Line #48 Music/SomethingAnything


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_mlau3qdsyy1r12qumo1_500.jpg]]
2
3	The 1972 double album ''Something/Anything?'' is Music/ToddRundgren's third and most successful album as a solo artist.
4
5	Though heavily influenced by the SingerSongwriter movement - Music/LauraNyro in particular - different songs range into [[PsychedelicRock psychedelia]], Creator/{{Motown}} {{Soul}}, PowerPop, early SynthPop, and even opera. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ''Something/Anything?'' sessions involved copious Ritalin use by the singer. Rundgren played every instrument on the first three sides, but after an earthquake struck his UsefulNotes/LosAngeles studio, Rundgren set up live sessions in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and at his upstate Bearsville studio to complete the final side with a rotating series of session players chosen for him by keyboardist Moogy Klingman.
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7	The success of ''Something/Anything?'' was something of a double-edged sword for Rundgren, who set out immediately to avoid being pigeonholed as a SingerSongwriter on the ProgressiveRock-tinged followup ''A Wizard, A True Star'', aiming away from the pop mainstream towards cult status. Paradoxically, this ensured that ''Something/Anything?'' would remain his best-known release. The album spawned the major hit singles "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me". "Couldn't I Just Tell You" subsequently became a PowerPop classic that served as a major influence on subsequent works in the genre.
8
9	!!Track listing
10
11	[[AC:Side One: "A Bouquet of Ear-Catching Melodies"]]
12	# "I Saw the Light" (2:56)
13	# "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" (3:50)
14	# "Wolfman Jack" (2:54)
15	# "Cold Morning Light" (3:55)
16	# "It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)" (2:41)
17	# "Sweeter Memories" (3:36)
18
19	[[AC:Side Two: "The Cerebral Side"]]
20	# "Intro" (1:11)
21	# "Breathless" (3:15)
22	# "The Night the Carousel Burnt Down" (4:29)
23	# "Saving Grace" (4:12)
24	# "Marlene" (3:54)
25	# "Song of the Viking" (2:35)
26	# "I Went to the Mirror" (4:05)
27
28	[[AC:Side Three: "The Kid Gets Heavy"]]
29	# "Black Maria" (5:20)
30	# "One More Day (No Word)" (3:43)
31	# "Couldn't I Just Tell You" (3:34)
32	# "Torch Song" (2:52)
33	# "Little Red Lights" (4:53)
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35	[[AC:Side Four: "Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)"]]
36	# "Overture–My Roots: Money (That's What I Want)/Messin' with the Kid" (2:29)
37	# "Dust in the Wind" (3:49)
38	# "Piss Aaron" (3:26)
39	# "Hello It's Me" (4:42)
40	# "Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me" (3:56)
41	# "You Left Me Sore" (3:13)
42	# "Slut" (4:03)
43	----
44	!!Before we go any further, I'd like to show you a tropes list I made up, and one can be made for any album, even this one:
45	* AlliterativeTitle: "It '''T'''akes '''T'''wo '''t'''o '''T'''ango".
46	* AllThereInTheManual: The liner notes give commentary on each individual song, either on their concept or the meaning of the lyrics. This includes additional context for the RockOpera, including additional libretto.
47	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: "Couldn't I Just Tell You"
48	* AudienceParticipationSong: Liner notes invite the reader/listener to participate by going to a mirror while listening to "I Went to the Mirror", as it's a "multimedia experiment." "Intro" invites listeners to find examples of poor production on their favourite recordings, and then proceeds to [[StylisticSuck demonstrate them]].
49	* BreakupSong: "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference"
50	* CallBack: The track "Overture–My Roots: Money (That's What I Want)/Messin' with the Kid" is made up of archival recordings Rundgren made with other bands. "Hello It's Me" was originally a hit for the Nazz.
51	* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: The original Nazz version of "Hello It's Me" is a [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]-styled ballad. The version here pushes the tempo up and goes for more of a Music/LauraNyro[=/=]Music/CaroleKing pop-jazz feel. In the process, the lyrics change tone from regretful to wistful.
52	* CoverVersion: "Money (That's What I Want)", originally by Creator/{{Motown}} artist Barrett Strong, and "Messin' with the Kid", originally by blues musician Junior Wells. These are archival recordings from Rundgren's earliest bands.
53	** And Rundgren's remake of his own "Hello It's Me", which he first recorded with The Nazz (and which [[CoveredUp has become much better known than the original]]).
54	* DistinctDoubleAlbum: ExaggeratedTrope. Instead of two discs with distinct concepts, each LP side has its own overriding concept:
55	** Side one is described in the liner notes as "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies".
56	** Side two is "the cerebral side".
57	** Side three is "the kid gets heavy".
58	** Side four is "Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A [[RockOpera Pop Operetta]])".
59	* DownerEnding: The RockOpera that closes out the album ends with the protagonist [[DidNotGetTheGirl not getting the girl]] and then dying from exhaustion after [[CarefulWithThatAxe screaming his lungs out]]. This probably won't be obvious without [[AllThereInTheManual the liner notes]].
60	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Slut" is an ode to [[ShapedLikeItself a slut]]. Similarly, "Torch Song" is a torch song, and "Song of the Viking" is about Vikings.
61	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The entire fourth side is gapless, mostly linked with StudioChatter. Apart from this, "It Takes Two to Tango" fades into "Sweeter Memories" and "Intro" fades into "Breathless".
62	* FriendsWithBenefits: The most popular interpretation of "Hello It's Me".
63	* GenreRoulette[=/=]GenreBusting: Like many of Rundgren's other albums, ''Something/Anything?'' covers a wide range of musical territory.
64	* IAmTheBand[=/=]SelfBackingVocalist: As {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d in [[http://vsmallfires.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/photo.jpg the album's artwork]], on the first three sides of the album, Rundgren is the only featured performer, and also produced everything himself (the majority of them were recorded with the assistance of James Lowe and John Lee, though he recorded some of the songs himself at his home studio). He initially intended to do the same for the fourth side, but after an earthquake struck his studio in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles he decided to take a different approach and performed the songs in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity with anyone who showed up to the sessions.
65	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Hello It's Me" has a narrator stuck in a RelationshipRevolvingDoor telling his partner that he's content to keep things that way because "it's important to me that you know you are free."
66	* {{Instrumentals}}: "Breathless" features only drums, piano, a Moog synthesizer, and a small amount of {{Scatting}}.
67	* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: "Piss Aaron" and "Slut"
68	* LastNoteNightmare: "The Night the Carousel Burnt Down". "Saving Grace" is an inversion, being a standard soft-rock song other than starting off with a creepy bass note and unintelligible BlackSpeech.
69	* TheMalaproper: "Wolfman Jack" opens with the spoken line "Hey baby, you're on a ''subliminable'' trip to nowhere!"
70	* MediumAwareness: In "Intro", he invites the listener to search records for mastering gaffes -- hiss, hum, popping P's, bad editing -- whoever finds the most, wins!
71	* MusicalPastiche[=/=]InTheStyleOf: "I Saw the Light" for Music/CaroleKing, "Wolfman Jack" for Creator/{{Motown}}, "Song of the Viking" for Creator/GilbertAndSullivan, "Little Red Lights" for Music/JimiHendrix, "Slut" for Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}}.
72	* MyGirlIsASlut: "Slut", of course.
73	* OneManSong: "Wolfman Jack" and "Piss Aaron".
74	* OneWomanSong: "Black Maria" and "Marlene".
75	* OneWordTitle: "Intro", "Breathless", "Marlene", and "Slut".
76	* PowerPop: Despite scraping the bottom of the charts as a single, "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is one of the most influential songs in the genre as a whole, often cited or covered by other artists.
77	* ProtestSong: "Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me", [[WordOfGod supposedly]].
78	* RecordNeedleScratch: How "Intro" ends.
79	* RockOpera: Side four.
80	* ShoutOut: "Creator/WolfmanJack" is a shout-out to the legendary radio DJ of the same name.
81	* SillyLoveSongs[=/=]RealLifeWritesThePlot: Several songs are about one of Rundgren's botched high school relationships, which in turn led to mild CreatorBacklash.
82	* TheSomethingSong: "Song of the Viking", "Torch Song"
83	* SongStyleShift: "Hello It's Me" starts out as soft-rock before the horns and chorus drag it into {{Soul}} territory.
84	* SpellingSong: "Slut".
85	* SpokenWordInMusic: On "Intro", Rundgren creates makes a game of spotting potential production errors on any album, maybe even your favorite album! [[RecordNeedleScratch Then he gets cut off]] and "Breathless" starts up.
86	* StudioChatter[=/=]ThrowItIn: All over the record, most famously the botched drum take and "Mother of Goooddddddd!" introducing "Couldn't I Just Tell You".
87	* StylisticSuck: On "Intro", the award-winning RecordProducer demonstrates what poor production sounds like. Spot examples on your favorite album - whoever finds the most, wins! This qualifies as an arguable InUniverse example of SelfDemonstratingArticle: Rundgren invites listeners to find them on "any record, including this one", and of course, there they are, right where he's demonstrating them.
88	* WanderlustSong: "Little Red Lights":
89	-->''But once I hit the open road''\
90	''I'll be sailing off and on my own.''
91	----
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Context Music / SomethingAnything