Extended Versions

Performer: Todd Rundgren
Distributor: Gotham Distributing Corp.

Notes: Like all the other entries in the ongoing Extended Versions budget-priced CD series, the Todd Rundgren version features previously released, in-concert versions of some of the artist's best-known songs. For this particular release, the selections are plucked from the 2000 release King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert, which collected concert highlights from shows in 1977 and 1978 (although the musicians in the backing group aren't listed in the liner notes, the band is believed to be Utopia) as well as from 1985 during his "a cappella" tour. Although not on par with such officially released Rundgren live albums as Back to the Bars, Extended Versions contains fine versions of such renowned uptempo ditties as "Real Man," "I Saw the Light," and "Couldn't I Just Tell You," the more reflective "Can We Still Be Friends" and "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," and versions of more uncommon tracks, including the bluesy "Black Maria" and an album-closing medley of soul classics. Although you'd be better off getting all of the tracks by purchasing the King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert release, you can't beat the affordable price of Extended Versions -- especially if you just want a taster of Rundgren in concert. ~ Greg Prato

Todd Rundgren first surfaced with 1960s psych-pop group the Nazz, but quickly launched a solo career marked by unprecedented eclecticism. Continually straddling the line between experimentalism and pop accessibility, Rundgren's releases dart from pop-rock to blue-eyed soul to art rock. Though much of his mid-period work came under the group banner of Utopia, Rundgren is best known as a multi-instrumentalist/one-man-band studio whiz (he parlayed his studio skills into a lucrative production career, working with everyone from Meat Loaf to the Psychedelic Furs).

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