Whether you are aware of it or not, the chances are that, at some point in time, you’ve come across a recording influenced by Todd Rundgren. A man for whom the word ‘legendary’ is, perhaps, an understatement, in over thirty years he has built a reputation for himself as a gifted instrumentalist, song-writer and established credentials as one of the most technically gifted producers working in the field of contemporary music. With twenty-five solo records to his name, production credits that include Meat Loaf, XTC, The Band and Steve Hillage and a reputation for adopting technology in the pursuit of ever-grander performances, Todd Rundgren is a force to be reckoned with and this special set from Cleopatra Records cements that reputation. Boasting twenty-five tracks (eighteen of which appear on the CD), ‘An Evening With…’ is an impressive sonic resume of a gifted artist and a must-have for those fans that have supported Todd over the years.
Available on a variety of formats, our review copy is the double disc set featuring both DVD and CD. A limited edition LP and stand-alone Blu Ray are also available. The CD/DVD set comes packaged in a six-panel digi-pack which includes live shots and credits. It’s fairly basic, but well put together and provides the key information, although a booklet would have been nice. The DVD boots up to a menu which offers options to play the concert, choose a song, view some bonus interviews or check out the credits. Oddly, the menu plays an exert from a song and then the disc spins to a halt. Pressing play once more launches straight into the concert itself. This is hardly a problem, but it is a little strange. Rather more surprising is the single audio option (2.0 PCM), given Todd’s reputation for exploring recording technology, and although the mix (conducted by Todd himself) is as clear and well-balanced as you might expect, it’s strange that no surround option was offered. This aside, the sound mix is crisp and clear throughout and there’s never a moment when you don’t marvel at the clarity and depth of the music. Visually the DVD is crisp and clear with plenty of slow tracking shots giving ways to close ups of Todd at various points. It’s well-filmed and the DVD stands up pretty well, although those with a larger screen would be better opting for the HD version as some details seem a touch fuzzy on closer inspection.
The concert starts off as a fairly low-key affair, the rapturous applause of the audience notwithstanding, with the sedate tracks ‘I saw the light’ and ‘love of the common man’ capturing Todd in an uncharacteristically relaxed mode. Things heat up substantially with the taut riff of ‘Open my eyes’ visibly energising Todd (who leaps into the air during the song’s introduction) and Todd, who asks the audience to erase the intervening years and look back to when everyone was in their twenties, attacks it with some vigour. From then on it’s a tour through Todd’s back catalogue taking in rock, pop and prog with a heady abandon that will delight long-time fans. Whilst Todd ditches the guitar for ‘remarks’, an early highlight in the form of the hard-rocking ‘black and white’ elicits cheers from the audience as Kasim Sulton’s throbbing bass line floods from the stage and Jesse Criss’ lead work scars the track’s surface. Todd and his band may not take requests (“never have, never will”) but you can be pretty damn sure they know what the audience wants, and tracks like this deliver in spades. A funky run through ‘love science’ gives Kasim’s nimble fingers a good workout, whilst Todd (whose voice is fully warmed up by this point) digs into the same oddly-metered brand of plastic soul that informed Bowie’s ‘Young Americans’. ‘Buffalo Grass’ offers some fine soloing with Todd really wailing on his instrument (and looking gleeful in the process), and it’s a stinging reminder of the power of Todd Rundgren’s guitar work.
An experienced performer, Todd demonstrates a firm grasp of dynamic, slowing the pace one minute, launching into bouncy pop such as ‘bang on the drum all day’ (with the title very much taken literally in this sense) the next. As such the audience often have moments to breathe before being launched from their seats the next – another testament to the versatility and range of Todd’s enormous career in the recording industry. A particular example of Todd in full-flow is the solo-filled blues-rock blast of ‘kiddie boy’ that harks back to the full-tilt boogie of ‘Bat out of Hell’. The way the song flows into ‘black Maria is perfectly handled and it keeps the bluesy feel of the set before things take a spacier turn on the synth-led ‘God Said’ (with ethereal intro courtesy of John Ferenzik). In contrast the hypnotic beat of ‘drive’ is another highlight before we get a three-part soul medley that takes in ‘I’m so proud’, ‘Ooh Baby Baby’ and ‘I want you’. A trio of deftly handled tracks (although you can’t help but wish for a real saxophone at the outset of ‘I’m so proud’), this is not a part of Todd’s career of which I am particularly fond, but fans will find Todd in fine voice for all three tracks. The funky ‘secret society’ kicks things up a notch, whilst ‘Love in action’ has lost none of its raucous charm. The set concludes with an energetic run through ‘one world’ which sees the entire audience on their feet (no doubt causing security a headache in the process) before Todd and his band take their bows and depart the stage leaving an exhausted, exhilarated crowd behind them.
It should be no surprise that an artist as multi-talented as Todd Rundgren should have explored a variety of genres and sounds over his career. Like David Bowie, Rundgren has the rare ability to recast each one in his own image but, also like Bowie, it is highly likely that fans will not necessarily love all facets of Todd’s career. This disc balances blues, rock, soul, funk and progressive impressively and if a given track does leave you cold, a blinder is never far away, and Todd’s performance is energetic enough that, more often than not, you’ll indulge him in his various flights of fancy anyway. Never dull, ‘An evening with…’ does a fine job of summarising Todd’s career (although more recent material is largely absent) and the album serves as a fine primer for anyone interested in finding out more about this legendary figure. With impressive picture and sound quality (the previously mentioned caveats asides), this is a great CD/DVD set from a respected artist. 8
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