Written by Aidan Frisby
Remembered primarily for his studio wizardry, pop prowess and enthusiastic stimulant use, Todd Rundgren was set on transforming himself through the early 70’s. After a brief stint in the band Nazz and taking odd jobs as a computer programmer and as a producer, Rundgren began his solo career tentatively, releasing an album in 1970 and 1971 under the name Runt. These albums began to build his industry reputation and saw some love on the charts, but it is Rundgren’s first album released under his own name, 1972’s Something/Anything that would launch the career that he is remembered for. With lush pop production and classic tracks like “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me”, Something/Anything rightfully propelled Rundgren into pop legend territory, but he remained unsatisfied.
Rundgren’s desire to set A Wizard, a True Star apart is felt immediately, with “International Feel” featuring space-age synths, blown-out drums, and flanged vocals centering the interplanetary over the interpersonal. The song is short and is followed by several more rock and pop vignettes, all featuring Rundgren’s reimagined production style, one simply containing dogs barking and tape distortion. A standout in this leg of the album is “Flamingo”, forgoing any vocals, favoring highly processed guitar and retro-feeling synth lines. Immediately following is by far my favorite track, “Zen Archer”. Finding a sweet spot between his classic lush pop production; distorted, marching drums, and a borderline psychedelic writing style, “Zen Archer” dominates the album’s first side, especially with its over five-minute run time more than doubling most songs on the first half. Soon after comes “When the Sh*t Hits the Fan; Sunset Blvd.”, an effortlessly smooth and catchy pop rock banger with squeaky lead synths, distorted vocals and killer guitar work. Next, Rundgren caps the first half of the album with a reprise of the intro, “Le Feel Internacionale”.
Keeping the summary of side two brief, Rundgren’s production continues to impress, with his songwriting taking a personal turn. I love the collision of Rundgren’s new production idiosyncrasies, heartfelt songwriting and horn sections more in the vein of Something/Anything, as well as the unexpected 10-minute, 4 part “I’m So Proud / Ooh Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk” medley, featuring Rundgrens take on some RNB/Soul tracks. The closer “Just One Victory” is an appropriately grand track to end off such an ambitious album and features the strongest example of Rundgren’s pop songwriting on the album.
Top to bottom A Wizard, a True Star is packed so full of ideas it is sure to make your head spin upon first listen. Todd Rundgren pulls no artistic punches, leaves no stone unturned, no matter how ridiculous, and it is a privilege to sit and listen as he does so. It is difficult to call such an album perfect, although albums like these are some of my favorites. There are precious few people like Todd Rundgren, with raw creative energy enough to stuff an hour long, 19 track album with this many ideas, and I am of the mind that more people should recognize this achievement. Numerical ratings fail albums such as this, but suffices to say that this album is fantastic, and I would encourage any music lover to give this album a listen.
Rating: 9/10
Fav Tracks: Flamingo, Zen Archer, Just One Victory