http://www.allmusic.com/album/global-mw0002818700
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Many of Todd Rundgren's adventures in the new millennium were marked by restless flitting about from one idea to the next, but Global finds him more or less adopting the groove he started on 2013'sState. Certainly, the one-word title picks up the thread of State, expanding his outlook from the nation to the world at large, and there's an undeniable undercurrent of social protest, or at least discontent, flowing underneath Global. Musing about life on "This Island Earth," Rundgren posits that if "we don't rise, we will fall," one of many vague calls to arms peppered throughout the record. This being Todd, the good intentions are often inextricable from the silliness, reaching some kind of fever pitch on "Earth Mother," where he shouts out to his sisters without ever quite realizing that his call for "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" could be seen as vaguely condescending. Then again, one of the great pleasures of Rundgren is how he'll camouflage his message in sheer absurdity. He doesn't attempt to hide this goofiness on Global, not when it opens with a "Bang on the Drum" update called "Ev'rybody," where he claims "everybody wants a twerk from Miley." This isn't the only time Todd conjures memories of The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, either; large chunks of Global pulsate to a similar AOR spin on new wave, but he pushes these melodic tendencies through homemade tech filters and other modern accouterments, including a jape at EDM. Sometimes these stylish flirtations are done in jest, sometimes they're done stone-cold sober, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, but that's what is compelling about Global: it's perched at a point between the past and the present, protest and satire, and that inscrutability is often where Rundgren does interesting work.
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12 comments:
I hope this review is accurate (that it's not all electronica)-the lead digital single could have been on "State."
State was a tuneless piece of shit. The new single is electronica at its worst. Hard to believe one of the great producers in rock:pop history makes such ugly-sounding music on the cheap. To take yet another set of crappy electronica out on the road with a DJ and no band suggests the Global tour will suck hard. Of course if we get a sharp Utopia comeback tour (the Fab Four version with Willie, not the rest home version) all will be fine.
Well, it's just a review -- and not a very conclusive one.
I haven't heard Global yet so any musical discussion of merit would be just based on clips for another month. One reviewer's EDM is another person's disco; "claims" may mean "generalizations" to someone else; and it also may just be something they think will sell.
They really don't talk about the album as much as references to things he's done in the past, and based their review on that. This is a trend that has affected all media writing for a while now "think such and such". They say that to make it relatable, and to imply that though they didn't understand the album, they understand what his process is. Or they think they do.
I agree with Winston Smith about the Utopia tour but I don't want to jinx it by saying so too often!
Winston, I found State vacuous, too but the live show didn`t suck. It was, in my view, the raison d`etre of the whole project. Yeah, the album sucked but the lights were, indeed, impressive...at least to an old guy who doesn`t get out that much any more.
I`m passing on this tour, but anyone who missed the last one will be pleasantly surprised (I think) by the presentation this time.
As for Utopia, meh! Siegler was a better bassist and Ellman a better drummer. Take it from me, it`s waste of time to try to relive your youth.
My first show was the RA tour and I've attended every Todd/Utopia concert (mostly in Chicago) since then.
I can't believe it's been a nearly 40 year party...
Todd's a genius, and I've loved following his different musical directions along the way.
Great memories...
Having said that, the State tour was the first show EVER that I wanted to leave during the horrible encore with the "reworked" I Saw The Light, Can We Still Be Friends, and, if I remember right, Hello It's Me.
It was just...bad (sigh)
State was obviously a polarizing album, but it wasn't ALL crap...more like half good, half WTF?!
Usually Todd will change from album to album, and to get the impression that Global sounds similar to State is disappointing.
I consider myself an open minded person, and I'll buy Global, just as I've bought every album TR's released. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
I'm not that excited about the upcoming tour, now that I've heard there's a DJ and no band.
There was a time that a tour like this could have been mesmerising, when Todd's music was wildly ambitious...but if it's disco beats, and Todd yelling at us to dance...Ugh...
Perhaps the potential reunion with Utopia (fingers crossed) will get those creative juices flowing and bring us back to the endlessly adventurous music we've come to expect rather than trying to be "trendy" which is something Todd used to decry in the past.
Seven Rays is playing right now...
I too have been a fan for almost 40 years, and if I could return the State CD - I would. There are so many better electronica musicians out there, not to mention rave music like Dead Mouse, that State is painful to listen to as well as the 2 live gigs I attended. I will not be purchasing Global until I hear it completely.
For the die hard fan who goes to see their fan-base friends, they will of course purchase anything Todd does and attend the gigs. Good for them!
But I feel blessed that Todd revisited the ORIGINAL Moogy Utopia and embraced ProgRock again, which is the most complex music form in my opinion. I would of course go to those shows again in 2016 if that is the Utopia Band.
And Wilcox Utopia would be a pleasant happening if in fact it happens. But there was a reunion of that Utopia without Wilcox. It was the "opening" act for AWATS. And the show I went to was poor because I was aware of the errors as well as Todd, who prematurely ended that Utopia reunion and went successfully into AWATS.
I think Prairie is a terrific drummer but he is just not the right drummer for Utopia.The Power Trio did a lot of the 4 piece Utopia stuff and they were only 3 of them (obviously, LOL) and I didn't hear any complaints about the drummer, who was Trey Sabatelli.
When I saw that tour I realized how pared down the band could actually be. All you needed was Kasim and Todd's voices, lead guitar bass and drums. Nobody could truly replace Willie and call it a "reunion", but Sabatelli came really close.
I also watched online the concert for Moogy from NY and that was one of the best shows I ever saw or heard, the sound was at last beautifully balanced. I just read later that moods were down (of course,) on the touring part that the shows did not do very well, etc. When Moogy left, I think a lot of the magic left too of that lineup.
4 is really the magic number for a band. Just something about the dynamic was very enjoyable and the chemistry undeniable.
This is so sad that the base us waiting for a reunion tour vs the new stuff.mits because plain and simple his new mast few records gave had really , I mean really crappy songs, melodies, etc...and the dressing it up as. A new thing..please..like the other commentary says..his edm compared to the field is not new at all..it's antiquated and not very inventive esp in 2015. in fact if he just straight up wrote done new material and did it he would sound less ok'd than this latest hoax.
Seems to require a blind eye to reality to be a tTR hardcore. You can't really listen to modern music or you would be able to smell the rot as ypu eat it out of rote habit.
Just saw Todd in Chicago. It was interesting. His new techno funk songs were energetic but repetitive. He bastardized a techno medley of Can We Still Be Friends/I Saw The Light/Hello It's Me to a point that was unrecognizable--it PISSED ME OFF! He should not f-k with the Classics!! He redeemed himself with International Feel and a poppy version of Just One Victory so I did not leave angry but, after following him since 1981, I suggest he either stick with the new or stick with the old but trying to merge the two does NOT work.
What if LedZep, or the Stones(or you name it) came out and EDM'd their classics? Or another one of your favorite musician/singer performers dumped the band in favor of an EDM turntablist/sample and track player and a couple back up singers? Todd doesn't belong in EDM. He looks bad basically Karaoke'ing to his music. The iconic legend that he is-he should not have to do this, nor should he even want to. While he is free to do what he wishes, as a longtime fan I wish he would just re-tool a band and get back to what he really is and where his music really lives and breathes. This direction he is taking just plain sucks eggs.
I saw about 400 concerts from the Legends to the young up starts, and Todd's show at the World Cafe was one of the worst concerts I've ever been too. The man has no shame, DJ instead of a band? The DJ a middle age black guy with dreadlocks seemed embarrassed and put off, playing tunes for rich white yuppies who can't dance. Many people around me made comments like "What is this shit" and "This fucking sucks" but being a rich yuppie crowd no one had the balls to actually boo, just golf clap. Todd danced around like a sissy old queen. He played mostly all new songs the only good songs were mixed to EDM shit, so if your interested in seeing a 67 year with a gut prance around to club music with two fly girl dancers and a DJ this is the show for you. He came off like a creepy old guy on ecstasy at a club. It was embarrassing to watch and embarrassing to be there probably never go to a Rundergun show again, to much of a risk.
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