Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nazzterpiece Theater, April 30, 2006
In 1967 I was a high school sophomore frequenting Philly's musical haunts. My favorite local band, Woody's Truck Stop, featured a strange-looking kid with listless hair who could set a guitar on fire. Word spread that this quirky vunderkind, Todd Rundgren, was forming his own band, to be called Nazz. The debut was eagerly anticipated, especially because they were going to be opening for The Doors. That evening was enchanted; The Doors were new on the scene, and in fantastic form. Nazz came out with both barrels blazing; playing to a hometown crowd they just about shook the building apart. There was a lot of great music happening back then, and their debut album escaped me. However, I connected with Nazz Nazz, their second, and last. Frankly, I was amazed and delighted to discover it's available.
Nazz Nazz is a gem from beginning to end. The writing is consistently excellent, the singing is exceptionally good, and it features a slew of monsters. Forget All About It, Not Wrong Long, and especially, Under The Ice, deliver hard rock with polish and bite, totally satisfying. Gonna Cry Today and Letters Don't Count, (the latter is a treasure), showcase the sentimental Rundgren writing style that America would later come to love. Meridian Leeward is a hoot, and the episodic and mercurial A Beautiful Song is worth the price of the CD by itself. Swinging from heartbreaking, sincere yearning to blazing guitar seemingly about to explode, this wonderful song, or suite if you prefer, gives ample evidence of Rundgren's amazing abilities as a producer, abilities which provided him his most enduring success. As an artifact of an industry giant emerging from the pack, Nazz Nazz is fascinating, but it's really much better than that. Nazz Nazz stands on its own as a thoroughly masterful rock album, a pleasure then and a pleasure today.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Todd takes Nazz on one last chariot ride., September 16, 1998
By A Customer
After the shamefully ignored first album (Nazz), Todd Rundgren and crew reached (some would say over-reached) dazzling new heights on the aptly titled Nazz Nazz back in the summer of '69. Wearing his influences on his sleeve (Brian Wilson/Beatles/Burt Bacharach/Laura Nyro) Todd and the band crank out scorching rockers (Forget All About It, Under The Ice), heart-wrenching ballads (Gonna Cry Today, Letters Don't Count) and one over-indulgent epic (A Beautiful Song). Another collective yawn from record buyers meant the end of Nazz after only two albums. Todd went on to fame and fortune as a solo act, while remaining Nazz members cobbled together outtakes from this album and released them as Nazz III - a rather tepid ending to a great band with a brief but memorable career.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great transitional piece, June 7, 2006
My favorite Nazz album. I listened to this a lot, always amazing. A great band. If you didn't ever live in the Phiadelphia area, maybe you wouldn't understand. A good collection of songs, preceeding the "concept" era. Heavy intellectalism, merging with good rock. Good musicians, good music. Got into many debates of which was better- this one, or the debut "Nazz".
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