Anthology (1968-1985)
	Produced by Todd Rundgren
	Released on May 30, 1989
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
R2 71491 (Disc Two) cover [high resolution scan]

A pparently, our public libraries are having trouble keeping it together, and I only got the second disc of Rundgren’s two-disc Anthology, which means that somewhere, in a parallel and equally disappointing universe, someone is wondering what happened to the second disc of the two-disc Anthology they ordered. However, I don’t feel bad for them. They got some of the best of Todd: “Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference,” “Just One Victory.” I got the a capella ending to the 80s. Rhino closed the decade with remasters of the Rundgren/Utopia catalog, an exercise that usually occasions a new greatest hits record (voici). Some of the songs sparkle in the new digital setting: “Real Man,” “Black And White,” “Bang The Drum All Day.” Most of them sound the same as I remember or, in the cases where Rundgren was after a compressed or claustrophobic sound (“All The Children Sing,” “Love of the Common Man”), I actually prefer the original vinyl version. As far as the selection itself goes, it does a good job of fairly representing the best bits from nine albums (the live Back To The Bars is bypassed) and places them in chronological order, which you know I like. There are no new or hard-to-find bits (unless you consider the bonus single of “Time Heals” an exotic curio), but (as I quickly learned when I got home from the library) you can’t have everything. There is, of course, value in a double-disc anthology of Rundgren’s work (especially one that Todd was involved in), just as there is danger in using any anthology to chart your course in such turbulent waters. My next move (short of acquiring the first disc in this set using the hostage negotiation skills I’ve learned from watching the teevee) may be to pick up A Capella, since the two tracks on there sounded better than I expected. So, in summation: selection, good; remastered sound, remuddled in some cases; first disc, mia and presumably being enjoyed by someone other than me.

R2 71491 disc two back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

Disc One (curse you, read baron!)
1. OPEN MY EYES
2. WE GOTTA GET YOU A WOMAN
3. WAILING WALL
4. BE NICE TO ME
5. HELLO, IT'S ME
6. I SAW THE LIGHT
7. IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE ANY DIFFERENCE
8. COULDN'T I JUST TELL YOU
9. SOMETIMES I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL
10. JUST ONE VICTORY
11. A DREAM GOES ON FOREVER
12. LAST RIDE
13. DON'T YOU EVER LEARN?
    
    Disc Two
    
1. REAL MAN    4:25
2. BLACK AND WHITE    4:41
3. LOVE OF THE COMMON MAN    3:35
4. CLICHÉ    4:00
5. ALL THE CHILDREN SING    3:08
6. CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS    3:34
7. YOU CRIED WOLF    2:31
8. TIME HEALS    3:32
9. COMPASSION    4:43
10. HIDEAWAY    4:58
11. BANG THE DRUM ALL DAY    3:35
12. DRIVE    5:26
13. JOHNEE JINGO    3:51
14. SOMETHING TO FALL BACK ON    4:13
    
    All songs written by Todd Rundgren

CREDITS

TODD RUNDGREN -- compilation
Gary Peterson -- compilation
Wendy Sherman -- art direction & design
Lynn Goldsmith -- front cover photography
Bearsville Records, Michael Ochs Archives -- additional photos

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