Todd Rundgren - The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect (1982/2014) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

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.

TRACKLIST

01. Todd Rundgren - Hideaway
02. Todd Rundgren - Influenza
03. Todd Rundgren - Don't Hurt Yourself
04. Todd Rundgren - There Goes Your Baybay
05. Todd Rundgren - Tin Soldier
06. Todd Rundgren - Emperor of the Highway
07. Todd Rundgren - Bang the Drum All Day
08. Todd Rundgren - Drive
09. Todd Rundgren - Chant



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