Short Reviews [Todd Rundgren - 2022 - "Space Force"]

Anyone who has followed Rundgren’s career knows the only guarantee when a new album is released is that it will contain plenty of hooks and melodies, but as to what it is going to sound like is anyone’s guess as he is a complete musical magpie who also appears to be able to play any instrument he wishes. This time around he has used a series of guest performers who all feature on just one song each, adding to the diversity of what is on display. This means we move from Rivers Cuomo (of Weezer) and The Lemon Twigs to The Roots and Narcy, from theatrical rock act Sparks to electronic icon Thomas Dolby, guitar maestro Steve Vai, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielson plus proud son of Aoteaora, Neil Finn. It is nice to see him working again with Sparks, as he produced Ron and Russell when they were originally known as Halfnelson more than 50 years previously. This is one of his most diverse albums to date, and consequently suffers in that there are few who enjoy this wide of styles as much as Todd himself does. For me the highlight is the soulful “Godiva Girl” where he collaborates with hip-hop band The Roots to produce something that is soulful and reminiscent of some of his larger sounding songs from the Seventies in hwihc this truly feels like it belongs. There are times when he is quite self-indulgent, but 26 solo albums down the line he has nothing left to prove, and while it may not have the presence of ‘A Wizard, a True Star’ or ‘Runt’, that would be a lot to ask. At 74 he has lost none of his vocal style or pop sensibilities, and his collaboration with Sparks on “Do Your Fandango” deserves to be a hit as it contains the elements which made them such a powerful pairing in the past. It may not be the best introduction to the master, but is still head and shoulders above most pop music.