In 1973 Todd released his fourth album where he made quite a statement, as he called it ‘A Wizard, A True Star’. To me and many other fans he hit the nail firmly on the head, as here is a master songwriter, performer, producer, and someone who is able to do whatever he wants and be the master of that. Some of my favourite live albums are by Todd, and he has dared to do things such as perform without music, or allow fans to get on stage and pick up and play instruments and join in the fun. He has been a great band member (first in The Nazz and then the brilliant Utopia), and of course played guitar on and produced a certain album called ‘Bat Out of Hell’. I was overjoyed a couple of years ago when I was able to tick another act off my ‘must see’ list when he appeared in NZ for the first time in his career to support an album of his interpretation of Robert Johnson material, and I stood in front of him as he blew me and the rest of the audience away with some brilliant guitarwork.
So, when I heard that he had a new album out and that it was in fact a double CD with a live concert on the second disc that I knew that it was essential and I eagerly put it into the player. It was then that I remembered something. Todd doesn’t need anyone else around him to make a record as he can do it himself, and he is a musical magpie who isn’t happy unless he is experimenting. Now, that’s all well and good when he is in the area of hard rock or progressive rock, but when he goes off and does something within the dance area then that is something I can do without. I know that there must be those who think this is a wonderful piece of work, but I’m not one of them. The only thing that comes close to saving this is the second disc which is a recording from last November where he performed with the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam but this lounge take on songs such as “Hello It’s Me” and “Can We Still Be Friends” shows that he can sing, but isn’t something that compares with “A Cappela” or any of his other live albums. Overall this is a real disappointment and I call myself a fan, let’s hope the next one is better.
