Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?

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.

SOMETHING/ANYTHING? is Todd Rundgren's most popular album, and also his best. This double-disc reissue takes you through his whole toy chest of styles, from Carole King tributes ("I Saw The Light") to hard rock. This CD, along with RUNT, Utopia's ANTHOLOGY 1974-1985 and various solo best-ofs, basically comprise what any casual fan would need of Todd Rundgren's work.

Loved this album when it first hit the stores. Lost my original 2 disc vinyl in that nasty break-up of 1989. Figured it was a good time to recapture some of my youth and get the CD set.

Listening again after all these years my perception of Something/Anything has changed. Yes, the disc contains quite a number of winners. However, 25 years later I found Something/Anything not that different from mainstream rock that was packaged during that era. Technically, TR is great, but the album as a whole fits into that 'Good Stuff but Same Stuff' category.

Glad I bought it just for the trip down memory lane.

.

I've been a Todd fan for....37 years now and though I've been away from his light for a few years, I am in the process of re-discovering his music. ALL HIS MUSIC MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD! We can debate pros and cons of this and that, but the simple fact remains that EVERYTHING he puts out is "city in my head" preciously supurb. You can pick any cd...go ahead...pick something/anything...and you'll see what I mean. A lot of what he does in the solo masterpieces he does all by himself...vocals, instruments, production, treatments. And Utopia is so very, very excellent. What more to say?

I recently bought a Bonnie Tyler CD(super hits) because I loved a couple of her songs(Bright eyes,I'm holding out for a heroe)which by the way is terrific.Every song was great but I loved her duet with Todd Rundgren. I searched the internet for Todd Rundgren and fell in love with him. He is probably the most talented man in the music business.He does it all. I am buying everything he has ever done. The man is amazing.!!!! I went to the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida recently and I can understand why they have a wall dedicated to him. My dream would be to meet him to tell him how wonderful he is. DEBBIE

An amazing double album by , at the time, a very young Todd. An interesting variety of songs. Todd can rock, he can croon, he can play bubble gum, he can jam, he can harmonize, he's got soul. "Hello it me" was a fav when I was young and it is still way up there today.

It so wrong that this ultra talented musician, song writer, performer, producer, and chance taker is not in the rock and roll hall of fame.

todd rundgren really proves to be great in many different areas on this double album. he dabbles in a bunch of musical styles, writes some great songs with great melodies, produces everything, he's a one man band, he's a band leader, he's a one man carole king album, he gets heavy, and does some pretty weird experiments. one man... doing all of that! wow! listen and enjoy.

Todd Rundgren is definitely one of the best songwriter's ever. Pop, rock, jazz...the man can write anything. This double album is awesome and one of his best. Besides the obvious hits, Wolfman Jack is rockin' as is Black Maria. I recommend it.

This is in my top 10 all time favorite albums. It has everything from pop to hard rock and some hints of everything else...well, okay, no country(Thank you, Todd). There is some viking music, though.

The Runt's sound is always very uncharacteristic for his time. He was way ahead of the music crowd and not influenced by what was popular at the moment. On at least one cd in this album, Todd plays all of the instruments, recording in his living room, and I heard that the backup singers were neighbors on his street. Both cd's are perfect. After this album, Todd was off to Utopia.

Top forty songs from this album: I Saw the Light, Hello It's Me, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference. Todd's other top forty hits: "We've Got to Get You a Woman," is on Runt. He also did an amazingly faithful version of Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" where he was probably playing all instruments and doing all vocals.

An earlier album, that has a simlar energy to this one, is titled "A Wizard A True Star:" many varied musical sounds and there is also a great version of 'Cool Jerk."

Todd was punk before punk. But he was much more than that. He was a musical genius who missed or avoided the big spotlight.

I didn't take any chances or hesitate buying this album. This now one of my favorite albums. Todd Rundgren is a genius! Most of the songs are good, disc 2 is more duller and heavier. Hello It's Me is probably the best known song from this album. But anywhere here are the songs:

DISC 1:
1. I Saw The Light (5/5)
2. It Wouldn't Have Many Any Difference (5/5)
3. Wolfman Jack (4/5)
4. Cold Morning Light (5/5)
5. It Takes Two To Tango (5/5)
6. Intro (1/5)
7. Sweeter Memories (5/5)
8. Breathless (5/5)
9. The Night The Carousel Burnt Down (5/5)
10. Saving Grace (5/5)
11. Marlene (5/5)
12. Song Of The Viking (1/5)
13. I Went To The Mirror (2.5/5)

Disc 2:
1. Black Maria (5/5)
2. One More Day (5/5)
3. Couldn't I Just Tell You (5/5)
4. Torch Song (3/5)
5. Little Red Lights (3/5)
6. Overture My Roots (3/5)
7. Dust In The Wind (5/5)
8. Piss Aaron (5/5)
9. Hello It's Me (10000000000000000/5)
10. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me (3.5/5)
11. You Left Me Sore (3/5)
12. Slut (5/5)

There are a handful of records that bubble to the top when considering which are the best in the Todd Rundgren catalog. But only one pops out beyond the catalog to earn a spot as universally classic, and this is the one.

On Something/Anything, Todd mines his early influences-- singer-songwriters like Laura Nyro and Carol King; the Beatles; the Beach Boys; Motown; Clapton-- to create a dazzling pop song cycle that helped to invent (along with Big Star, Badfinger and the Raspberries) the genre known as power pop. As he says in the liner notes about one of the tunes, "the hits just keep on coming." This is a classic and traditional pop-rock record about boys and girls, about love and longing and teenage heartbreak. It is a genre he has an uncanny knack for, even though he steadfastly avoided it most of the rest of his career.

Some of the best-known and best-loved Todd songs are here: "I Saw the Light" (brilliant); "Hello Its Me;" It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference." There are lesser-known nuggets that are every bit as sweet as the hits: "Marlene;" "Saving Grace;" "Torch Song." "Black Maria" is a stinging guitar rave-up. "Slut" is a joyous slice of glam-rock that is so archtypal that Big Star included it in their set for their 1993 reunion and thereafter. The fact that htere are two whole records of this stuff is almost unfathomable.

The follow-up, A Wizzard A True Star, is as radical a left turn as any artist has made, equally compelling but in a very different (and tripped out) way. But if you want to check out the most universally appealing manifestation of the genius of Todd Rundgren, well, it begins right here.

I had bought this about a month after hearing "Couldn't I Just Tell You? for the first time. I was a depressed 19 year old college student, and this was before knowing that most of the radio stations were owned now by corporations. The song really made me feel about the frustrations I have when trying to tell a girl how I feel about her. I know with me I've had numerous times where I wanted to ask a girl out, and the next thing you know she has alot of people hanging around her, and I would feel too embarrassed to just ask her out in front of all of them. I wish I wouldn't, but I would. I write this as I know there are the Leeann McDaniel's, Arlynn Santos', the Vicki Barbour's, the girls named Laura and Janel, and countless others who if I mentioned thier names here it would be a rather long review which wouldn't be too much about the album now would it? I know I've had a secret place for all of them, and the fact that I haven't even had the opprtunity to tell them I think they're beautiful because of all the people around them frustrates me to this day. That's how I identify with "Couldn't I Just Tell You?". The rest of this album is very disorganized, and I think Todd did this on purpose. "I Saw The Light" is a classic, and I know if given a chance I'd want to hear it more often, "Slut" closes the album, and it's a rather good rocker indeed, and the rest could be determined by what mood you are in; "It wouldn't have made any difference" is a good slow number, "Piss Aaron" sounds something out of Harry Nillson, and "Little Red Lights" is a souped up car song. There are 25 songs on this album, and while there's a possible link to all of them I feel that it's just a fairly average album.

this is it. There is no album from the early seventies that will haunt you as long. I heard this on the recommendation of my college roommate, and ever since, it has remained in my top ten "if stranded on a desert island" list. It is heart aching, belly aching, brain aching, and absurdly entertaining. If only Todd could have spread this out or concentrated it again over the past 30+ years...but I'm so glad he gave us this one, singular masterpiece. The test of timeless.

Personally,I'm not into prog rock a whole lot,maybe a little Rush and Queen,but that is as far as I swing.For some reason Todd was labelled as Prog Rock to me,don't know why,maybe because of some of his work after this album I had heard on the radio.But after listening to alot of the tracks on here,I have had a change of heart and opinion.This is definitely not Prog Rock.While most label this Pop Rock,I simply think of this album as a collection of timeless,melodic,and uplifting music.Because that's what alot of the songs do,make you want to sing and feel good.Everything from the motown-like backup singers,Todd's catchy -yet not cheesy- hooks,and the excellent variety of the songs on here truly make this a milestone of the 70s music scene.This album has substance and soul.Call it whatever type of music you want,but there is no denying the greatness of this album.Recommended for any fan of classic rock with an ear for lighter and more melodic stuff once in a while.

Kick Arse Tunes:

Black Maria
Little Red Light
Hello It's Me
Slut
Takes 2 To Tango
Dust In The Wind
Couldn't I Just Tell you
Wolfman Jack
It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

there's plenty more,i'm just lazy to write the rest.