•
Rating: What remained, in the year of disgrace 1989, of that '70s rock star, of his surf rock, his rock blues, the prog magnificence, the vaudeville flair, the experimental audacity? Listening to "Nearly Human," it seems, just a man who hasn't forgotten how to play the guitar and who, on tracks that no longer carry those flavors, still manages to incorporate, here and there, some powerful solos.
No rock, however, in any of its forms; remains his (usually) appreciable, yet inevitable, soul, as well as rhythm and blues.
Nothing horrific and nothing revolutionary, nothing genius and little conventional: that's how "Nearly Human" is, a record that adds nothing, and unfortunately subtracts rock and audacity. Had it at least been produced in the seventies, it would have benefited from more substantial arrangements, perhaps less "spotless" but with more verve and grit, and the hurdle would have been easily overcome. But arranged as it was, with these empty keyboards, lacking voluntary and involuntary muscle, the refined soul devoted to smooth and radio-friendly pop of "Parallel Lines" is lost along the way, that of "The Waiting Game" slips away without sparks, the chill of "Fidelity" is beautiful but lacks personality...
The rhythm and blues of "Unloved Children" is predictable from start to finish, the one of the finale "I Love My Life" is too light; in that, great for a Joe Cocker, of the opener "The Want Of A Nail" you can't tell if they are real brass instruments or more keyboards...
How can one defend against the '80s? And when I think that Todd is one of the best producers out there (so even in that decade), then I listen to this album and can only convince myself that "Nearly Human" had to sound that way by necessity. And if it didn't sound like that, it sounded even worse! The perplexity adds to the disappointment when, due to sounds and arrangements yes, but not only, you discover that "Can't Stop Running" reminds you of "Africa" by Toto, and that even "Two Little Hitlers" brings to mind "Town Of Plenty" by Sir Elton John.
Rundgren hadn't released an album since 1985: couldn't he have waited another year? Couldn't he have waited for the '80s to end, for music and for everyone?
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Want of a Nail (05:17)
I've been wrong
I had plans so big
But the devil's in the details
I left out one thing
No one to love me
No one to love me
No one to love
For the want of a nail, the world was lost
For the want of a nail, the world was lost
For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost
For the want of a shoe, the horse was lost
For the want of a horse, the rider was lost
For the want of a rider, the message was lost
For the want of a rider, the message was lost
For the want of a message, the battle was lost
For the want of a battle, the war was lost
For the want of a war, the kingdom was lost
(such a tiny thing)
You're askin'
What's all this talk about horses and war?
Put yourself in the place of the man at the forge
And day after day you live a life without love
'til the morning you can't take it anymore
And you don't get up
Multiply it a billion times
Spread it all 'round the world
Put the curse of loneliness on every boy and every girl
Until everybody's kicking, everybody's scratching
Everything seems to fail
And it was all for the want of a nail
Tell me what else could the answer be
Don't hold back now
Give me all your love
Just a little more love
A little tiny bit of love
Loading comments slowly
