Todd Rundgren previewed tracks from his forthcoming album "Space Force" as far back as late 2020 when he was a guest DJ for an internet radio show I can no longer recall. What I heard were average quality versions of collaborations with Neil Finn and The Roots that both felt like disappointments, considering the potential. Then in January of 2021, the first official track was released on YouTube. This was a collaboration with rapper Narcy and it left me cold.
Since then, the release of "Space Force" had been delayed numerous times, even though Rundgren had delivered the record to the label. It was no fault of the artist. Cleopatra Records was in it the old-fashioned way, with plans for simultaneous releases of vinyl, CD and digital, and so the vinyl clogged things up. So, more tracks dropped, one with Rivers Cuomo and one with Sparks.
This is no way to listen to an album!
"Space Force" finally arrives this Friday, 10/14. I've already given it four rides around the park and the first thing I'll say is, never underestimate the power of sequencing.
"Space Force" works from head to tail. In many ways, it is far superior than Rundgren's previous set of collaborations, 2017's "White Knight," which had a few too many swings and misses. "Space Force" is surprisingly coherent and it made more sense with each successive spin. Where "White Knight" was mostly true collaborations, "Space Force," according to Rundgren, contains songs written by the collaborators and delivered to Todd to complete with backing vocals and production flairs.
My fingers are forever crossed for an organic, pop and soul band record from Rundgren, but I have no complaints at all with "Space Force. It is incredibly melodic and a hell of a lot of fun.
Both the Thomas Dolby and The Roots tracks have badass grooves, though I do wish the lyrics to "Godiva Girl" were just a little less cringemaking. The Adrian Belew and Neil Finn tracks are lush and dreamy, with the latter standing out, as it sounds so much more complete sitting in the third slot of Side One than it did over internet radio. The Sparks track is a perfect reunion from these three geniuses. The Steve Vai track glides along like a lost track from either 1975's "Initiation" or Utopia's 1977 release "Ra." Even Narcy's hip-hop contribution works better as part of the team. It is a slick change of pace that, once again, benefits from placement.
The two closest entries to the Rundgren of old, come from You Am I's Davey Lane and Rundgren disciples The Lemon Twigs. The former, "Someday" is classic Utopia pop and the latter, "I'm Leaving You" is a quirky piece of ear candy that would have fit perfectly on either "Something/Anything?" or "A Wizard/A True Star."
The one true disappointment is "STFU," Rick Nielsen's contribution, and I don't even mind it. I just wanted it to be something else. Something better.
Will "Space Force" finally get the Rundgren fans who jumped ship in 1974, back on board? I doubt it, but anything is possible. It's a miracle that so many artists could create something so diverse and have it sound so consistent. As for the Rundgren long-haulers, there is a lot to love and keep us busy here, as we continue to hope for that Utopia reunion record, or that piano ballad album of our dreams.
"Space Force" is a big winner and will be high up on my year-end list of favorites.
11 comments:
Being a Rundgren fan must be a lot like rooting for the Mets. Always balancing potential and expectations with reality and disappointment. "I'm Not Your Dog" is a solid triple in my book. I'm glad he delivered this time around. You long-haulers deserve it.
I loved Your Fandango when it came out, was that 5 years ago?
"Your Fandango" was 2021.
Looking forward to this one. "White Knight" was okay but for me it was hit and miss. So far, I've liked everything I've heard so far even the ones that I found with less than desirable sound quality. I haven't read the rap song but I cringe at the thought but hell I'll give it a try. I do think sequencing is important so I'm eager to get the vinyl this Friday and give it a spin from beginning to end.
Sal, I am happy to report that I am warming up to the Rivers Cuomo song.
Randy
P.S. Which color vinyl are you getting?
Randy,
I ordered the blue direct from Cleopatra and it came last week, before I left for vacation. Picture is up in the "Best Thing" on the right. Really odd that a label would ship before street date, but maybe their thinking was, "It's already been tooooo long."
Sal, you've single handedly made me a Todd Rundgren fan, so I'm looking forward to this!
What Michael said!
Speaking of Todd Rundgren, I just saw him a couple of nights age as part of the "Celebrating Bowie" concert held in Los Angeles. Todd was fantastic and really in fine voice. The entire show was really fabulous! So much fun and this being the second night of the tour it was a somewhat ragged, by the seat of your pants affair. Todd and Adrian Belew mentioned that they tour was just beginning and that they are working out the kinks and getting the pacing down,which actually made it even more delightful. I highly recommend attending this show. Here's a link to the concert dates:http://celebratingdavidbowie.com/
Can't wait to hear this Todd record.
And Mr. Baez - I've been on the fence about the Todd Bowie show. Can you tell more about what raised it above being just a rote tribute? What were your favorite songs, or musicians who played? Thanks!
After a couple of listens, the determination is that "Space Force" is a much more consistent album than "White Knight". There's so much variety in the material that Todd gets major kudos for getting it to sound so cohesive. Listening to it as a whole made a ton of difference. When the various pre-release tracks were made available, I was a bit put off by the fact that he was relying on his most recent bag of production tools. You know - the ethereal pads, tingly sequences, etc. - but the album as a whole is served well by those tools and it brings everything together. In a recent interview, he did with the brothers from The Lemon Twigs, Todd explained how various tracks came together. There wasn't a standard process. Given that, it's a wonder that it sounds so unified. My favorite track was the one by The Lemon Twigs but there are so many good ones - Neil Finn, Adrian Belew, Davey Lane, The Roots, Sparks. The only track I didn't care for was the Narcy track and it wasn't because it was rap or a bad track. It was just non-descript. I don't know if I'd call it a Todd album as his role is more one of a producer than a solo artist, but it's well worth the time.
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