Todd Rundgren

From page 75 of Classic Rock Magazine March 1999



Cover of March 1999 issue.
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'Go Ahead. Ignore Me.'

(Castle ESDCD 6503 ** ********

Todd Rundgren's lack of commercial success has always been attributed by his admirers to stupidity on the part of the general public.This two-CD, 41-track retrospective aims to set the record straight for the man the liner notes claim to be "not the biggest, just the best."

Unfortunately, the very act of cramming so much of the artist's material onto one release serves to undermine that objective. Rundgren definitely has talent. His 1973 semi-hit 'I Saw The Light' is very pleasant, intelligent pop, while 'We Gotta Get You A Woman' is a splendid rocker. In addition, on many of these tracks Rundgren plays all the instruments.Yet his material is one-tone stuff. His formula (rigidly adhered to, whether it be his solo work or material for his band Utopia) consists of featureless tunes, quavering vocals and sickly production. His voice, meanwhile, is drenched in multi-tracking and latterly synth washes, and is soporific in the extreme.

A release which confirms that Todd is unsuccessful for the simple reason that listening to his 'Godlike' Genius is an unholy chore.

Sean Egan

Second Coming
Rob Lamothe






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