where are the
guitars." He answers this admirably in the song, "Mercenary"
(How Do You Like Me Now?) Here are the guitars.
This is a hard rock album. Period. Although I am no expert,
I can clearly hear influences from Bad Company, ACDC,
Aerosmith and even Boston. I'm sure true hard rock aficionadoes
would have a "spot the influence" field day. To be fair, Todd
was around when these bands were so big they were filling
gargantuan ARENAS with tens of thousands of slavering fans.
Todd's band, Utopia, was a player in this game, charting on the
FM airwaves numerous times, having a vocal squad Freddie
Mercury (the divine bless him) would have had to admire for
sheer genius, and releasing dare I say MAVERICK albums that
to this day are notable for their stance against status quo idiocracy
and religulousness.
ARENA has the crisp production, high quality composition and amazing vocal charts that we've come toexpect from the Wizard. But it IS hard rock and a HEAVY trip. Definitely. You should be able to enjoy electric R&B and classic hard rock to really appreciate this disc.
If you liked "Nearly Human," if you thought "Oops! Wrong Planet"
was cool, if you've been nursing a Utopia jones for some years:
this is the ticket.
While I myself am looking forward to the Todd instrumental
Visionary synthesis excursion to Paradise in 3D sound, this is
certainly one of his most masterful and accessible albums in eons.
While long time fans like myself will always keep track of Todd's work,
don't let that undercut my opinion when I tell you this is high grade pop
craftsmanship coming from a long-time artist who has stayed truer to
his artistic Vision than most of the tunesmiths of his generation and has
stayed current in the music scene, not allowing too much time to pass
between releases. All that said, it IS a pleasure to return with Todd to
this familiar aesthetic and to hear it shimmering and scintillating
the way it was always meant to be. Rock on.
Free Music Review: The Return of Todd R's Guitar
Hit: 5 Stars
Todd Rundgren's new CD "ARENA" is many if not all of the things you've already heard and read that it is. It is ... 1) a guitar-oriented recording, tilting toward the `hard-rock' genre; 2) an excellent musical adventure: full of tasteful melodies, wonderful bridges (check out the bridge in MERCENARY: breathtakingly beautiful vocals & instrumentation by TR), great power chords and classic TR vocals everywhere, throughout; and 3) yet another Todd recording that is music to our ears, while also packing a powerful message for the heart and soul. It is vintage Todd Rundgren, which is saying quite a lot. Few if any musicians can approach the brilliance of the best work of their youth, but Mr. Rundgren has achieved that distinction with "ARENA."
If I had to list just a few favorites from the CD they would have to include the tunes Afraid, Mercenary, Courage, Strike, Bardo, Panic, and Manup. These are all powerhouse songs with important and powerful messages. But the reality is that there is NOT ONE sub-par song on this record. Taken as a whole, this is another significant addition to the Rundgren catalog, comfortably taking it's place alongside some of Todd's and Utopia's best work.
People have and will nit-pick Todd's use of synth drums or low volume/muffled vocals on a couple of songs or whatever, but those criticisms miss the point. Todd is going to make the record that he hears in his head, and is never going to wait for his favorite musical compatriots to drop by his house to help him lay down organic rhythm tracks. This record boasts songs that are so good, so alive and immediate that to my ears it doesn't sound the least bit "canned" as a result of his chosen recording style. Cynics looking to find fault will miss the bigger picture, that this is an exceptional recording on the whole. The record is real, alive and important at a critical and interesting time in our history.
Thank you yet again, Mr. Rundgren, for both your musical excellence and your intellectual stimulation. "ARENA" superbly displays both in spades.
Free Music Review: Todd Still Rocks...And Still Cares
Hit: 5 Stars
This record has something that will appeal to every Todd Rundgren fan, and also to those (probably under 30 folks) who might have never heard of him. Although it's title, "Arena," perhaps hints that the songs are hard-core rock, meant to be played in large venues, and might appeal only to head-bangers, after listening to this CD a few times, I must say that that is only partially true.
Yes, this album has some fantastic head-banging, hard-core songs. "Strike," for instance, is a bit reminiscent of classic ACDC. "Mercernary" is also a rocker that had me screaming ("HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW!?"). (I've been a Toddhead since I was 13, so that probably gives you an idea of my age. And I'm not a screamer by nature, so that might give you an idea of just how powerful this song is). And then my favorite of the hard-core ones, "Today." This is an incredible song! This is a song that will make you dance and scream and sing... and maybe even change your life. Today.
But then there is also the sad/sweet, bluesy, "Weakness," which Todd sings with all the blue-eyed Soul that he's famous for. And "Courage," which is beautiful, pure pop, easily as great as any of Todd's "Something/Anything hits.
And as always with Todd's albums, the lyrics are meaningful, with messages. He tells us what he's thinking about, what concerns him, and what he cares about in the lyrics of his songs. Here's my favorite on this album: "...You can pray unto your God, but your prayers will bring you naught, for in here you bear the scar of exactly what you are, and it matters even less what you think you know, so put on your little show, but not further will you go till you pass the last Bardo, you will surrender all you hide and be cleansed and purified, and of your burden you'll be free if it takes eternity in the last Bardo.... "
This record will make you dance, sing, cry, laugh ("Pissin"), and question why you're here on Earth, now....
Free Music Review: Rundgren Rocks Again!
Hit: 5 Stars
I wasn't sure at first, but upon repeated listenings I'd have to say this is one of Todds' best works in years. The most single-worthy of the cuts is Afraid, which could almost pass for a Todd classic from the period of The Individualist or later but with a wall of guitars in the background. Courage also has the familiar sound of a typical Rundgren rhythm guitar ballad, reminding me a bit of a Utopia tune. And if it weren't for the heavy guitar work in Weakness, it could've been a cut from Nearly Human. (Hey, I don't mind if Rundgren rips himself off--that's what makes Todd sound like Todd!) Today starts with some synth and vocals reminiscent of Healing, but moves quickly into another arena-inspired anthem--which, obviously, is the theme of the entire album. Mercenary sounds like the stuff my college-aged son does in his garage band (but a lot better), Gun is classic Rundgren humorous socio-political commentary (sure to offend many), and Manup ends the album with a challenge for all us wimps to "man-up" and do our part to get society straightened out, with a hint of surfer-rock guitar in the midst of the hard rock riffs. Some of the riffs on this album may harken back to hard rock tunes you've heard before, but I think that's Todd's way of paying homage to the genre he's emulating. (If you listen, you'll even hear a little Boston and Edgar Winter.) Overall, I'd say Rundgren pulls it off--I'd love to hear him play these in an arena rock venue. Some fantastic guitar work and a sturdy backbeat makes this the most rock-oriented release by Todd Rundgren in years. Listen to a few samples--then buy it!