Something Anything

Todd Rundgren | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000JZB3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,469,271 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This double record from 1972 remains the definitive collection of Rundgren's long career. With Rundren acting as a one-man-band for three-quarters of the session, it was also his bid for a Ph.D. from the college of musical knowledge. He deserved the degree for simply writing the lead-off track, "I Saw the Light," a melodic pop-rock gem that remains Rundgren's greatest hit. Rundgren excels at Beatles-esque pop-rock ("Couldn't I Just Tell You," "Wolfman Jack") and Philadelphia-styled soul ballads ("It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," "Hello, It's Me"). He also sticks his toe into heavy metal ("Black Maria"), jazz-rock fusion ("Breathless"), and cerebral pop ("The Night the Carousel Burnt Down"). Like most double albums, there's fat on the play-list, but the best of Something/Anything gave credence to Rundgren's boast of being a wizard and a true star. --John Milward

Product Description

Digitally remastered using 20 bit K2 technology, this is a Japanese reissue of this classic 1972 album for Bearsville in a miniaturized gatefold LP sleeve with the original cover intact & limited to the initial pressing only. 25 tracks, including 'I Saw The Light', 'It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference' and 'Hello It's Me'. 1999 release. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Todd's Most Popular Album, September 26, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something / Anything (Audio CD)

Todd Rundgren's double-album SOMETHING/ANYTHING? (1972) was a diverse juggernaut of catchy pop, R&B/Soul, hard rock, psychedelia, scatological humor, and other styles which may be difficult to classify. However, the album is fairly accessible throughout. It was this album that Todd received a huge slice of mainstream success. However, since many had perceived him *solely* as a soft rock/ballad writer, Todd chose to abandon mainstream rock for many years after this album - making some of the most experimental music this side of any notable experimental artist. The unfortunate misconceptions and the willful misrepresentation of an artist's creativity has been bestowed upon other artists as well (Queen comes to mind), which misleads listeners into thinking that an artist specializes in one particular style, and therefore, helps to blind fans from enjoying an artist's work to it's fullest when an album is bought, and listened to in it's entirety. Or perhaps, it's just simply that many listeners are staunch in their listening preferences, and wouldn't be able to tolerate hyper-diversity from the start.

Getting to this album. The album is divided into four distinct halves, and Todd plays all of the instruments, and provides all of the vocals for the first three halves of the album. The first half (Disc 1, Tracks 1-6) is called "A Bouquet of Ear-Catching Melodies," and is comprised of mostly catchy, melodic pop tunes. "I Saw The Light" has been compared to Carole King. While his vocals seem like Carole King, the music on this track is much more upbeat and energetic than any typical King song. "Wolfman Jack" makes me wonder if it was inspired by the television host of the same name throughout the 70s. A fun, catchy, 50s-like track. "Cold Morning Light" is probably my favorite from this half. A lovely, airy, melancholic R&B ballad featuring Todd performing some wispy, poignant vocals.

The second half (Disc 1, Tracks 7-13) is called "The Cerebral Side," and is comprised of cerebral, experimental and/or psychedelicesque tracks. The Intro is Todd giving the listener a tour on studio functions. Quite a fun and interesting listen, while "Breathless" is a indescribable instrumental blending psychedelic, symphonic, R&B and dance flavors filtered through electronics. "Song of The Viking" seems like a tribute to Gilbert & Sullivan, as it's a quirky, show tunes-rock track. Todd doesn't have a British accent, so it's interesting hearing his voice backed up by a mostly British style of music. Fans of Queen, Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa and selected others will be especially fond of this track. Listen to this track, as well as many others on this album, on a good pair of headphones to catch many of the subtleties that may otherwise be missed.

The third half (Disc 2, Tracks 1-5) is called "The Kid Gets Heavy" and shows a more rocking side to Todd Rundgren. "Black Maria" is a slow rocker, while "One More Day" is a tasteful, soulful number. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is unbelievably tasty and infectious - so much so, it hurts to listen to this at times. It's that good. The vocals, guitar strumming - everything here is excellent, while "Little Red Lights" is a scorching rocker, featuring roaring distortion to resemble that of Jimi Hendrix. The fourth half (Disc 2, Tracks 6-12) is called "Baby Needs A New Pair of Snakeskin Boots," which is a live in-studio recording featuring a full band, and is supposed to be a rock operetta. Each track features silly, funny comments and shenanigans at the end and beginning of each track by band members, which are made to look like dialogue, and are reprinted as such in the sleeve. "Dust In The Wind" is a poignant ballad with some tasteful, R&B-esque guitar, sax and lovely vocals, while "Piss Aaron" is an hilarious song dealing with a person who has trouble with his bladder. "Hello It's Me" is the elegant Philly Soul/jazzy ballad that everyone probably knows Todd Rundgren by. However, when hearing this song in the context of the rest of the album, one will have the right perspective regarding Todd's musical personality, as the dialogue heard before and after the song ends was never heard on the radio. This offers an interesting perspective. "You Left Me Sore" is also somewhat hilarious, at least when hearing the dialogue. This song is something of a double-entendre: it can mean that the protagonist was left sore due to his love leaving him, or it could mean he was left sore - literally, after contracting a venereal disease. You decide. While "Slut" is a Rolling Stonesesque rocker to close out this juggernaut.

This album is definitely the recommended place to start as you get the essence - the closest you'll get to the FULL essence - of Todd Rundgren's creativity, and arguably at it's most accessible. The album is infectious, diverse, cerebral, intelligent and utterly moving. Don't believe the idea of Todd being just a ballad writer, as his styles run the gamut.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Runt's Magnum Opus, July 16, 2001

By 

Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Something / Anything (Audio CD)

Something/Anything? is a sprawling, ambitious double album from studio wiz Todd Rundgren. For the first three quarters of the album, Mr. Rundgren plays all the instruments, sings all the parts and produces. It was a pattern that Prince would follow for much of his essential work. The last side of the original album was a live in studio song suite that he recorded with a full band. The album touches on numerous musical styles for power pop to rock to soul to jazz and everything in between. But it doesn't matter what the musical style is or method of recording, the effort is the strongest of his career. The album's opening track, "I Saw The Light", is an amazing piece of music. It has a glossy, Wall of Sound style with a multi-layered and textured vocal. It is one of the ten best songs from the 70's and a classic. "The Night They Burned The Carousel Down" is an ambitious effort, "Black Maria" has a gothic feel, "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" has a soulful style, "Piss Aaron" is a humorous song about a kid who can't control his bowel movements and "Slut" is a blaring rocker with a glam rock feel. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is a great, fast paced song with a great acoustic guitar riff. "Hello, It's Me" was originally recorded with his first band the Nazz back in 1968. Mr. Rundgren didn't not sing lead on the Nazz version, but he provides a Philly soul inspired effort that propelled the song up to number five making it his only top ten hit. Something/Anything? is often overlooked and rarely mentioned when discussing the all-time great records, but it a great effort that stands toe to toe with just about any record released in the 70's.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I (Finally) Saw The Light, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Something / Anything (Audio CD)

My boyfriend recently purchased "Something/Anything?" for me and it has rarely left my stereo since. In 1972 I was around four years old, and I never really paid any attention to Rundgren, spending my formative years listening to Bowie and Costello, oblivious to what would years later become one of my favourite CD's. I haven't been this charmed since first hearing Phil Seymour. This is what bliss sounds like, unadulterated joy and catchy pop sensibilty, at times almost painful in it's sincerity. All too wonderful.