Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren – The 70’s Collection (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 07:26:41 minutes | 9,39 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino

Todd Rundgren 70’s Collection offers 117 tracks digitally remastered in 96 kHz, 24bit. Todd Rundgren may be known as an overindulgent pop singer and producer – but he’s also got a fantastic talent for a good little pop song, and his 70s.
Contains the albums: Runt (1970), Runt: The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren (1971), Something/Anything? (1972), A Wizard, A True Star (1973), Todd (1974), Initiation (1975), Faithful (1976), Hermit Of Mink Hollow (1978).

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Todd Rundgren – Hermit Of Mink Hollow (1978/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:20 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino

Todd Rundgren, founding member of the late 60’s Philly rockers Nazz, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter & producer, released his 1978 masterpiece “Hermit Of Mink Hollow” during his years in Woodstock, NY. The album includes the hit “Can We Still Be Friends?” (covered a year later by Robert Palmer) which reached #29 in the U.S. and helped make the album Rundgren’s 2nd best seller of his career. This is simplistic pop stylings at its finest.

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Todd Rundgren – Back To The Bars (Live) (1978/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:43:18 minutes | 3,81 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino – Warner Records

Live album featuring Utopia as backing band and all-star special guests Stevie Knicks, Hall & Oates, Rick Derringer, Spencer Davis and more!

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Todd Rundgren – A Cappella (1985/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:56 minutes | 1,58 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Bros. Records

A Cappella was the end of the road, as far as Bearsville was concerned. Rundgren, who was already at odds with the label and had taken his Utopia elsewhere, had to struggle to get the label to release the record, and it didn’t hit the shelves officially until Warner stepped in and negotiated him out of the contract. Perhaps Bearsville didn’t want to release A Cappella because they perceived it to be too weird, too bizarre to cross over into the mainstream, which is true. However, that thread of logic ignores the fact that ever since 1973, Rundgren had positioned himself as a cult artist. He may have proven himself to be an enormously successful cult artist, one capable of landing the odd hit single every now and then, but he remained a cult artist precisely because he was willing to take risks like A Cappella, an album he created entirely with his voice. To some listeners, such a tactic seemed like a gimmick, which is a fair criticism, since the compositions themselves don’t necessarily explore new ground (he even throws in the requisite novelties and covers). Then again, the production and the recording are precisely the point of A Cappella, and that’s why it’s such an involving listen. Many times, it’s hard to believe that all of the sounds on the record originated from the same larynx, since each layer of the production is filled with astonishing details. Even more impressively, by forcing himself to use just his voice (albeit electronically processed), Rundgren has devised fresh, unexpected arrangements that enliven a set of solid but unrevelatory songs. That inventive spirit is enough to turn A Cappella into something unique and special.

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Todd Rundgren – The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect (1982/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:39 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino

As the early ’80s continued to unfold, Todd Rundgren grew increasingly disenchanted with Bearsville, especially since the label wasn’t supporting Utopia. He wrangled the band free in 1982, but he still had to deliver solo records to Bearsville. Not entirely pleased with the situation, Rundgren hammered out a collection of pop songs on his own, cynically titling the effort The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect. In later years, Rundgren disavowed the album, but it stands as one of his better collections of pop songs, even if it lacks a theme or a unifying sound. There are a fair share of throwaways, not only coming in the expected form of covers (a fine but pointless remake of the Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier”) and Gilbert & Sullivan parodies (“Emperor of the Highway”), but also in the monumentally silly “Bang the Drum All Day,” which not only became a hit, but a hit that refused to die, lasting as a radio staple into the late ’90s. These three songs are anomalies on Tortured Artist, which for the most part is pure pop and pop-soul, delivered with little fuss or pretention. There’s also little deep meaning to the songs themselves, which is quite unusual for Rundgren, yet the best tunes – “Hideaway,” “Influenza,” “There Goes Your Baybay,” “Drive,” “Chant” – are indelible, irresistible pop confections that prove Rundgren can be quite involving, even when he’s not trying his hardest.

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Todd Rundgren – A Wizard, A True Star (1973) [Reissue 2018]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 56:12 minutes | Scans included | 2,26 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,26 GB

A Wizard, a True Star is the fourth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released on March 2, 1973. Its music was a significant departure from his previous album Something/Anything? (1972), which consisted largely of straightforward ballads. This LP featured in “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”. This 45th Anniversary Reissue, never before available on SACD, is the definitive sounding reissue of this landmark album.

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Todd Rundgren – Healing (1981/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 54:06 minutes | 2,06 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Front Cover | ©  Rhino

Healing is a subdued, reflective effort unlike anything else in Todd Rundgren’s catalog. Certainly, there are some familiar elements throughout Healing, particularly on majestic ballads like “Compassion,” but there are more new variations on his style since any album since Initiation. Not coincidentally, that record had hints of the spirituality that surges to the forefront on Healing, but it was nowhere near as musically focused as the latter record.

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