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After the forays under the name of TR-i, Todd Rundgren reclaims his name and artistic identity, that wizard of yesteryear... More specifically, he reclaims exactly his greatest hits, tracks that have marked his career... However, this is not just another collection, but a revival in bossa nova style. Bossa nova? I ask myself, couldn't he have done it a cappella (considering his album from the '80s!), with a string quartet, with a small jazz ensemble, a version of remixes (which will come later), one with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra? Why bossa nova? Because, as he specifies on the back cover of the CD, <<(...) it's a music devoid of the histrionics that mask your true feelings>>. A music, therefore, with which to come out without shame, with which to place the sheet music of the heart on a pedestal.
As a casual lover of Marisa Monte, João Gilberto, and certain flamenco chill, now that I reflect on it a little, apart from the thrill of feeling at the equator every time I listen to certain sounds, I somewhat agree with him: what's better?, revealing oneself with all one's weaknesses accompanied by a tear-jerking soul, with a heartfelt ballad, or immersed in a paradise of warm, placid water, to the notes of a relaxed and gentle rhythm?
Having said that, Rundgren's bossa nova bears little resemblance to the traditional kind, and few are indeed the songs presented to us in a "reassuring" and warm almost guitar-and-voice version. Such is the case with "Love Is The Answer" and the concluding "I Want You" and "A Dream Goes On Forever". Conversely, in "Never Neverland" tradition is respected thanks to a piano style we love and an effective whistle. "Can We Still Be Friends", although not as captivating as the original, persuades with its execution choices. The exact opposite fate befalls other tracks like "I Saw The Light", but this applies to almost all the tracks: bossa nova is not just about anticipating the vocals a few moments before the first beat... Specifically, in "I Saw The Light" there's also a note about the metric of the lyrics: there's nothing to be done, every musical style has its language, and if a lengthy verse in Portuguese fits well in this (which is its) "musical habitat," the same cannot be said for an equally long one in English.
For the rest of the album, instead of "simple" bossa nova, one encounters sophisticated chill ("Influenza" and "Hello, It's Me") or enchanting lounge (always entirely acoustic, eh!) where, more than from the usual excellent performer Rundgren is, you'd expect the voice of Sade in tracks like "Fidelity" and "Mated".
Whether purer or less pure arrangements were chosen, whether more or less representative tracks of his career were selected, more or less suitable for the new guise, this remains a more than good work, destined to grow slowly, to seduce with its fake simplicity. As he further writes on the back of the CD, "How else to revive the material for myself as much for others".
Since it has to be done inevitably, how to do it in the best way (or least worst)? What better way than this? How Else?
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 I Saw the Light (03:43)
It was late last night
I was feeling something wasn't right
There was not another soul in sight
Only you, only you
So we walked along
Though I knew that there was something wrong
And a feeling hit me, oh so strong
About you
Then you gazed up at me
And the answer was plain to see
'Cause I saw the light in your eyes
In your eyes
Though we had our fling
I just never would suspect a thing
'Til that little bell began to ring
In my head, in my head
But I tried to run
Though I knew it wouldn't help me none
'Cause I couldn't ever love no one
Or so I said
But my feelings for you
Were just something I never knew
'Til I saw the light in your eyes
In your eyes
But I love you best
It's not something that I say in jest
'Cause you're different, girl, from all the rest
In my eyes
And I ran out before
But I won't do it anymore
Can't you see the light in my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes
05 It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference (04:20)
Do you remember the last time I said
If I ever thought of lying
I'd rather think of dying instead
And maybe you remember
The last time you called me
To say we were through
How it took a million tears
Just to prove they all were for you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just didn't love me, 'cause
I know of hundreds of times I could be
In the most unfaithful arms
That you always picture me
And maybe you remember that
Though I can't always show proof I was true
No one else could change my mind
Or stop me coming home to you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just didn't love me
Enough to believe me
Enough not to leave me
Enough not to look for a reason to be
Unhappy with me
And make me regret ever wanting you
But those days are through
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just did not love me
'Cause it wouldn't have made any difference
If you loved me
How could you love me
When it wouldn't really make any difference
If you really loved me
You just did not love me
11 A Dream Goes on Forever (02:59)
A million old soldiers will fade away
But a dream goes on forever
I'm left standing here, Ive got nothing to say
All is silent within my dream
A thousand true loves will live and die
But a dream goes on forever
The days and the years all go streaking by
But the time is stopped within my dream
We all have our everyday hopes and fears
And you'll find no exception in me
But that doesn't get me through a sea of tears
Over life's biggest tragedy
You're so long ago and so far away
But a dream goes on forever
I guess I believe that I'll see you one day
For without it there is no dream
You're so far away and so long ago
But my dream lives on forever
How much I love you you'll never know
'Till you join me within my dream
How much I love you you'll never know
'Till you join me within my dream
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