Todd Rundgren 23: Nearly Human

The mid-‘80s were uncharacteristically quiet for Todd the frontman, though he did keep busy with producing the likes of the Tubes, XTC, and the one-hit wonder Bourgeois Tagg. When he finally did re-surface with his own album, it was nicely timed with the start of Rhino’s massive reissue campaign, which covered each of his solo albums to date, as well as all the intermittent Utopia albums.

Nearly Human was widely praised upon release, though modern ears may wonder why. In some ways it was a return to the brand of blue-eyed Philly soul he’d touched on in the ‘70s, and soon taken over by the likes of Hall & Oates, who’d also stopped selling records by the end of the ‘80s. The overall gimmick was that the album was allegedly recorded live in the studio, each song a single take with no overdubs, just like side four of Something/Anything? These days, however, the production style sounds more sterile than fresh, and some of those synthesizers have not aged well.

The big single was opening track “The Want Of A Nail”, featuring soul legend Bobby Womack, which sounded great on the radio despite a minimum of lyrics that rely almost entirely on the undated proverb. From there, the album settles into a comfortable adult contemporary groove, as exhibited in the lovelorn “The Waiting Game” and “Parallel Lines”, with very little in the way of guitar shredding. A curious inclusion is a faithful cover of Elvis Costello’s “Two Little Hitlers” from a decade before, right around the time Todd’s girlfriend ran off with Elvis; history has not revealed who was watching baby Liv Tyler during this period. (This track was left off the vinyl version of the album, which also juggled a few of the tracks in the middle, yet leaving side two fairly well crammed.) “Can’t Stop Running” is still in the yacht rock mode, though this time the “demonic fretwork” comes from Lyle Workman; the rest of the band on the track includes the other members of Utopia.

“Unloved Children” is right out of the “Peter Gunn Theme” playbook, but sports a lyric decrying abusive men and the families they affect. (This time he plays lead.) “Fidelity” sounds the most like its era, left over from an Al Jarreau or Gloria Estefan album, and we still can’t figure out if he cheated on her or vice versa. Following a soulful “huh”, “Feel It” is carried over from a Tubes album, and develops into a big number that succeeds despite its trappings. While not overtly obvious, “Hawking” was inspired by the physicist of the same name, and involves a lot of soul-searching. Just when you thought the album was turning into a slow jam, “I Love My Life” is an uptempo gospel workout stating that joyous realization, stretched to nearly nine minutes thanks to an extended sermon in the middle.

Throughout Nearly Human it’s clear Todd hadn’t lost his gift for writing songs with hooks. Ultimately, that’s what still makes the album work today. The album is very cohesive, despite using varying musicians on each of the tracks, each of which is notated by its date of recording. He could still hit the high notes, too.

Todd Rundgren Nearly Human (1989)—3