Todd Rundgren: A Capella : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Not content with being king of the one-man studio bands, jack-of-all-axes Todd Rundgren dispenses with instruments entirely on his latest solo album. A Cappella is literally all mouth – Rundgren's animated chirp cloned with multiple overdubs and filtered through a device called an Emulator, to imitate dreamy keyboards, farting oompah bass, an entire gospel choir and, on the eerily rhythmic "Blue Orpheus," even the Balinese Ramayana Monkey Chant.

The result is, to say the least, novel. Rick Wakeman, with his Jericho wall of synths, would be hard pressed to duplicate the psychedelic fidelity of Rundgren's Arabian Nights voice painting "Miracle in the Bazaar," with its smoky abstract harmonies, barking demons and freaky Moslem prayer call. "Pretending to Care," on the other hand, is a model Rundgren soul ballad stripped to just delicate melody and seamless background oohs, like "Hello It's Me" in dub. And while there is not much throat guitar on A Cappella, "Lockjaw" is about as close as Rundgren gets here to heavy rock – a spooky campfire rap about a nasty little troll who nails kids' jaws to their bedposts, illustrated with a rowdy chorus and ample fuzz tone.

A Cappella is actually quite accessible in spite of its variety and unlikely premise, a tribute to both Rundgren's pop smarts and his impatience with the ordinary. It is also a lot of fun when he finally applies his weird science to familiar Something/Anything-style fluff like "Something to Fall Back On" and the album's upbeat finale, a version of the Spinners' "Mighty Love, Part I" with Rundgren subdividing himself into a kind of white Persuasions. Put your money where his mouth is and enjoy.