This release, titled Best of Todd Rundgren Live features concert recordings of most of Rundgren's best-loved songs from various concerts spanning the last 25 years. Though they are cobbled together to seem like a single concert (a bit of studio trickery for which Rundgren apologizes in his detailed liner notes), they represent the considerable breadth of his musical vision. Though Rundgren is seemingly incapable of writing a dull or tuneless song, his output takes in most of what has been good 'n' smart in rock since the British invasion. He has absorbed the Beatles, sure, and Brian Wilson, too. But he's conversant in doo-wop flavored soul, flights of complex progressive rock from the '70s, power-pop tune-smithing to rival Elvis Costello, and even extended instrumental soloing. As a result, this "Best of" collection can seem schizy but is also rich; a primer in Todd-mania, a pu-pu platter of the Rundgren oeuvre that should hook folks with a taste for sophisticated rock music.
Anyone heard it? How do they cobble 25 live years into a single performance?
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