Todd Rundgren Something/Anything? CD

Personnel: Todd Rundgren (vocals, various instruments); Amos Garrett, Rick Derringer (guitar); Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar); Jim Horn, Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Barry Rogers (trombone); Mark "Moogy" Klingman (piano, organ); Stu Woods (bass instrument); Billy Mundi (drums).
Others had recorded one-man albums before Todd Rundgren, most notably Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, but with Something/Anything? he captured the homemade ambience of McCartney with the visionary feel of Music of My Mind, adding an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music from Gilbert & Sullivan through Jimi Hendrix, plus the crazed zeal of a pioneer. Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album, since each side of the double-record is a concept unto itself. The first is "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies"; side two is "the cerebral side"; on side three "the kid gets heavy"; side four is his mock pop operetta, recorded with a full band including the Sales Brothers. It gallops through everything -- Carole King tributes ("I Saw the Light"), classic ballads ("Hello It's Me," "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference"), Motown ("Wolfman Jack"), blinding power pop ("Couldn't I Just Tell You"), psychedelic hard rock ("Black Maria"), pure weirdness ("I Went to the Mirror"), blue-eyed soul ("Dust in the Wind"), and scores of brilliant songs that don't fall into any particular style ("Cold Morning Light," "It Takes Two to Tango"). It's an amazing journey that's remarkably unpretentious. Rundgren peppers his writing with self-aware, self-deprecating asides, indulging his bizarre sense of humor with gross-outs ("Piss Aaron") and sheer quirkiness, such as an aural tour of the studio at the beginning of side two. There are a ton of loose ends throughout Something/Anything?, plenty of studio tricks, slight songs (but no filler), snippets of dialogue, and purposely botched beginnings, but all these throwaways simply add context -- they're what makes the album into a kaleidoscopic odyssey through the mind of an insanely gifted pop music obsessive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
One of the best albums of the '70s, Todd Rundgren's third solo project is a sprawling two-disc masterpiece that smartly avoids the self-indulgence that occasionally marred his later records. Rundgren recorded the first three sides of this album by himself, yet somehow the songs have a very open, organic feel missing from other one-man-band records of the early '70s by folks like Paul McCartney, Roy Wood, or R. Stevie Moore. And for all of its willful eclecticism, weirdness, and whiplash stylistic shifts, SOMETHING/ANYTHING? comes across as remarkably unified by the uncompromising vision of its creator.
Classics like the enormous hit "I Saw the Light" and the power-pop mainstay "Couldn't I Just Tell You" abound, alongside odder tracks like the homage "Wolfman Jack" and "Song of the Viking." Side four is a loose studio jam with a small army of pals, featuring the magnificent "Hello It's Me" alongside much goofier material like "Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me." Rundgren would often succumb to his indulgent tendencies in some of his later '70s efforts, yet SOMETHING/ANYTHING? perfectly balances his unique sense of experimentation with his impeccable grasp of song and production craft. Though he made many fine musical statements, this remains Rundgren's pop music masterpiece.Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.136) - Ranked #173 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time"
Rolling Stone (5/11/72, p.54) - "...Todd aims for a tour de force which brings all the trends in his music to a head while adding new elements as well..."
Rolling Stone (2/15/01, p.78) - 4.5 out of 5 stars - "...Here the restless whiz kid plays with melody and style....Rundgren tosses off perfectly composed tunes....[His] best-selling, most-enduring work born of desperation..."