Customer Reviews

Todd Rundgren: Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a video for the Todd afficionado who wants to hear in Todd's own self-effacing words what it is like to be a creative genius. Less committed viewers will find it disappointing that many of his great songs are not played all the way through. Also, the video will strike many as hokey, because the special effects are very homemade-looking; one seems to be an homage to "2001-A Space Odyssey." But if you love Todd, you will appreciate his concepts and overall message that being Todd is a never-ending, solitary quest for new challenges, truth and an ideal state of being. The non-music sections of this show Todd in dark glasses responding to questions from an unseen interviewer. His comments are illuminating: sometimes funny, sometimes off-putting. They remind me of a line from "International Feel" -- "I only want to see if you'll give up on me." But there's always more...the live performance on this DVD of "Real Man" makes this worth buying, but it's not for the un-initiated.

An interviewer who is unfamiliar with Todd's work asks Todd overly abstract questions, interrupted by amateurish videos for some of Todd's cheesiest '80s music. Focuses on Todd the songwriter/performer and ignores Todd the singer, guitarist, multimedia pioneer, arranger, producer, bandmember, etc. For example: the interviewer asks Todd if he believes in an afterlife; Todd -- inscrutable behind hair and sunglasses -- sits in silence for five seconds, touches his nose for a few more and refuses to answer the question. Tortured artist indeed. Then another video featuring a floating egg/brain/vagina/chambered nautilus object. This DVD was painful to watch, even with the remote control handy to speed through videos of Todd's naked backside. I actually feel that Todd is a lot less interesting now that I've seen this. Todd -- from a fellow Philadelphia/San Francisco boy who has been a fan for 20-plus years: do yourself and your fans a favor and get someone else to do this kind of thing for you.

If you're truly a Todd fan, you've probably seen this already in the VHS format. I've enjoyed it many times in that format and was excited to see it available on DVD...but was very disappointed when I finally viewed the DVD, as it looks like it's a second or third generation dub from the VHS copy. At least on the DVD I bought, the picture quality is so lousy I suggest you stay with the VHS.
So, 4 and a half stars for the material. One star for the visual quality.

I am a long time Todd fan going back to Nazz days. I saw him every time I could. He did a show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta with Utopia that still blows me away to think about. I have almost all of his recorded music.

Having said that, this DVD is not recommended. The interview part is interesting, but Todd often comes cross as self indulgent and arrogant. This is in stark contrast to the image that I have developed of the man who is often self effacing in his lyrics. The other parts of this DVD are simply poor except for the three song video which is well worth watching. Except for that part, don't buy this DVD for the music.

To say that I was disappointed in a number of ways would be an understatement. Most importantly, this video has changed my view of Todd which is very disturbing. Yeah we're all human but to see a god reduced to the level of dour human being is extremely painful.

As a "long time Todd fan", I realize I need to re-define that to read "long time TODD'S MUSIC" fan, as I suppose I don't even really know Todd. If I were Todd and had any say so I would pull this waste of time and money from the shelves before anyone else has a chance to view it. I found it to be pseudo intellectual/philosophical to the point of nausea with cheezy dream/fantasy sequences set to music between interviews (which you can read about in the other reviews). Somehow I failed to read the fine print and thought I was getting live Todd performances with some interviews. (OOPS!)I can't believe the person who wrote so much great music is the personality protrayed on the DVD. Chalk it up to the 80's (or whenever this was produced) Sorry, Todd.

all of the newest reviews here talk as if this is a new piece of art. actually, it was done in the 80s with a commission from the bbc to do a retrospective. it is a bit self-indulgent but thats always been one of the negative things about old todd vs new todd..nowadays he has a bit more patience with things. this was him shooting the whole thing kind near his home in upstate ny....at the time what todd was doing -even the concepts utilized in the presentation was new..to say it was a waste of time is like saying is like saying 8 tracks or lps are a waste of time..if youre comparing it to his groundbreaking art like change myself (then a 90s era period piece) or anything today, of course it is..the same way your pappy's old car is a waste of time today...it was a piece of 80s video ART....the content on here is nice, you get guest appearances from rick derringer, ian hunter and the elpee worth of tunes is a classic piece of self parody...for gods sake folks, have a sense of humor about it..it was homemade....the interview parts in the dvd are funny i think..hes doing a parody of himself or the he who others expect him to be..sorry some of you didnt get it....i dont think it was ever intended to compete with george lucas..if you love todd, you NEED this..it could have been transferred better but its nice to have it preserved on dvd.

The video, The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, uses the interviewer/interviewee format in which Todd answers numerous questions about his life, his music and his philosophy using his explanations spliced with large portions of his songs. It is an insightful view into his mind and thought process. The music videos in Videosyncracy--Can We Still Be Friends, Times Heals and Hideaway--are also very good if you like his music.

Consider this a warning. This video contains almost no live music. It consists mostly of an staged interview with Todd Rundgren, where he bears his soul and traces the evolution of his life and music.

The interview is interrupted sporadically by what I would call Todd's home movie. Visionary dream-like sequences set to truncated versions of Todd's songs. (some of the versions are slightly different from the album versions) Technically it is on the level of a student film project. If you take it for what it is, it's not bad, but it in no way compares to a professionally made film.

The interview is interesting and does provide some insights into Todd's music and philosophy, so if you are a die-hard fan you will doubtless find it worth watching. Whether or not you would want to buy such a video is another question. Personally I only buy concert or music videos, or documentaries that feature outstanding photography that will bear repeated viewings. I don't know why anyone would want to watch this particular video more than once. There is only one 'live' song on this video and it is sliced and diced as though it were edited on a food processor.

So be warned, if you want a piece of Todd's brain, you are welcome to it. He is a brilliant man and a great musician and composer, but an amateur film maker. For a top-notch concert video with Todd, grab the Redux 92 - live in Japan video.... excellent stuff!

I was disappointed in this DVD. Luckily I rented it and did not buy it. The interview part is odd in that there is not a lot of discussion about music, it's more about philosophy and life in general. he also picks his nose a lot and often there are several seconds of silence where Todd just sits with a blank look on his face. The interviews are interrupted with song videos, and they are mostly pretty bad. I'm a Todd fan, but I would not recommend this DVD. I was expecting interesting interviews and decent concert/music footage; this DVD has abstract interviews barely releated to music and a bunch of very trippy and psychedelic, generally boring, music videos. Todd doesn't play guitar at all on this entire DVD; there is only one live concert part and Todd only sings on it he doesn't play any instruments. The highlights of the DVD for me were the "Elpee Worth of Toons" video, which is a great song and funny video, and the other highlight was the interview section about Todd's drug use, which I found interesting. I learned nothing about Todd's career, nothing about all of his bands, nothing about the records he has made-- there was no "Behind the Music" or "History of Todd" at all, and that's what I was interested in.

As many other reviewers have observed, this video is a disappointment and worse, a painfully meritless look at an artist regarded by "the industry" at large to be a genius.
The music included is generally culled from the period spanning Something/Anything to Tortured Artist. Unquestionably a very good period from his catalogue. Unfortunately, the vast majority of videos attendant to the tracks can best be described as clumsily amateurish. Even laughable. The notion that Todd himself had anything to do with this (which he clearly did and states so in the credits) is mind blowing. You'd think he'd have gone to any lengths to keep this thing from the light of day. The only redeeming visual aspects in this dog are the inclusion of the landmark video for Time Heals The Wounds That No One Can See (Bonus track from Healing), a self effacingly humorous treatment of Trying To Make A Living Off An Elpee's Worth Of Tunes(from the seminal Todd) and a somewhat less entertaining video presentation for Hideaway (Healing).All 3 are included on the "Special Edition-Videosyncracy". The rest is pretty much uniformly dreadful.
All that said, there is little in the way of actual performance material and the interview sequences appear to be a complete send up (oh please, tell me he isn't actually being serious!!)of Todd portraying a distracted, fat headed and overly self absorbed "Tortured Artist" blithering to an interviewer who does not seem to have a clue. The only thing worse than the questions are Todd's vacuous responses. And the nose picking: PLEASE!!!
Given his reputation as a rock video pioneer, this thing must be his (or his manager's) version of the Donner Party. There is so much good material out there documenting the work and thought of this most singular and prolific artist that any true Todd fan should warned, take a pass on this one!!