The Very Best of Todd Rundgren

PROS:
-If you're a casual Todd Rundgren fan, and you like the songs of his that get played on the radio on a regular basis, this is the compilation for you. All his big hits are here, from the deep and meaningful early seventies tunes Hello Its Me and I Saw The Light, to the much more pop-oriented and keyboard-heavy eighties pop-rocker, Bang The Drum All Day.
-The compilation truly is a "best of" and not a "greatest hits", because it relies on a number of excellent songs that were never popular in any way.
-The album features tracks from Todd's Utopia days.
-The liner notes are very nice. They contain info on Todd's career, original release dates (to the month) for albums and singles.

CONS:
-The major problem with this compilation is its run time. It doesn't fill the eighty minutes you can fit on a compact disc. This is sad, because Todd has so many songs that could have been used to fill the time, and ultimately make the compilation more complete.
-As another review stated, the liner notes (while good) could have been better. I don't like it when an artist disses his or her own music.

OVERALL:
Minor flaws aside, this is an excellent compilation for any casual fan on Todd Rundgren. If you're just a casual fan, don't get a pricey, multi-disc anthology - this will do just fine.


Great for the bewildered fan   July 28, 2003
John Stodder (livin' just enough)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

I owned and loved all of Todd Rundgren's albums until he formed Utopia and stepped off into outer space. I still stand by the two Runt albums, "Something/Anything," "A Wizard a True Star" and (especially) "Todd" as some of the most brilliant, creative pop-rock ever produced. If you like Todd Rundgren, before you buy this best-of, buy all of those. You also might want to get a couple of other winners from a little later in his career, "Faithful" and "Hermit of Mink Hollow." But after all those, you might want to get this, because it's the best way to get great tracks like "Real Man," "Love is the Answer," "Something to Fall Back On," and "Want of a Nail," without having to expose yourself to the maddeningly tedious side of Rundgren's music, his explorations into generic transcendentalism, accompanied by endless screaming guitar and synthesizer solos, with zero evidence of the humor and soul he shows at his best. None of that music is represented here, luckily. You can enjoy "Real Man" without ever having to listen to "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," and that's the best favor anyone could do for this gifted, but sometimes self-indulgent, artist.


Good introduction to a 'true star'   December 4, 1999
Dave Mock (Rockville Centre, New York United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Pop-oriented as this collection is, it still indicates the wide range of Todd Rundgren's interests...from flat-out rockers ('Very Last Time') to ballads ('Love is the Answer) to soul ('Want of a Nail,' which has some occasional vocals from Bobby Womack.

It also shows off Rundgren's best instrument: His mind, which allows each of these songs to contain passion, sensitivity and intelligence. Listeners who understand that will enjoy this collection, and be tempted to seek out Rundgren's more adventurous experimental work.


Always Something Missing...   March 22, 2001
R. Prescott (Blackfoot, Idaho USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Let's face it...Todd Rundgren is one of the most unsung hero/genius musicians of the last 40 years. He was uneven in his releases and often spent time producing/promoting and working with other bands while his music went on the back burner. While I think this is probably the closest you'll come to a good cross section of his music/career, the obvious omission of "Time Heals" and/or some of the other cuts from the album "Healing" leave me thinking that the title of this album is an obvious lie and should not be taken seriously. "Time Heals" was probably the single best piece of music he did during his career. And "Healing" was probably his single best album, far surpassing the classing "Something/Anything" which I grew up with and loved. I have loved, revered and adored this man from the first time I ever heard any thing of his or anything of anyone elses that he had his finger in. His unfearing exploration of different styles and subject matter in his career shows the genius and versatility he possesses. If it were up to me... I'd just buy "Something/Anything" and "Healing". You could really call them "The Best Of Todd Rundgren" but, even then you'd Always Be Missing Something. I am sorely dissappointed in the omission of "Time Heals" Sometimes I think they should actually poll fans to find out what they would include in some of these so called "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" collections as it seems to me that they always leave one, two or three things out that really HAVE to be there for a collection to be labled as such.


Good Starter, could have used a couple more tracks   June 5, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is a good starter CD for anyone who is learning about Todd's music, but it barely scratches the surface about who Todd is (and thats hard to explain because he kept trying to re-invent himself on every LP during his prime in the 1970's)

Rhino has a few other 1-CD budget comps of Todd's stuff but they are very cheap and skimpy - get this one instead to see if you like him or not. (I think you will!) My only gripe is the liner notes which someone should have re-edited. Todd is very critical and sometimes very negative about his early music (which I adored).

All his well known "hits" are here, but I would have loved to also have had "Sometimes I Dont Know What To Feel", "Time Heals" and the underrated "Parallel Lines" from his last great CD, "Nearly Human".