As much as I love Todd, in no way would you call him an audiophile. Most of his records sound thin and toppy. A bit like Prince he is more concerned about getting ideas down than the fidelity of his recordings. I'm sure that having so much music on one side of vinyl didn't help matters but none of his albums are good examples of great engineering...
― sonnyboy, Saturday, 27 November 2010 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
And I imagine he wouldn't have taken kindly to someone telling him that his records would sound better if only he didn't put so much material on them
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Saturday, 27 November 2010 17:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
I LOVE "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" from Initiation, but that is pretty much *the* example for TR's "excesses". Still, are there any examples even in the most outré prog rock that are as ambitious as that?
― that's a nice look, isn't it? (corey), Saturday, 27 November 2010 17:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
"Initiation", now there's another extremely long single album. :)
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Saturday, 27 November 2010 22:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
International Feel = one of the great album openers imo.
― ball (Hurting 2), Saturday, 27 November 2010 23:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
So is "All the Children Sing" from Hermit of Mink Hollow — So jubilant!
― that's a nice look, isn't it? (corey), Saturday, 27 November 2010 23:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
God I love Todd...
― sonnyboy, Sunday, 28 November 2010 00:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
Wasn't Rundgren aware of the fact that squeezing more than 30 minutes into a vinyl side would reduce the sound quality?
Yup:
"!IMPORTANT NOTICE!
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but due to the fact that you can only put so much music on a piece of plastic before you start to loose (sic) some of the sound, and due to the fact that I have exceeded what is considered the practical norm by at least 6 or 7 minutes per side, you will probably want to crank up your Victrola as loud as it will go to get the full enjoyment contained on this here L.P.
Thanx"
- from the AW/ATS liner notes.
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Sunday, 28 November 2010 02:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
If Nazz counts, search "Forget All About It."
― billstevejim, Sunday, 28 November 2010 07:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
I think I'm starting to figure out Todd's career arc - he pretty much dominated power pop early on with the Nazz, and by his second solo album he had perfected the ballad and had nowhere to go besides A) commercial success (achieved on his next album) and B) far out acid freak territory that the fans would love and the critics would hate (AWATS and Todd). After that I don't think he had any idea what to do, challenging himself by recording a capella albums, note-by-note recreations of classic rock hits, forming his own prog band (even though prog had pretty much expired). I don't think he "lost it", I think he just stopped caring after a while. Anyways, thanks for reading.
― frogbs, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 18:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Then, at one stage, he just thought fuck it and just made an effort to make a great pop album again, and "Healing" was his best in ages.
― The GeirBot (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 22:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
My favourite Nazz song outside of "Open My Eyes":
― clemenza, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 01:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
"Healing" is pretty fantastic...
― henry s, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 01:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
What's the best compilation?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 01:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
― henry s, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 02:54 (1 year ago) Permalink