How do you break yourself out of your preconceived notions and tried-and-true patterns? For Todd Rundgren, the answer was simple: take hallucinogenics and go on a trip. After he released Something/Anything?, Rundgren felt like he was “musically lazy, like I wasn’t incorporating anything new into the music.”
Though the artist says he stayed away from LSD, he explored several others such as DMT, mescaline, psilocybin, and mushrooms. Informed by this new mindset, Rundgren attempted to “try to map, as directly as I could various kinds of chaotic music element[s] in my head.”
His goal was to essentially bring together the arc of a psychedelic trip on an album. His result is 1973’s A Wizard, a True Star, an album that to many is considered one of psych rock’s most classic endeavors. The LP opens with “International Feel,” a track that begins with a metaphorical rocket ship taking off, as electronic buzzing builds to a head rush of synth chords. Finally, the listener breaks through to pop chord vamping and a soulful Rundgren: “Here we are again/ The start of the end/ But there’s more.”
But as much as the song first feels 70’s rock radio ready, it falters within the second verse. Synths become more dissonant and more distracting, as Rundgren’s voice in the mix retreats toward the background. Eventually, swirls of synths and guitar mix together into a sandstorm of blurry psychedelia before the track leads seamlessly into “Never Never Land.”
Though the transition may feel natural, it’s uncanny how dissimilar the tracks are. Rundgren croons a ballad on “Never Never Land” that feels more natural in a symphony-backed musical if it weren’t for the underlying psychedelic sounds.
But only a minute and a half later, the listener is transported into the next track “Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off,” an ultimately electronically-driven piece that feels like a trip through space. Shifts like this happen often throughout the nineteen-track album, but each time, they’re so effortless that they’re magical.
This is by design. Rundgren wanted to illustrate how quickly a psychedelic trip can morph from one feeling to another. From the chaotic guitar noise rocker of “You Need Your Head” to the base sexual urges of “Rock & Roll Pussy” to the bizarrely Beevis and Butthead-reminiscent laughter in “Dogfight Giggle,” the needle of genre and sound swing wildly on each song.
There’s progressive and psychedelic rock, show tunes, Philadelphia soul, bubblegum pop, and even elements of jazz and funk. The listener is carried by Rundgren’s whims, and the man himself has given up his mind to the psychedelic urges of the universe.
A Wizard, a True Star is an impressive production feat as well, both by 1973’s standards and today’s. The most remarkable element is that the LP fits on one vinyl disc. At 56 minutes, it still is one of the longest albums on one LP to date.
To compensate for a long run time, Rundgren had to narrow the vinyl groove spacings, creating a dip in sound quality. On the inner sleeve, Rundgren acknowledged the problem and told buyers to turn up their speakers to compensate.
Though A Wizard, A True Star wasn’t a financially successful record, it gathered critical acclaim and moved Rundgren’s career forward.
But it wasn’t just runtime. Rundgren created a studio within his friend Moogy Klingman’s apartment. The two cut a deal: Rundgren would get the equipment if Klingman would provide a space. Between the two of them, they created Secret Sound, a studio that would later be utilized for War Babies by Hall & Oates, Hallowed Ground by the Violent Femmes, and multiple releases by Harry Chapin and Nils Lofgren.
The studio was made in only a few months, and as expected, there were issues. Klingman recounted that equipment broke down regularly and was “barely held together by band-aids and bubble gum.” Even with a limited amount of funding, the two, along with a bunch of Rundgren’s other friends, pushed against the odds to put together the album.
The process of creating A Wizard, a True Star was a collaborative one and relatively impromptu. Rundgren would show up with a piece of music that the rest of the musicians would learn by ear. Then they would record the backing track and vocals would be recorded afterwards. Rundgren also engineered the album by himself. He would run back and forth between the control room and the studio to set levels accurately.
To create an album at all would be impressive under these conditions. But Rundgren ended up creating something with a lasting legacy that inspired countless other dual musicians/producers to do the same. In 2018, Sam Sodosky of Pitchfork noted Rundgren’s fingerprints of bedroom production are “evident on bedroom auteurs of this day, from Ariel Pink to Frank Ocean.”
But one can argue that Rundgren’s influence also affected other musicians in the 70’s. Only a few years later, Tom Scholz, the Boston guitarist and innovator, would produce Boston’s self-titled 1976 pop rock masterpiece in his basement mainly with recording devices he invented. The astonishing result created another lasting impact on music production for years to come.
Though A Wizard, A True Star wasn’t a financially successful record, it gathered critical acclaim and moved Rundgren’s career forward. The record may have alienated a great deal of his audience, and Rundgren had to take on acts like the New York Dolls and Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re An American Band to earn back his losses.
However, these adventures and experiments in the studio on A Wizard, a True Star helped him grow into the role of an eventual legendary producer, allowing him to later release multi-platinum albums like Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell.
Rundgren is a wizard, and this is the first time we see him don the cloak.
Some may still see the album as a little “out there,” but others will appreciate the wild genre and sonic swings of Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star, even today. Though the album is decidedly rooted in the ‘70s, there are several tracks to enjoy today whether they be the pop rocker “Is It My Name?,” the soulful ballad “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down,” or the funky “wall of sound” on album closer “Just One Victory.”
And if the diverse sonic elements don’t lift you into the stratosphere, the production elements most certainly will. Rundgren is a wizard, and this is the first time we see him don the cloak.
This article was written by Bill Cooper, who writes about music, films, books, and pop culture in various internet corners like Spectrum Culture. His two greatest urges, discovering new music and writing, keep him up at night and going during the day. The extensive amount of coffee he drinks may also contribute.
You can follow Bill Cooper on Bluesky.
Check out more Classic Albums Revisited reviews here.
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