For Lack of Honest Work [Box set]

Todd Rundgren (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Micro Werks
• ASIN: B003PIUIEC
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,546 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

2. Broke Down And Busted

3. Be Nice To Me

4. Utopia Theme

5. Black Maria

6. Open My Eyes

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Seven Rays

2. Never, Never Land

3. Mister Triscuits

4. Last Ride

5. Lord Chancellor s Nightmare Song

6. Healer

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Can We Still Be Friends

2. Cliche

3. What s Going On Mercy Mercy Me

4. Bang On The Drum

5. Love Of The Common Man

6. Lysistrata

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Lack Of Honest Work, October 7, 2010

By 

Dark Star-The Other One (The Bus To Never Ever Land) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: For Lack of Honest Work (Audio CD)

The release marks the beginning of another "Bootleg Series" for Todd fans. Some of the music on here has already been released as cds, dvds or downloads. However, the sound quality on here, in most cases, sounds much better than on the other editions. The first disc starts with an early, almost grunge sounding Todd (with Runt) on It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Broke Down And Busted and Be Nice To Me going back to Sigma Sound Studios on 7-1-71. We then jump ahead to 11-8-73 for an early Utopia concert and get the ending of Utopia Theme which leads into a great Black Maria which is followed by a groovin' Open My Eyes. Next up, the Hammersmith Odeon for hot versions of Freedom Fighters, The Wheel and Sunset Blvd.. Next up are songs from both The Roxy and Bottom Line shows (with The Hello People) which now appear in their third or fourth release as well as being the shows that most of Back to Bars were taken from. Unfortunately, I don't like that fact that Initiation was cut off from Eastern Intrigue and there's enough room on the disc so it would've fit.

The Seven Rays that opens disc two is from a Utopia concert at the Shaboo Inn in Willmantic, CT on 11-11-78 and it's one for the ages. Never Never Land and The Last Ride returns us to The Bottom Line show from 5-14-78. Mister Triscuits->Something's Coming is from the Hammersmith gig although the track listing only lists it as Mister Triscuits. Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song is a fun song played with a backing track and A Dream Goes On Forever, played solo by Todd, is it's sweet self (despite a slight slip) from 4-4-82 at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. The next three songs are from Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock, NY on 7-3-81 with nice versions of Healer, Love Is The Answer and I Saw The Light (with Utopia) which made for a nice 4th of July, I'm sure. Bag Lady and Too Far Gone are from 5-24-82 at the Venue Club in London with Todd solo again. The second disc ends with four songs from 10-26-85 at the Bismark Theater in Chicago, (with the A Cappella Choir) which has also been released several times before.

The Third disc opens with a nice Can We Still Be Friends from 11-22-86 at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, CA and the majority of this disc is Todd solo. The next three songs are from 11-23-93 with Cliche, What's Going On->Mercy, Mercy Me and Love Of The Common Man and all are great versions. The next five songs come from the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL with Lysistrata, Hammer In My Heart, Song Of The Viking, Free Male And 21 and Tiny Demonds. I've never been a fan of Free Male and 21 so I can easily think of alot of other songs I would've rather heard but for those who missed out on Up Against It might like it as this is the only place you can get an offical version now. The Want Of A Nail was released on Todd Rundgren - Live in Japan. I like I Hate My Fickin' ISP and this is a good version recorded at Danforth Music Hall, in Toronto, Canada on 9-4-06. Fascist Christ was recorded on 7-18-95 at The Sting in CT. World Wide Ephiphany is on Todd Rundgren: Bootleg Series: Live at the Forum, London '94 while the disc ends with a great version of One World that takes us back to 11-23-93 at Park West in Chicago, IL.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REISSUE TEASER HITS THE MARK, December 7, 2010

By 

DiscConnected (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Lack of Honest Work (Audio CD)

Amazon will not be able to confirm my purchase of "For Lack Of Honest Work" since I purchased it a the merchandise table at the Akron "Todd/Healing" show.

Featuring performances recorded across four decades and spanning at least two continents, FLOHW kicks off a new Todd archives project (after the Japanese Victor and Sanctuary UK efforts earlier this decade).

The sound quality is good and there is good variety, although this collection teases the listener who will want the full concert performances. A fair amount of these recordings are represented by those earlier "bootleg" series, so die hard fans (who else is buying this collection) already have them. Fortunately, the three CD set is reasonably priced, so the listener gets a fair amount of new material for the price (although I pretty much had everything on various radio shows I'd recorded and "import" releases (ok, bootlegs-I've still bought every legitimate recording Todd's appeared on three or four times).

Hopefully this will develop into future releases and not go the way of the rumoured "Artifacts" box set, the AWATS dvd, etc.

Todd is a genius, but sometimes his attention span causes him to abandon projects and leave money on the table. His fan base isn't getting any younger, either. He ought to release product now while we've got incomes.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid collection of live Rundgren songs, October 5, 2010

By 

William Merrill "eclecticist" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Lack of Honest Work (Audio CD)

Having obtained `For Lack of Honest Work' several weeks ago from a mailorder place, I've listened to all three and a half hours and three CDs of this set. It's mostly high quality live recordings, bootlegs that range from 1971 to 2006, more or less sequenced in chronological order. There's a gap in time, though, with nothing at all from '96 to '02 (not necessarily an essential period from the artist) and a few other years missing along the way. As you might expect, the sound quality improves as you go along. Some of the early recording are spotty, but just about everything on discs 2 & 3 sounds great. I'm assuming the producers of this 3-CD set sorted through many more hours of live recordings before choosing these particular 43 performances. By and large they did well at selecting really good stuff. I especially liked the solo acoustic "Love of the Common Man" (FL '03) and the a cappella group backing Todd on "Real Man" (NYC '78), plus there are some amazing electric guitar solos, as on the mind-blowing instrumental "Mister Triscuits" (London '75). Unfortunately there are a few duds mixed in too, such as the chaotic messes made of the "Sunset Blvd" medley and "Black and White." I could have done fine without ever hearing those two cuts, and some of the Broadway things on disc 2. Overall, though, the good FAR outweighs the bad here, leaving a rich bounty for Rundgren fans.

One important note on the packaging. This set suffers from a problem that also plagued the recent ELP 4-CD box. (They were released by different record labels, but they both appear to have used the same packaging company.) The individual cardboard trifold sleeves for each disc were apparently glued with bad glue, or the glue wasn't allowed to dry completely before the CDs were inserted. Some of the glue dried onto the CD surfaces! My thanks to customer reviewers who noted this problem with the ELP set and offered solutions. (Goo-Gone worked well for me.) The release date for this set was delayed repeatedly, so maybe the delay was to correct this problem? For the sake of other buyers, I hope so.