Something / Anything Review

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Something / Anything ReviewTodd Rundgren's double-album SOMETHING/ANYTHING? (1972) was a diverse juggernaut of catchy pop, R&B/Soul, hard rock, psychedelia, scatological humor, and other styles which may be difficult to classify. However, the album is fairly accessible throughout. It was this album that Todd received a huge slice of mainstream success. However, since many had perceived him *solely* as a soft rock/ballad writer, Todd chose to abandon mainstream rock for many years after this album - making some of the most experimental music this side of any notable experimental artist. The unfortunate misconceptions and the willful misrepresentation of an artist's creativity has been bestowed upon other artists as well (Queen comes to mind), which misleads listeners into thinking that an artist specializes in one particular style, and therefore, helps to blind fans from enjoying an artist's work to it's fullest when an album is bought, and listened to in it's entirety. Or perhaps, it's just simply that many listeners are staunch in their listening preferences, and wouldn't be able to tolerate hyper-diversity from the start.
Getting to this album. The album is divided into four distinct halves, and Todd plays all of the instruments, and provides all of the vocals for the first three halves of the album. The first half (Disc 1, Tracks 1-6) is called "A Bouquet of Ear-Catching Melodies," and is comprised of mostly catchy, melodic pop tunes. "I Saw The Light" has been compared to Carole King. While his vocals seem like Carole King, the music on this track is much more upbeat and energetic than any typical King song. "Wolfman Jack" makes me wonder if it was inspired by the television host of the same name throughout the 70s. A fun, catchy, 50s-like track. "Cold Morning Light" is probably my favorite from this half. A lovely, airy, melancholic R&B ballad featuring Todd performing some wispy, poignant vocals.
The second half (Disc 1, Tracks 7-13) is called "The Cerebral Side," and is comprised of cerebral, experimental and/or psychedelicesque tracks. The Intro is Todd giving the listener a tour on studio functions. Quite a fun and interesting listen, while "Breathless" is a indescribable instrumental blending psychedelic, symphonic, R&B and dance flavors filtered through electronics. "Song of The Viking" seems like a tribute to Gilbert & Sullivan, as it's a quirky, show tunes-rock track. Todd doesn't have a British accent, so it's interesting hearing his voice backed up by a mostly British style of music. Fans of Queen, Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa and selected others will be especially fond of this track. Listen to this track, as well as many others on this album, on a good pair of headphones to catch many of the subtleties that may otherwise be missed.
The third half (Disc 2, Tracks 1-5) is called "The Kid Gets Heavy" and shows a more rocking side to Todd Rundgren. "Black Maria" is a slow rocker, while "One More Day" is a tasteful, soulful number. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is unbelievably tasty and infectious - so much so, it hurts to listen to this at times. It's that good. The vocals, guitar strumming - everything here is excellent, while "Little Red Lights" is a scorching rocker, featuring roaring distortion to resemble that of Jimi Hendrix. The fourth half (Disc 2, Tracks 6-12) is called "Baby Needs A New Pair of Snakeskin Boots," which is a live in-studio recording featuring a full band, and is supposed to be a rock operetta. Each track features silly, funny comments and shenanigans at the end and beginning of each track by band members, which are made to look like dialogue, and are reprinted as such in the sleeve. "Dust In The Wind" is a poignant ballad with some tasteful, R&B-esque guitar, sax and lovely vocals, while "Piss Aaron" is an hilarious song dealing with a person who has trouble with his bladder. "Hello It's Me" is the elegant Philly Soul/jazzy ballad that everyone probably knows Todd Rundgren by. However, when hearing this song in the context of the rest of the album, one will have the right perspective regarding Todd's musical personality, as the dialogue heard before and after the song ends was never heard on the radio. This offers an interesting perspective. "You Left Me Sore" is also somewhat hilarious, at least when hearing the dialogue. This song is something of a double-entendre: it can mean that the protagonist was left sore due to his love leaving him, or it could mean he was left sore - literally, after contracting a venereal disease. You decide. While "Slut" is a Rolling Stonesesque rocker to close out this juggernaut.
This album is definitely the recommended place to start as you get the essence - the closest you'll get to the FULL essence - of Todd Rundgren's creativity, and arguably at it's most accessible. The album is infectious, diverse, cerebral, intelligent and utterly moving. Don't believe the idea of Todd being just a ballad writer, as his styles run the gamut.Something / Anything OverviewFrom classic ballads to brilliant power pop, from psychedelic rock to blue-eyed soul-this magnum opus has it all! Includes Hello It's Me; It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference; I Saw the Light; Couldn't I Just Tell You; Black Maria; Dust in the Wind; Cold Morning Light; Piss Aaron , and more, 25 tracks on 2 CDs!

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