Discuss the Classics #3: Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything?
 

Something/Anything?, 1972, is Todd Rundgren's third solo album, and is often regarded to be the singer-songwriter's magnum opus. Rundgren played every instrument (as well as sang every part) on the first three sides of the double LP, while a band accompanies him on the fourth. The album was hailed as an impressively diverse pop rock masterpiece by most critics, while some felt it was considerably self-indulgent.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

All songs by Todd Rundgren (except when noted):

Side one
"I Saw the Light" – 2:56
"It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" – 3:50
"Wolfman Jack" – 2:54
"Cold Morning Light" – 3:55
"It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)" – 2:41
"Sweeter Memories" – 3:36
Side two
"Intro" – 1:11
"Breathless" – 3:15
"The Night the Carousel Burned Down" – 4:29
"Saving Grace" – 4:12
"Marlene" – 3:54
"Song of the Viking" – 2:35
"I Went to the Mirror" – 4:05
Side three
"Black Maria" – 5:20
"One More Day (No Word)" – 3:43
"Couldn't I Just Tell You?" – 3:34
"Torch Song" – 2:52
"Little Red Lights" – 4:53
Side four
"Overture-My Roots: Money (That's What I Want)/Messin' With the Kid" (Bradford, Gordy, Rundgren, Strong) – 2:29
"Dust in the Wind" (Klingman, Rundgren) – 3:49
"Piss Aaron" – 3:26
"Hello It's Me" – 4:42
"Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me" – 3:56
"You Left Me Sore" – 3:13
"Slut" – 4:03

This my my favorite album of all time, the album i would take to a desert island, "I went to the mirror" is my favorite song, but the whole album is perfect. Sides A & B are significantly more pop than sides C & D. Todd is a great ballad writer and a beautiful singer, Something/Anything? is his best most definitely.
AND HE WAS ONLY 24 WHEN HE MADE THIS ALBUM!!!!

i've always thought that anything ranked above 100 in a Rolling Stones Best 500 poll is a polite way of saying 'has a strong cult following'.

You know that choosing this record only confirms to me even more that you should be living in California, don't you.

The fact that it is a great album makes me think that maybe I should be too.

Have you heard the Beach Boys Surf's Up album? If you haven't, you should get it pronto. You'd love it.

Go Gidget Go!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA
okay i will get it tomorrow, or maybe my dad has it?? he's a beach boy's fan.

It's definitely his best, i also have these todd Rundgren albums. I want to get something by Utopia, they sound great from what i've heard.

Runt (1970)
Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (1971)
Something/Anything? (1972)
A Wizard, a True Star (1973)
Todd (1974)
Faithful (1976)
Hermit of Mink Hollow (1978)
Back to the Bars (1978)
Healing (1981)
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect (1983)
Liars (2004)

When the suns out Something/Anything is one of those perfect albums. It's not one I tend to slip on in the winter though. I'm a bit like that when it comes to music. Like Joy Division sound shit when you're drinking cocktails at a poolside bar.

I have to be in the mood for it. Sometimes it feels a little too light and breezy. But it's a fine album.

"I have lied, i have begged and i have cheated, and i know my ship won't be coming in, as i lay me down to take my rest, i see that it's just dust in the wind"

ha ha ha ha ha, i want to live in Topanga canyon in California, it looks pretty ummmmm Far Out Man.

I thought you wanted to go to Hawaii

MMM Topanga's canyons


I have never heard any Todd Rundgren record all the way through.
How can this be a classic?
I thought classics were accepted by ALL!!!!
Let's talk about REAL classic records.

piss off rob

yeah there too, i will move around a bit i think, i also want to live in Portland Seattle and Manhattan

Rob - No classic is accepted by EVERYONE. Shit, I even know some people who don't rate Duran Duran's Rio album.

Rio! Hilarious.

I was just saying, that for the purposes of a thread on a forum of music afficionados, it would help if the "classic" album was one actually considered a "classic" by more than just Todd Rundgren fans.

piss off rob

you did not like Topanga Canyon?

piss off rob

Quite right. Why limit yourself?

Yeah, rob. Piss off.

Hello It's Me....

On the day he shot and killedJohn Lennon, Mark David Chapman left an eight-track tape of Rundgren's album The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, along with other artifacts, in his New York hotel room in an orderly semicircle on the hotel dresser. "I left it as a statement, I guess," he was quoted as saying in Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon (Jack Jones, Villard Books, 1992). Chapman had been obsessed with Rundgren and told Jones, "Right between the chambers of your heart is how Rundgren's music is to me. I cannot overestimate the depth of what his music meant to me."

and??????????????????????

for the next Classic album we should discuss Billy Joel or Jim Croce or some other goddamn soft ass singer songwriter.

;)

piss off rob

come on, you know I am just kidding.

I have several friends (all in their 40's) who will cry to the heavens that todd rundgren is the absolute favorite of all time.

okay good.

the mark david chapman thing was just an interesting tidbit. I never knew that.

yeah, have you even seen the first ever episode of That 70's show? they all go to a rundgren concert??

You actually watch that show!?

religiously, i have seasons 1,2 and 3 on dvd!

LOL. not only were you born in the wrong country but the wrong era, too. Life sucks!

it's a double catastrophe!!

It's a double catastrophe wrapped up in an outrage, is what it is.

Anyway. Remind me. What's this thread about again?

Hawaii???

If someone can beat my score at Robotron: 2084 (the "favorite game of all time" of game designer Eugene Jarvis, game designer Mark Turmell (NBA Jam and Smash TV), and legendary musician/producer Todd Rundgren) haha, then I'll send (continental U.S. only) you a free copy of the Sonic Youth B1 Club Moscow '07 dvd, or something else from my list.

thats one hell of a signature atari!

haha yeah. i dug the basquiat couple of days ago as well.

still haven't heard this album.
shame.

then go buy it!!! you will love it!

Not from Something/anything. but an amazing song


We cant play this game anymore
But can we still be friends
Things just cant go on like before
But can we still be friends
We had something to learn
Now its time for the wheel to turn
Grains of sand, one by one
Before you know it, all gone

Lets admit we made a mistake
But can we still be friends
Heartbreaks never easy to take
But can we still be friends
Its a strange, sad affair
Sometimes seems like we just dont care
Dont waste time feeling hurt
Weve been through hell together

Can we still get together sometime
You know life will still go on and on and on

We awoke from our dream
Things are not always what they seem
Memories linger on
Its like a sweet, sad old song

I'm in the clique, I'm in the clique
I'm really slick, I know every trick
And I can get a chick, 'cause I'm in the clique.
Get your greasy hands off the guitar,
Get your slimy seat off the drums,
Go and take a chair in the corner,
And wait until your time comes.
Maybe you're a wheel in your hometown,
Maybe you're the best on the block,
But by the time you make it in New York,
Your axe will be in hock.
Gettin' in the door will cost a fin
Minimum is another three
It takes a year of heavy spending
Before they let you in free.
You may dress like everybody
But there the similarity ends
You need more than a uniform to be
In our little circle of friends.
Maybe I could give you advice
But what can I say to you?
Some people get it together
And some people never do.
Just try and get your foot in the door
And maybe, with luck, you may
Also be in a position to look
Down your nose on somebody someday.