This curious album apparently arose from Todd Rundgren’s residency in the music department at Indiana University, and came to fruition during a record-making fantasy camp. The concept of [re]Production is intriguing, in that it finds Todd covering songs from his various production gigs over the decades. However, his quest to do something contemporary meant that the results were hi-NRG ‘90s style dance versions. His voice is unmistakable—even when AutoTuned—and the digital instruments he uses are familiar from most of the one-man band albums he’d been putting out all century. Somebody might have had hits with these arrangements of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot”, Meat Loaf’s “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad”, or Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way”, but coming from Todd they sound like parody. It’s more successful on songs we don’t know, like “Chasing Your Ghost” by a band that would eventually evolve into Red Hot Chili Peppers, and on the gastronomic reconstruction of “Personality Crisis”. It is daring to put a banjo on “Tell Me Your Dreams” from Jill Sobule’s little-heard first album, and at least he doesn’t mess with Badfinger’s “Take It All” too much. Cheap Trick’s “I Can’t Take It” is just a little synthed-up, but we can’t hear XTC’s “Dear God” without the taint of his and Andy Partridge’s mutual rancor.
Todd himself acknowledges the callback to his earlier cover project Faithful in the liner notes, which was frankly more ambitious and successful. [re]Production is a novelty, and nothing more.
Todd Rundgren [re]Production (2011)—2
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