ALBUM REVIEW: Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?

    By 1972, Todd Rundgren was already an artist of renown. He was not only a member of the Nazz group, but had experienced some success with his Runt group, as well as with being a producer - you may recognize his production on albums like Badfinger's Straight Up. All of this was steadily increasing his confidence, as was his further frustration with working with other musicians when recording. So what's the solution? Record an album by yourself, obviously! And so he did - Rundgren would later remark that he hadn't had much experience on drums or bass, but clearly that didn't matter here. Out of four sides on this album, the first three are all completely recorded by Todd Rundgren using multi-tracking in what is one of the most truly impressive self-made albums of the era, made even more-so when one learns about the prolific process of writing on this album. While his previous work was certainly the product of his mind, Something/Anything? is a bona-fide Todd Rundgren solo project, one that's both explorative and filled with catchy moments throughout.

    Rundgren himself organizes this album into four sides with their own "theme": Whether it's "A Bouquet of Ear-catching Melodies", "The Cerebral Side", "The Kid Gets Heavy", or the ambitious "Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)", all of them are good fun in their own way, although if you ask me the names feel a little unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, it's fun and all, but I wouldn't say that Side C is all just "The Kid Getting Heavy", and really most of the album is a bouquet of ear-catching melodies, such is the talent of Rundgren here. He's able to rip out pop numbers incredibly quick here, and essentially on his own in the process - "I Saw the Light", arguably the album's greatest and most enduring moment, was written in 20 minutes. This is all boosted by the fact that the record itself sounds great. Of course, Rundgren was already an experienced producer, but this record is matched with an undeniable charm to all of it - a touch of roughness that feels 100% planned and intentional, and an undeniable juvenile nature that suits the record at points. It plays a little bit like having fun in the studio, but I'm all too willing to excuse it considering how interesting he makes the games and how damn good the songs are - "Intro" quite literally challenges you to make a game out of finding the "sounds of the studio".

    Of course, all the performances (or performance?) kill here, and it's clear that Rundgren is one of those uber-talented musicians on this album. I always respect people with the ability to make a great record on their own, and this record assuredly puts Rundgren on the same level as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Emitt Rhodes. Each side, even if not quite living up to the theme of each given name, does explore a lot of individual interests of Rundgren. While it would be easy for me to say "great pop record" for this release, it's really more than that. Sure there's some brilliant pop and power pop on moments like "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" or my personal favorite "Couldn't I Just Tell You", but there's moments like "Wolfman Jack" that invoke a certain spirit of soul or the instrumental "Breathless" that brings to mind art pop or psychedelia. "Black Maria" or "Little Red Lights" is some great harder rock that shows Todd is more than just a good pop singer. The Side D pop operetta is a little lost on me without the liner notes, but it's still a decently fun and quirky set of songs that showcases even more talent from Rundgren - his re-recording of "Hello It's Me" is a real gem, as is the closing track "Slut", and moments like the country-influenced "Piss Aaron" or "Some Folks is Even Whiter Than Me" are quirky enough to make up for themselves.

    Something/Anything? is really a scattered kind of record, but not one without cohesion. For all the ideas that fill the album's expansive runtime, Rundgren delivers on each of them efficiently and, again, mostly by himself! It's really an artistic triumph in many ways, least of all because it's a damn good rock record that's more than willing to have Todd break the box down to grab from other sounds and ideas that interest him. Rundgren really does put himself a cut above on this album, establishing himself as an efficient and wholly creative force - he objected to the "Male Carole King" label, but ask me if this isn't as stacked with quality numbers as Tapestry.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Something/Anything?