Reviews Written by eric
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October 27, 2000
Izzat Love?
The brand-spankin' new Todd Rundgren affair is... a tribute album! Well, RECONSTRUCTED does feature The Kid on vocals, but everything else has been remixed and noodled around with by several prominent DJ-engineer-producer types. Who new A CAPPELLA could have been so influential?
The fact that most of the chosen tunes are of the lighter variety (too light, if you ask me...do we really need two versions of "Bang The drum All Day"?)saves RECONSTRUCTED from NO WORLD ORDER-style bombast.
I dunno if Fredco's "Love Is The Answer" will find a new audience among the rave set, but here's hoping. Hey- Toto's "Georgy Porgy" made a comeback of sorts!
The only offering that didn't at least capture some of the original's spirit for me was Switchblade Symphony's remix of "Mated", one of POV's strongest tunes. That's a minor quibble, though.
Interesting, though, how the bulk of RECONSTRUCTED comes from Mr. Rundgren's less human '80s releases? Maybe it's easier to concentrate on the button-pushing when the soul's not distracted by heartfelt songwriting. I guess it would've been hard to slice-and-dice "Wailing Wall". ... -
October 27, 2000
He's Faithful... to himself
Other than the INDIVIDUALIST-like rantings of "Jerk" and "The Surf Talks", ONE LONG YEAR, Todd Rundgren's latest, breezes by in far less time. If one is looking for a collection of tunes that should've been '80s-'90s B-sides and outtakes, ONE LONG YEAR should satisfy. "Where Does The Time Go" could've easily lifted 2ND WIND out of the doldrums, and "Buffalo Grass" could've segued into and out of NO WORLD ORDER like most of the other tunes from that disc. That Holy Grail number, though. Whew. Would there have been enough space on A CAPPELLA to fit it in with "Miracle In The Bazaar"?
As a fan, I adore everything Mr. Rundgren puts out, even though the gimmick on ONE LONG YEAR seems to be his on-line subscription service rather than the music. If there were more than one NEARLY HUMAN for every three INDIVIDUALISTs, I would gather Mr. Rundgren, and Patronet (his on-line service), would stand to benefit from a far wider subscription base. As it stands, I prefer the Japanese live discs. As long as they won't ever have any ukelele ditties on them. ...
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Trying to Cry
After piqueing his pop fans' collective interest with SUMMER IN THE CITY, Mr. Jackson seems to have reverted back to his mid-'90s form with this one. I wish he hadn't forced the comparison with his greatest (commercial and artistic) success, 1982's NIGHT AND DAY. This one is more like HEAVEN AND HELL with a little NIGHT MUSIC thrown in as a sleep aid. What has happened to our hero that has allowed his demons to dominate this dark, cold release? The original was dark, to be sure, but perfect. Perfect pop songcraft. Though it's recalled in the first track, "Prelude", there's no "Steppin' Out" here. No "Breaking Us in Two". In short, no hit. Not that Mr. Jackson needs one, much less wants one, but an album with this title has some sort of obligation to it's (distant) predecessor. NIGHT AND DAY II is instead grand cabaret drama that unfortunately doesn't always hit it's mark. Mr. Jackson's pleas from his alienated New York characters tend to alienate his audience, especially on "Stranger Than You" and "Love Got Lost" (featuring, interestingly, Marianne Faithful on the lead vocal, moaning like the dying drunken bar harridan everyone tries to avoid but ends up listening to at 3am). Not that NIGHT AND DAY II is devoid of pleasure (if one can call it that). "Why" is an interesting, albeit brief, character study, and "Happyland" chillingly recalls that horrible social club fire from 1990. And, finally, "Stay", a graceful closer that does justice to the name NIGHT AND DAY. ...