Todd Rundgren - Very Best of (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

Great for the bewildered fan

John Stodder | livin' just enough | 07/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I owned and loved all of Todd Rundgren's albums until he formed Utopia and stepped off into outer space. I still stand by the two Runt albums, "Something/Anything," "A Wizard a True Star" and (especially) "Todd" as some of the most brilliant, creative pop-rock ever produced. If you like Todd Rundgren, before you buy this best-of, buy all of those. You also might want to get a couple of other winners from a little later in his career, "Faithful" and "Hermit of Mink Hollow." But after all those, you might want to get this, because it's the best way to get great tracks like "Real Man," "Love is the Answer," "Something to Fall Back On," and "Want of a Nail," without having to expose yourself to the maddeningly tedious side of Rundgren's music, his explorations into generic transcendentalism, accompanied by endless screaming guitar and synthesizer solos, with zero evidence of the humor and soul he shows at his best. None of that music is represented here, luckily. You can enjoy "Real Man" without ever having to listen to "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," and that's the best favor anyone could do for this gifted, but sometimes self-indulgent, artist."

Good introduction to a 'true star'

Dave Mock | Rockville Centre, New York United States | 12/03/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pop-oriented as this collection is, it still indicates the wide range of Todd Rundgren's interests...from flat-out rockers ('Very Last Time') to ballads ('Love is the Answer) to soul ('Want of a Nail,' which has some occasional vocals from Bobby Womack. It also shows off Rundgren's best instrument: His mind, which allows each of these songs to contain passion, sensitivity and intelligence. Listeners who understand that will enjoy this collection, and be tempted to seek out Rundgren's more adventurous experimental work."

Good Starter, could have used a couple more tracks

John Stodder | 06/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a good starter CD for anyone who is learning about Todd's music, but it barely scratches the surface about who Todd is (and thats hard to explain because he kept trying to re-invent himself on every LP during his prime in the 1970's)

Rhino has a few other 1-CD budget comps of Todd's stuff but they are very cheap and skimpy - get this one instead to see if you like him or not. (I think you will!) My only gripe is the liner notes which someone should have re-edited. Todd is very critical and sometimes very negative about his early music (which I adored).

All his well known "hits" are here, but I would have loved to also have had "Sometimes I Dont Know What To Feel", "Time Heals" and the underrated "Parallel Lines" from his last great CD, "Nearly Human"."

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