Todd Rundgren – Space Force
A kind of follow-up to 2017’s White Knight album, Space Force is an entire album of collaborations between Todd Rundgren and, one suspects, whoever picked up the phone and said “yes”. This includes some serious talent – The Roots, Adrian Belew, Thomas Dolby, Steve Vai, Neil Finn, to name just a few – and Rundgren’s attention to production detail lives up to its legendary reputation with each track. Musically speaking, this is the best stuff we’ve gotten out of Rundgren in years. Each song is a world unto itself, as the album hits as many genres and styles as possible, from “STFU”‘s in-your-face blues-rock stomp to the highlight of the album, “Espionage”, a delightfully atmospheric rap-pop crossover featuring Narcy. On some songs, Rundgren gracefully shares the limelight – I mean, who doesn’t want to harmonize with Neil Finn? – and on others, he’s very much at the forefront. The music resulting from this wildly diverse series of collaborations is absolutely fantastic.
If there’s a weak point to Space Force, it’s in the lyrics department. Some of them are sublimely heartfelt, such as the lead track. But Rundgren’s got a tendency to embrace satirical material and that side of him is much more hit-or-miss. “Down With The Ship” and “STFU” are just goofy; “Godiva Girl” is well one its way to being a blue-eyed soul number for the ages until, on its way to the exit, lyrics like “you gave me love diabetes” and “I got your sweet caramel stuck up in my grill” start creeping in. Comparing the subject of the song to candy is one thing, but then he’s got to get goofy on the off-ramp to the fade-out. Dude, you had it! You’d nailed it! It was a great song! And then…that. (Then the next track is “Your Fandango”, which goes off the deep end.) The hell of it is, there are some amazing lyrics on here too – I’m looking at you, “Puzzle” and “Someday” – and every once in a while the satirical material manages to stick the landing, such as “I’m Leaving” and its skewering of men who expect women to wait on them hand-and-foot. And then there’s the stuff in the middle, like “I’m Not Your Dog”, that I can’t even decide if it works or not. Rundgren’s always had that side to him; it’s just frustrating to have an album that has a winning slate of songs, some of which have lyrics that don’t seem to do the rest of the song justice.
Not every song has to be a Serious Statement about something in particular, that’s not my beef. It’s just that… you get the Roots and Sparks and Thomas Dolby to come sit in on the sessions for your new record, at least have some meat ready for them to chew on, right? The good news is that, Rundgren being Rundgren, every song is at least performed well and produced gloriously, and you can sense Rundgren jumping gleefully from genre to genre with each song depending on who he’s lined up to guest on that track. Even with its nonsensical lyrics, “I’m Not Your Dog” is delivered with so much funky swagger that maybe the words don’t matter. It’s a fun listen from beginning to end, if just a little bit frustrating. I’m all for artists not taking themselves too seriously; my complaint here is really a matter of balance, and everyone else’s mileage may vary. I give this one four stars for some great music, but some of the lyrics here are…lamentable. An occasional “Lockjaw” or a “Bang The Drum All Day” here and there is a fun diversion, but half an album of that?
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- Puzzle with Adrian Belew (04:48)
- Down With The Ship with Rivers Cuomo (02:56)
- Artist In Residence with Neil Finn (03:13)
- Godiva Girl with The Roots (04:21)
- Your Fandango with Sparks (04:24)
- Someday with Davey Lane (03:00)
- I’m Not Your Dog with Thomas Dolby (05:49)
- Espionage with Narcy (05:02)
- STFU with Rick Nielsen (03:17)
- Head in the Ocean with Alfie Templeman (03:30)
- I’m Leaving with The Lemon Twigs (02:57)
- Eco Warrior Goddess with Steve Vai (05:32)
Released by: Cleopatra Records
Release date: October 14, 2022
Total running time: 48:45
I appreciate very much the fact that the compilers of this best-of collection cop to the fact upfront that the listener’s mileage may vary wildly on what constitutes the best of pop pioneer Todd Rundgren. It’s nice to hear that acknowledged, particularly when you’re dealing with someone whose repertoir varies as wildly as Rundgren’s does.
This album opens with a sequence designed to trick you into thinking that Rundgren’s whole a capella project – whose sounds and vocals, if not performed live orally, were performed with samples of mouth- manufactured sound – is going to be nothing more than a Bobby McFerren ripoff. Wrong. After the first few seconds of “dum-dum-dum-dum-dum,” you’ll be blown away as “Blue Orpheus” kicks in and leaves McFerren’s music in the dust. This is such a revolutionary album, it’s amazing to think it’s well over a decade old. Rundgren not only had to perform the entire album in the most unconventional way imaginable, but he also had to construct songs that would stand up to a vocal-based arrangement. The harmonies are often reminiscent of those found in really good black gospel, and the range of sounds – including “percussion” – that Rundgren generated orally is remarkable. Most impressive of all is Rundgren’s own vocal range, since he sings every part of every song. Perhaps the two best songs are put back to back for good reason – the shatteringly 
depressing “Pretending To Care” needs to be followed by the ludicrously bouncy “Hodja”. Fortunately, this album is not at all difficult to find or, failing that, put on order – which could make it as much a part of your DNP Album List is it is of mine! I can’t heap enough praise on this album – and the words don’t stand a chance of doing it justice. You need to hear it for yourself.