And a Bell In Your Head Will Ring, 4 out of 5 stars
The Hermit Of Mink Hollow
was one of those moments when Todd Rundgren locked himself alone in a studio and poured his heart out onto tape. Playing and singing everything himself without much pretense, "Hermit" is one of Todd's most direct and purest pop albums. It even offered up one of his few top 40 singles when "Can We Still Be Friends" snuck up the charts in the bicentennial year of 1976.That sad little ballad underpins the emotional state of this album. Rumored to have been written in the aftermath of breaking up with then girlfriend Bebe Buell, heavy songs like "Hurting For You" or "Lucky Guy" just ooze heartache. Even the socially poignant songs ("Bread" and "Bag Lady") come from a pained place. At the same time, Todd's pop skills are in full evidence here; both "Hurting For You" and "Friends" are incredibly memorable.
Even with the sadness, there's still plenty of fun here. The ersatz soul of "You Cried Wolf" and the 100 seconds of silliness that is "Onomatopoeia" keep things from bogging down, and he lets loose with a concert ready rocker on "Out Of Control." Todd is too savvy a songwriter to let things get overly draggy. He can plunge into drawn-out works when so inclined (Healing
, early Utopia albums), but here he kept it concise. The whole album clocks in at just over a half hour, and not a slot is wasted. As a result, Hermit remains of of his best albums and a minor primer in pop classicism.
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