'The Ballad of Todd Rundgren'
eschews much of the musical experimentation of Rundgren's debut and is essentially a straight-ahead pop album. But it's a superlative pop album and, in my opinion, one of the best titles in Rundgren's large catalog. I love the cover art — it's a photo of Todd sitting at a piano with a noose tied around his neck. Perhaps this is meant to convey Rundgren's angst at being forced to write the hooky pop songs that he seemed to make so effortlessly; I don't know.
What I do know is that, despite the ease with which these tunes go down, Rundgren's keen intelligence is still in evidence, both in terms of keeping the pop songs from meandering into formula and in terms of lending an occasional sardonic edge to the lyrics. After The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, Rundgren spent much of the rest of the 1970s making music that was more technically and instrumentally ambitious. Yet I think the songs on this album are so good that their relative simplicity is a non-issue.
If you like smart 1970s pop, you really should try to get a copy of this Excellent album, especially if you've already heard and liked the follow-up Something/Anything!
