Arena

Todd Rundgren, Julian Cope | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hi Fi Recordings
• ASIN: B001EZ6OLE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,733 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What a return to form for Rundgren! Arena's baker's dozen, one-word-named tunes are from another time entirely: thoughtful, intense and expertly crafted rock songs that straddle the line between pop and prog. Rundgren continues to make music that pushes the envelope of his best work, regardless of current musical trends. The great songwriter and genius producer of Cheap Trick, the Runaways, Meat Loaf, Hall and Oates, and XTC is neither resting on his laurels nor performing his greatest hits at the Kansas state fair--although he did assume Rix Ocasek’s mantle with the New Cars, but that's something else entirely. The album title is ironic. Music like this hasn't been an arena draw in twenty-plus years. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's good to be the King!, October 4, 2008

By 

Ralph Garcia (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arena (Audio CD)

While some guys go through their mid-life crisis by indulging themselves with a fast, two-door convertible, Todd has had no apparent crisis. In his 40s, Todd simply announced to his fans that he'd found his second wind by releasing an album of the same name. Todd has done it again. In a career that is full of twists and turns, he has taken the logical next turn. Having recently turned 60, Todd Rundgren's new album Arena could alternately have been called Third Wind. At 60, some musicians are content with having found a niche and continuing along that path for the remainder of their career, but not Todd. His fascination with music and its many intricacies is quite obvious to anyone who knows Todd's varied musical catalog. Those of us fortunate enough to have been following his career for many years, have seen Todd evolve and move forward in ways that would make any other musician's head spin. The ultimate irony here is that the new album finds Todd taking a musical step backward while simultaneously moving forward. And the idea works like a charm!

In the late `60s, Todd's band The Nazz had him front and center as a guitar wielding army of one. Showering the musical landscape with guitar licks straight out of the British invasion with a touch of American-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, teenager Todd made it look easy. Since then his career has included pop music (Something/Anything?, Hermit Of Mink Hollow, Nearly Human, Second Wind), synthesizer rock (Initiation, Todd), guitar extravaganzas (Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Adventures In Utopia), identical recreations of classic Hendrix, Beatles, Bob Dylan and Beach Boys songs (Faithful) and rap (No World Order, The Individualist). However, it would be difficult to generalize these albums into the afore-mentioned categories simply because each has a smattering of other music styles scattered around for good measure. Suffice to say, Todd has shown that he can master any music genre he chooses to delve into, much to the joy of his diehard fan base and much to the confusion of the general population who just don't "get it". We, the lucky few who get it, are rewarded with musical gems at every turn, while at the same time we are left scratching our collectives heads and wondering why the rest of the world just doesn't get it. Here's hoping that this new album will change all of that.

Todd celebrated his 60th birthday by writing, recording and, of course, producing this new album of original music that pulls together the music styles of Jeff Beck, AC/DC, Robin Trower, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, and ZZ Top, with a little bit of Burt Bacharach and Sade thrown in to balance things out. The result is a masterpiece, a journey through rock's finest moments as interpreted by Todd. Catchy guitar hooks and excellent solos abound everywhere on this album. It's amazing how many cool guitar riffs there are on this album. Some musicians would have to wait to release a "best of" album to collect this many brilliant songs. For Todd this is simply par for the course. Infectious melodies draw listeners in and keep us paying attention to every nuance. The catchiest in the bunch is easily "Courage", a song that recalls the album Faithful (Todd's 1976 solo album) and many songs from the pop side of the Utopia catalog. Beautiful harmonies and a guitar solo that could have fallen right out of "I Saw The Light" (from Something/Anything?) or "Love Of The Common Man" (from Faithful). Another new song that stands out is "Weakness" which alternates between two different styles, one employing a nicely distorted guitar sound and the other featuring lush background harmonies and a vocal that reminds me of "The Last Ride" (from his 1974 solo album named Todd).

There are several songs on Arena in which the source inspiration is painfully obvious. One is "Strike", a nod to AC/DC, complete with the signature vocal style that band is best known for. Another song is "Bardo", which recalls Robin Trower's song Bridge Of Sighs.....only Bardo is even better! And then there's the ZZ top inspired "Pissin'" with its twangy guitar riff and Texas-style vocal. This entire album is full of music that brings us back to a place we all know well and yet also takes us somewhere we've never been. Nicely done!

But let us not forget the lyrics. Todd has always had a way with words and although this album does emulate the styles of other bands, it's in the lyrics where Todd reminds us that it is still Todd and not someone else at the controls here. His ability to turn a phrase and make the listener perk up is unrivaled. No one even comes close. There is the soul searching in "Courage" ("Humbly pretending to be brave and strong, inside I'm wondering, what if I'm wrong"), or "Mad" ("Crowded world, how can I find peace of mind, with so many small agendas pushing at me all the time"). There is the call to arms in "Manup" ("Listen to me my friend, what you will not defend, somebody else will end up takin'"), or "Strike" ("Time to strike while the iron is hot") from the AC/DC sound-alike song. I bet AC/DC is smacking their foreheads wondering how they missed using a perfect phrase like that in one of their songs.

This is an album that should be spinning in everyone's CD player. Anyone who has ever liked rock anthems and classic guitar-driven rock music should immediately proceed to checkout and add this to their collection. This is yet another brilliant album by an icon in the music business. And what makes it yet more amazing is that there's no band playing here, it's Todd on all of the instruments, as he has done before on other albums. The difference here (as was on the previous Todd album Liars) is that this album was recorded entirely in Reason, a computer-based recording program. The sound on this album is outstanding, especially the guitars. On some tracks it's obvious the drums are programmed but they sound fine and fit in the context of the track quite well. On other tracks the programmed drums sound more real than a live drummer. His vocals excellent as always and the backing vocal harmonies are superb. Todd has captured the feel and essence of Arena rock, while in the process making us want to jump out of our seats and sing along. After you buy this CD, you might want to complete the experience by going to see Todd and his band on tour. You'll be glad you did.

For more information and tour dates, check out:
http://www.myspace.com/toddrundgrenmusic
and
http://www.trconnection.com/

For an excellent Todd interview (done by Jesse Gress) about the album Arena, pick up the October 2008 issue of Guitar Player magazine. The interview includes guitar tabs done by Jesse for several of the songs on Arena.

For information about Jesse Gress, check out:
http://www.jessegress.com/

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb, October 10, 2008

By 

Paul Verticchio - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arena (Audio CD)

This release is incredible on a number of levels. Recorded on a laptop Mac, no amps, minimal hardware interfaces, mixed on headphones, all in just a few weeks.

For those complaining about the mix: Get a quality set of headphones [Sony MDR 7506 or Beyerdynamic DT 770]and run your EQ flat. Sure, the vocals are a bit more distant than we're accustomed to but this material would come off as preachy if they were more forward in the mix. LISTEN for the vocals and they will crystallize between your ears.

I'm not sure if it was intended but this is the most trippy production I've heard in decades. ONLY Todd has the vision and TALENT to pull this off. The "psychoacoustic" phenomena [purposely or unintentionally] engineered into this CD are fantastic beyond description.

Make up your own mind about the material. Music is a smorgasbord for the senses.

Overall, ARENA is an audio oasis in the current xeric wasteland of audio crap that passes for creativity and music nowadays.

Thank you Todd.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Arena Rock, October 1, 2008

By 

James Simon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arena (Audio CD)

Todd's been floating around in one form or another for the past decade. He's been releasing albums through his own website, remixing his old albums, and even had a short stint as the frontman for The New Cars. He really hasn't put out anything really new since his electro-album Liars in 2004. Arena not only marks his first album in four years but maybe his best in almost two decades. There's a lot of vintage sounds here including his great guitar and keyboards, although it's too clear that his cheap sounding drum kit sabatoges much of the album. Aside from that, there are songs that rock hard with such big sounds that one might wish he'd put Utopia back together to do them. The opener "Mad" echoes "Trapped" from Oops, Wrong Planet. "Afraid" is a lush introspective power ballad with those great harmonies he's known for. "Mercenary" shows no mercy with in your face guitars and Todd's hook chorus of "How do you like me know?!". "Gun", the followup, could be a bookend to Hamburger Hell from his Faithful album or the title track from Oops!. Todd then goes back to his awesome pop relationship songs with great harmonies on "Courage". "Weakness" could be a one of his great soul ballads along the lines of "Only Human" but the distorted fuzzy guitar edge especially in the intro tends to make the song too edgy for what it tries to accomplish. One of the biggest surprises is the masses rallying cry of "Strike" ("Are you ready to rumble? Are you just staying humble?"). Todd's powerchords and vocals taps into his inner AC/DC when he yells "Strike while the iron is hot"! "Today" is a solid techno-track which throws back to Liars. "Bardo" is a slow blues ballad which just doesn't seem to go anywhere, but things immediately pick up with the crowd chanting-struttting "Mountaintop". "Panic" is a fast rocker that still reminds me of something off Oops, and "Manup" is muscially fast rocker that somehow lacks the lyrical power to equal the driving guitars, though Todd still plays great, it's not the closer I would hope for. It's not a masterpiece, but certainly a solid mix of songs and sounds that make Todd's aptly titled ARENA rock a much welcomed addition to the Rundgren discography.