TODD

"Todd" is, in a word, kaleidoscopic. With wreckless, youthful abandon (and a dash of peyote and a pinch of ritalin), Rundgren careens from one genre to another with ease. This is IMHO his masterwork, from his most creative and prolific period. This is a sprawling, indulgent epic which time has relegated to the shadow of its predecessor, "A Wizard, A True Star."

"How Abouwt a Little Fan Feer?" Todd asks us as an opening salvo, souding like a tipsy Swedish Chef. It's actually backwards tape of Todd speaking backwards, so it comes out... forwards...sort of. Just a hint of the playfulness and Rube Goldberg - esque invention to come.

Rising from the steam of burbling synths, "I Think You Know" is the first song proper, and it's a small haiku; a gem of immense beauty. That brief, concise guitar solo has to be one of his greatest. To these ears, it defies all logical structure, almost as if it too were being played upside-down in reverse.

"The Spark of Life" follows, one of his best instrumental works. It builds like an incoming tide within an approching typhoon. It is a swirling symphony of a lifetime lived in 6:43, accompanied by the tick-tock of eternity.

A few lighter, burlesque numbers follow, sandwiching the radio-friendly "A Dream Goes On Forever." These give Todd an opportunity to show off his considerable production and editing skills.

Side 2 (of the original double-vinyl) opens with the tentative pecking of "Drunken Blue Rooster" which collapses into the achingly beautiful "The Last Ride." How to describe the song's climax and fade-out? A top- ten moment in Todd's career which showcases his emotive guitar mastery as he wails and wah-wahs to the accompaniment of a mournful organ, chop-sticks piano and angelic voices soothing us in our last moments within our earthly vessels. Hey, wipe your tears, because "Everybody's Going to Heaven"! One of the proggier tunes follows. Like some monster mash-up of Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Zappa, this behemoth pummels us before flushing us (literally) into "King Kong Reggae."

Side 3 doesn't let up, opening with "#1 Lowest Common Denominator." Perhaps the most Hendrix -ian tune in Rundgren's cannon, this beauty oozes psychedelic sex.

Even mere filler like "Sidewalk Cafe" is a small prog gem. You'll have to wring your head out of your headphones after that one. After a brief power- pop morsel, we are rewound violently into "Heavy Metal Kids", an in-your- face crowd favorite.

Side 4 launches us into inner orbit around our chakras before asking "Don't You Ever Learn?" (another top-ten Todd moment), and concludes with the anthemic sing-along "Sons of 1984." A love letter from then to now.

"Then" was a long-ago summer that included me bumming a ride to the department store to buy this much anticipated record. That summer has lasted 36 years, and it revisits me whenever I give this a spin. So yeah, it's hard to be objective when reviewing this funny valentine, but try as I might, I can't give it less than 5 stars. This was Todd's "White Album" and sure, some fat could have been trimmed, but the cocky excess somehow makes it more vulnerable, more human. Just look at that smirking face on the cover... .