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Rating:
If with Utopia, Todd Rundgren finds his footing by discarding the last remnants of progressive rock and embracing (albeit temporarily) the much more straightforward Arena rock, simplicity seems to have become the dominant theme of his endless, inexorably prolific musical output during the "artistic rebirth" period of '77-'78.
And simplicity, after albums such as "Initiation," is truly a blessing. In "Hermit Of Mink Hollow" of '78, we witness a return to the past, to that 1971 of "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren," a wonderful example of creativity and simplicity, class and melodic purity... When Todd was still "Runt," his nickname among friends, a few years before the magnificent but extremely complex albums, and before "Runt" became "The Wizard." Before his nickname among friends was replaced with a moniker for fans and music magazines.
As in '71, we said, this is an album mostly composed of ballads and straightforward pop songs, simple and pleasant. We can find soulful piano melodies like "Hurting For You", old-style jazz pop like "Bag Lady", a fun Rundgren reminiscent of Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back" in "You Cried Wolf", or the (improved) Freddie Mercury of "My Melancholy Blues" in "Lucky Guy", where even the guitar sounds similar to Brian May's. Fast, carefree pop, youthful and lively in the opening "All The Children Sing"; piano-rock, the latter useful to emphasize the most sentimental passages as well as increase the dramatic tension of verses and choruses, in "Bread"...
A few other ingredients to spice things up, like the keyboard-driven pop with the ticking of "Too Far Gone", the return, in "Determination", of Californian sounds in a sunny and arpeggiated pop-rock, or the hard-rock of "Out Of Control"... Above all, and beyond the sounds and ever-spectacular interpretations, the sheer purity of the melodies shines absolutely.
And if Todd can't help but "pull one of his stunts", inserting a comic "Onomatopeia", where he first names the sounds and then lets you hear them, burps, raspberries, and farts included, in at least two instances he reaches levels of absolute melodic perfection: "Can We Still Be Friends" is an excellent ballad halfway between the theatrical episodes of Meatloaf (Rundgren produced none other than the iconic "Bat Out Of Hell") and his famous "Hello It's Me". As the final seal, he offers us the wintery, Christmassy, and old-timey "Fade Away".
An excellent album, which certainly lacks originality, but for Rundgren, it represents a splendid way to put his career back to the beginning.
Welcome back, Runt.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 All the Children Sing (03:11)
See ms. malone
She spends another quiet evening alone
Sits in her study and stares at the phone
And a bell in her head will ring
All the children sing
All the dancers start to sway in time
The orchestra begins to play
Somebody pours the wine
The sun and moon collide
Isn't gravity a funny thing
The universe explodes apart
All the children sing
Of mr. malloy
He's always seen himself as one of the boys
He thinks that men are tough and women are toys
But a bell in his head will ring
All the children sing
All the birds are chirping harmony
The scent of love is in the air
Sunset on the sea
The angel of the lord
Just declared we aren't worth a thing
The galaxy is null and void
All the children sing
Crawled across a thousand miles of desert sand
Looking from an answer from a holy man
And this is what he told me with a wave of his hand
He said, "a bell in your head will ring"
Here's to the chinaman, wise and old
Here's to the eskimo, brave and cold
Here's to the jew in the holy land
Here's to the arab in his caravan
Here's to the african, strong and proud
Here's to the redneck, good and loud
Here's one to you and there's one more thing
A bell in your head will ring
02 Can We Still Be Friends (03:37)
We can't play this game anymore
But can we still be friends
Things just can't go on like before
But can we still be friends
We had something to learn
Now it's time for the wheel to turn
Grains of sand, one by one
Before you know it, all gone
Let's admit we made a mistake
But can we still be friends
Heartbreak's never easy to take
But can we still be friends
It's a strange, sad affair
Sometimes seems like we just don't care
Don't waste time feeling hurt
We've been through hell together
La la lala, la la lala la.....
Can we still be friends (can we still get together sometimes)
La la lala, la la lala la ......
Can we still be friends
We are both form our dream
Things are not always what they seem
Memories, they wear on
Its like a sweet, sad, old song
07 Bread (02:50)
Sleeping at night in a plaster board box
Scratching the earth with the nails on my fingers
And the ground pukes up rocks and rocks and more rocks
And when the seeds finally reach the ground
It's all been for nothing
I hear the cries of children at night
I watch their faces grow sallow with hunger
Who draws the line between what's wrong and right
And when I ask my life is for
It's all been for nothing
Save your regrets for the dead, but for the living
Give them love and give them bread
One more hungry mouth to be fed
Remember the living
Give them love, give them bread
Standing in the light of the kitchen screen door
Like some kind of untouchable stuck in calcutta
I almost forget what I'm standing here for
And I don't know what to do but I know
I won't leave with nothing
Where are the days when life was carefree
Why must I suffer this, what was my crime
Begging or thievery, which shall it be
Is there no other choice for me
I can't live with nothing
Justice only comes to the dead
And when they ask me what life is for
I must give them something
09 You Cried Wolf (02:32)
You cried wolf once too often
You cried wolf, you made me run
You cried wolf, I caught you bluffing
You'll cry wolf but I'll be gone
If you need someone to love
You only had to ask
Instead you pulled a false alarm
Baby, just for a laugh
You can have your little joke
But when they see what you done
You will holler for assistance and nobody will come
You can threaten me forever
With the same old song
But you can toy with my emotions
Baby, only so long
Because the very next time
I see you talk through your hat
You will get no more attention, I can promise you that
11 Out of Control (03:58)
Hot damn
Never dreamed a man could know such speed
Never had a chance to fill my need
It's just what I always wanted
To be the last of a dying breed
Said I thought I had my number down
I'd seen every scene to hit this town
Looks like no one wants to tell you
When something like this comes around
There they go, everyone's going
Everyone's gone this time
There they go, everyone's going
Don't you get left behind
Looks like it's gonna explode
Looks like it's gonna explode
Looks like it's gonna go totally out of control
Look out
I ain't never seen such chaos before
I ain't got no point of reference no more
And when I get my trip together
I'll be making a rush for the door
Doesn't anybody here know the rules
Hasn't anybody gotten through school
And the more I hear the answers
The more that I feel like a fool
Here I go, everyone's going
Everyone's gone this time
Here I go, everyone's going
Don't you get left behind
I think I'm gonna explode
I think I'm gonna explode
I think I'm gonna go totally out of control
12 Fade Away (03:05)
The day is done, the blinds are drawn
The sound of afternoon is gone
The corner store has locked it's door
And everyone has left for home
When their sleepy little heads
Settle snug inside their beds
You and I will stay and watch the sun fade away
The balladeer, the buccaneer
The liar, the man who would be king
The cavalier, the profiteer
The one who knows only suffering
As the cannons gather rust,
All their castles turn to dust
You and I will stay and see them fade away
We are on an endless flight my friend
With no beginning and no end
I've forgotten more than I remember
Sometimes I want to hide myself away
But I know there's no escape
We must go on, go on forever
The sea will rise, mountains fall
The earth will turn itself upside down
But we have seen it all before,
We will always be around
In a hundred million years
When the planet disappears
You and I will stay
And watch the world fade away
And in a million trillion years
When the stars all disappear
You and I will stay
And watch it all fade away
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