Todd Rundgren’s follow-up CD to his tribute to Robert Johnson is out this week, titled reProduction. And surprise, surprise, it’s ANOTHER album of covers!! That’s TWO cover albums in a row! wow. this is definitely unusual for Todd. Apparently at this stage in the game, securing proper funding for the recording & distribution of new material is getting difficult for legacy artists like Rundgren. As Rundgren explained in recent interviews, his Robert Johnson tribute album was required by Hi Fi Records in order to get his 2008 album, Arena released. Similarly, reProduction is a result from his participation in Gigatone’s “My Record Fantasy Camp” which allowed fans (willing to shell out the big bucks) to record with Rundgren in a studio.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this CD of remakes but after playing it the last couple weeks, I have to say that it’s a fun listen. but first there are a number of strikes against the new record that fans might have to overlook:
1) like I mentioned earlier, it’s yet another covers album!! the market is currently inundated with them including recent ones by Duncan Sheik, Mickey Thomas (also by the same record label- Gigatone), Kim Wilde, Andrea Corr, etc..
2) the front cover design is just plain bad. blech.
3) it’s on the Gigatone label which just reeks of cheese! their releases include the likes of Dwight Twilley, Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees!!) and Mickey Thomas (from Starship)
4) and finally, these covers aren’t just straight ahead carbon-copy covers. First of all, these songs are from artists that Rundgren produced in the past, which is fine and dandy. But here’s the twist! Todd took up the challenge of performing them in a techno/dance/pop style. yeah, that’s right, a total novelty record!!
Long time fans should get the joke. Rundgren has always included novelty songs on his albums i.e. “Emperor of the Highway”, “An Elpee’s Worth of Tunes” and “Onomatopoeia”. Hell, he even released a full-on Beatles spoof with his band Utopia titled “Deface the Music” which essentially sabotaged the band’s popularity back in early eighties but that’s a whole ‘nother can ‘o worms so don’t get me started on that.
Anyway, if you can get past all those hurdles, Rundgren’s new interpretations aren’t all that bad. The new arrangements and sound palette aren’t that far removed from what Rundgren did on his 2004 Liars album. You can definitely hear synth patches that he’s regularly used in the past so the album is not a total *180* that some might think. And after the last two guitar-based albums (Arena, TR’s Johnson), it’s nice to hear his signature Todd chord/tone-clusters that he usually does on keyboard-centric songs. So if you can recall Rundgren techno-flavored tracks like “Truth” or “Wondering” (both from the album Liars) or even something like “Chant” (from 1983′s Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect), you can get a sense of what the new album sounds like.
Overall, reProduction is full of addictive ear candy. Todd built interesting arrangements around easily digestible hooks. Just take a listen to the Daft Punk-esque chorus of “Tell Me Your Dreams”. It’ll definitely linger around in your head a long while after the CD’s done playing. Also, Rundgren sings enthusiastically all throughout the record. As a matter of fact, I can picture him laughing his ass off while constructing these songs on his little MacBook. shit, an artist having a blast making a record?? hell, I’m all for that!
and yes, there’s liberal use of the autotune/melodyne vocal effects here but it’s all good since it’s simply part of the genre Todd is spoofing here.
The only misstep that I’d like to mention is “I Can’t Take it”. Todd’s remake is pretty much a sped-up version of the original but with a clunky drum machine. Not a complete makeover like some of the other tracks. Since it’s more of a power pop flavored arrangement, Rundgren should have overdubbed live drums (perhaps he ran out of time during his Record Fantasy Camp sessions at the Track Shack back in January) instead of leaving in the canned drums. It just sounds stilted and awkward as is. Definitely a missed opportunity.
RetroGrade: B
personal favorites include: “Nothing to Lose”, “Walk Like a Man” (love Rundgren’s vocals on this one), “Personality Crisis” (sounds like Rundgren’s take on Lady Gaga), “Tell Me Your Dreams” and “Out of My Mind” (even catchier than the original).
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