Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star. There is lots I could write about this explosive record, so dense and varied is its content and expression. In some ways its a paean to the power the recording studio. Todd plays most things here (as I understand it), and its a masterpiece of painstaking attention to detail and total creative conviction. Conceptually, Its part history of pop, part stream-of-consciousness celebration of the breadth of one persons artistic vision. And what a vision it is. The songs are ace, but what hits you first of all is the production: throbbing synths give way to phased electric piano and bombastic drums of opener International Feel - its like Rundgren is prophesying the Flaming Lips. Bonkers interludes give way to noise rock (Youre gonna need your head), 1930s balladry (Never Never Land), surrealist Charleston music (Dada Dali) and bleepy, meandering instrumentals (Flamingo). Satisfyingly beefed up fuzz-rockers like Sunset Blvd and Is it My Name? (think T-Rexs Get It On bunking up with Bowies Suffragette City) bring balance to the LPs more ephemeral moments. Pick of the lot for me is the metaphysical soul of Zen Archer - gorgeous melody competing with marching band snare drum and sound effects which come on like Cupid shooting arrows into outer space. On top of it all, three quarters of the way through this breathless, gapless stream of songs. Todd breaks into a fairly straight 4-song Motown medley... and you get the feeling its just because, well, he can. However, this choice is telling. Often misleadingly labelled a progressive rock album, the individual songs on A Wizard rarely crack the 4 minute mark. In reality, the record is much more a homage to pops short-form mode of expression: what is progressive about it is the way in which into each small vessel is poured more ideas than most bands have in their entire careers. In fact, the unifying factor in this whole enterprise is arguably Rundgrens high, flexible and, yes, soulful voice which carries above the cacophony, lending a pop classicism to what might otherwise threaten to descend into schizophrenic messiness. A further surprising feature is the lyrics: in stark contrast to the musics ebullience, the songs often concern vulnerability, loneliness and uncertainty, most notably on the otherwise muscular and brass-laden Sometimes I Dont Know What to Feel. Its all part of the kaleidoscope which is A Wizard, A True Star - a deeply self-indulgent, uncompromisingly personal trip inside the mind of one who clearly considers himself a true and visionary artist. On this evidence, who are we to argue?
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 20:16:32 +0000