Published on Jan 22, 1997
Todd Rundgren – genius or madman?
According to some members of the Bob Pierce Memorial Fan
Club(they’d take a bullet for me… I hope, I hope, I hope), the
answer to this question depends on which album of his you’re
listening to. (An aunt of mine has classified Rundgren’s latest
work as “crap”. I’ll take that as a vote for madman.)
But on 1982’s
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, Rundgren leans more
towards genius, creating an album that, despite sounding a little
dated, has some of Rundgren’s best work.
The album is a one-man show featuring Rundgren – it appears he
plays all the instruments and provides all the voices on this one.
The one negative is that Rundgren leans a little too heavy on the
synthesizer – it would have been nice to hear some electric guitar
in the mix…. that is, if it’s even on the album at all.
Rundgren proves not only is he a capable musician and vocalist,
but he reaffirms his power as a songwriter. The now-overplayed hit
“Bang The Drum All Day” is a great piece of work that rightfully
put him back into the public spotlight. But this isn’t the only
piece of quality work.
The opening track “Hideaway” shows the album holds quite a bit
of promise – promise which is delivered one track later on the song
“Influenza.” Tracks which also stand out include “”Drive,” There
Goes Your Baybay” and the Ronnie Lane/Steve Marriott composition
“Tin Soldier.”
But perhaps the hidden gem on
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect is a little operetta
named “Emperor Of The Highway” – a song which must be listened to
with headphones to hear the two parts that Rundgren sings.
“Emperor” is quite funny for being such a short number – once you
get past the piano bombastics, the true nature of the song comes
out to tickle the listener’s funny bone.
In fact, there is only one wasted track on the whole album – the
closer “Chant.” Rundgren sounds a little like he’s finally run out
of gas by this point, and is anxious to close the album. The one
bad track doesn’t spoil the rest, though, and Rundgren comes
through it as clean as ever.
Rhino Records re-released the entire Todd Rundgren collection a
few years ago, and I believe they still hold the rights for this
one. But if you’re lucky to find
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect in any format, grab
it immediately and allow yourself to be sucked in.