Todd Rundgren & His Friends

by Todd Rundgren

Overview

Rock & roll maverick Todd Rundgren has had one of the most interesting careers in the business, finding himself respected as a pop songwriter, a unique producer, and an experimental composer. Only the first element is really reflected on Todd Rundgren & His Friends, an interesting blend of tribute album and greatest hits. Producers Bob Kulick and Billy Sherwood take the original vocal tracks from many of his greatest hits and replace the instrumental tracks with their own playing. On top of that, each track features a well-known guitarist adding their own touches to the compositions. This leads to some bizarre new versions of some classic (and not so classic) songs, each with an accentuated guitar track to emphasize the guest players. Although the intention was to pay tribute to Rundgren's work, it essentially takes songs that were rooted in '70s power pop and soft rock and reworks them into '80s-esque rock numbers. This is mainly due to the production, which adds more keyboards and takes many of the organic elements away from the original songs. It doesn't really diminish or improve the originals, but instead re-creates them as if they were written in the glossy mainstream pop environment of the mid-'80s. As well-intentioned as this was meant to be, it really doesn't add much to his catalog and essentially just gives session players like Steve Lukather and Kulick's brother, Bruce, a showcase for their talents. But they have already proven their worth on their own recordings, making this a non-essential item for all but dedicated Rundgren collectors. ~ Bradley Torreano

Product Details

Release Date:	01/14/2022
Label:	Cleopatra
UPC:	0889466252914
Rank:	60613

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Todd Rundgren   Primary Artist
Tony Levin   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Steve Lukather   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Dweezil Zappa   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Edgar Winter   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Derek Sherinian   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Vivian Campbell   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Bruce Kulick   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Gary Hoey   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Steve Stevens   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Jeff Baxter   Primary Artist
Richie Kotzen   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Rick Wakeman   Featured Artist
Bob Kulick   Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)
Billy Sherwood   Bass,Drums,Keyboards,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Tony Levin   Performer
Steve Lukather   Performer
Kris Solem   Mastering
Dweezil Zappa   Performer
Edgar Winter   Performer
Derek Sherinian   Performer
Vivian Campbell   Performer
Kasim Sulton   Composer
Bruce Kulick   Performer
Juergen Engler   Producer
Gary Hoey   Performer
Steve Stevens   Performer
Bob Kulick   Producer
Billy Sherwood   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Jeff Baxter   Performer
Roger Powell   Composer
Richie Kotzen   Performer
Todd Rundgren   Composer
John Wilcox   Composer