A WIZARD, A TRUE STAR

An essential of any collection, here Todd expresses his his pop-prog roots with this masterpiece (before spiraling into the 80's fever). Todd is a man with many voices; sweet, serious, and silly. We have a little of each in this album. The album kicks off with Todd's swansong, 3 songs that tie together so perfectly, International/Never Never/Tic Tic. Each of these are on the same wavelength of beauty this album withholds. It quickly (almost too soon) transitions to to Head/P***y/Dogfight in which the silliness takes over, but without ever leaving the psychedelic-prog sound. Compared to the somewhat-resembling instrumentals of Sidewank Cafe (of Todd's future release) and Flamingo, Flamingo seems to have a bit more variety so it takes the win (though they're both catalog classics of Todd's). But the 'True Star' here is Zen Archer, a far underrated tune (as I've never heard it on the radio) possibly my favorite song on the entire album. The I'm So Proud suite is lovey-dovey Todd, taking classics and making them his own while still fitting the mood of the album as a whole. The tone of the whole thing is very addictive. Perhaps compared to Todd Rundgren's Utopia, this won't appeal to some people (especially due to the ratings on this album) but these 2 albums are in different galaxies. Both essentials. How can't you love Todd's voice? If you don't like this album at first, let it build on you and you'll enjoy every second of this epic. The highest recommendation, 5 stars.