Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?

1



Album Details

Title: Something/Anything?
Artist: Todd Rundgren
Release Date: 2/1972
Re-Released On: 6/25/2008
Label: Bearsville/Rhino, Bearsville Records, JVC Compact Discs, Essential Records
Duration: 86:57
Album Type(s): Explicit lyrics sticker, lyrics/libretto
UPCs: 081227110727, 4988002390014, 4988002495634, 4988002547234, 015775222519, 081227110710, 081227110741, 5017615867220, 766485161628, 498800249563
Genre: Rock
Styles: Soul, Singer/Songwriter, Hard Rock, Soft Rock, Power Pop, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Proto-Punk, Blue-Eyed Soul, Album Rock, Art Rock
Moods: Complex, Eccentric, Quirky, Wistful, Ambitious, Freewheeling, Laid-Back/Mellow, Playful, Reflective, Searching, Sophisticated, Sprawling, Trippy, Cerebral, Cheerful, Elaborate, Ironic, Irreverent, Literate, Rollicking, Theatrical, Uncompromising, Whimsical, Witty, Bittersweet, Fun, Humorous, Lush, Poignant, Precious, Rousing, Silly, Sweet, Warm, Yearning, Acerbic, Indulgent, Lively, Snide, Campy, Cynical/Sarcastic
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 11
Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 2

Track Listings Disc 1

  1. I Saw the Light
  2. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
  3. Wolfman Jack
  4. Cold Morning Light
  5. It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)
  6. Sweeter Memories
  7. Intro
  8. Breathless [Instrumental]
  9. The Night the Carousel Burned Down
  10. Saving Grace
  11. Marlene
  12. Song of the Viking
  13. I Went to the Mirror

Track Listings Disc 2

  1. Black Maria
  2. One More Day (No Word)
  3. Couldn't I Just Tell You
  4. Torch Song
  5. Little Red Lights
  6. Overture-My Roots: Money (That's What I Want) /Messin' With the Kid
  7. Dust in the Wind
  8. Piss Aaron
  9. Hello It's Me
  10. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me
  11. You Left Me Sore
  12. Slut

Additional Releases

YearTypeLabelCatalog #
2008CDJVC Compact Discs64203
2006CDJVC Compact Discs63261
1999CDBearsville Records60805
1999CDEssential Records672
------CDBearsville/RhinoR2-71107

Similar CDs

Album Review

Others had recorded one-man albums before Todd Rundgren, most notably Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, but with Something/Anything? he captured the homemade ambience of McCartney with the visionary feel of Music of My Mind, adding an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music from Gilbert & Sullivan through Jimi Hendrix, plus the crazed zeal of a pioneer. Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album, since each side of the double-record is a concept unto itself. The first is "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies"; side two is "the cerebral side"; on side three "the kid gets heavy"; side four is his mock pop operetta, recorded with a full band including the Sales Brothers. It gallops through everything -- Carole King tributes ("I Saw the Light"), classic ballads ("Hello It's Me," "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference"), Motown ("Wolfman Jack"), blinding power pop ("Couldn't I Just Tell You"), psychedelic hard rock ("Black Maria"), pure weirdness ("I Went to the Mirror"), blue-eyed soul ("Dust in the Wind"), and scores of brilliant songs that don't fall into any particular style ("Cold Morning Light," "It Takes Two to Tango"). It's an amazing journey that's remarkably unpretentious. Rundgren peppers his writing with self-aware, self-deprecating asides, indulging his bizarre sense of humor with gross-outs ("Piss Aaron") and sheer quirkiness, such as an aural tour of the studio at the beginning of side two. There are a ton of loose ends throughout Something/Anything?, plenty of studio tricks, slight songs (but no filler), snippets of dialogue, and purposely botched beginnings, but all these throwaways simply add context -- they're what makes the album into a kaleidoscopic odyssey through the mind of an insanely gifted pop music obsessive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Credits

NameCredits
Amos GarrettGuitar
Anthony CarrabbaVocals
Barry RodgersTrombone
Barry RogersTrombone
Ben KeithPedal Steel, Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
Billy MundiDrums
Brooks BaxesVocals
Brother Gene DinwiddieSaxophone, Sax (Tenor)
Bugsy MaughBass
Cecilia NorfleetVocals
Charlie SchoningPiano
Dan TurbevilleEngineer
Dennis CooleyVocals
Edward OlmosClarinet, Vocals
Henry FantonVocals
Hope RuffVocals
Hunt SalesDrums
Jackie KelsoSaxophone
James LoweEngineer, Photography
Jim ColegroveBass
Jim HornSaxophone, Sax (Tenor)
John Kelson, Jr.Sax (Tenor)
John LeeAssistant Engineer
John SieglerCello, Bass, ?
John SiomosDrums
Mark "Moogy" KlingmanKeyboards, Piano, Organ
Michael BreckerSax (Tenor), Horn
Nick JamesonEngineer
Ralph WashGuitar
Randy BreckerHorn, Trumpet
Richard CoreyVocals
Rick DerringerGuitar
Rick VitoGuitar
Robbie KagaleGuitar
Robbie KogelGuitar
Serge KakenConductor
Serge KatzenConga
Stu WoodsBass
Todd RundgrenProducer, Arranger, Guitar, Photography, Multi Instruments, Vocals
Tony SalesBass
Vicki Sue RobinsonVocals