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- Artist: Todd Rundgren
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1983 01
- Total Time: 35:08
- Type: Lyrics are included with the album
- Genre: Rock
Review
As the early '80s continued to unfold, Todd Rundgren grew increasingly disenchanted with Bearsville, especially since the label wasn't supporting Utopia. He wrangled the band free in 1982, but he still had to deliver solo records to Bearsville. Not entirely pleased with the situation, Rundgren hammered out a collection of pop songs on his own, cynically titling the effort The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect. In later years, Rundgren disavowed the album, but it stands as one of his better collections of pop songs, even if it lacks a theme or a unifying sound. There are a fair share of throwaways, not only coming in the expected form of covers (a fine but pointless remake of the Small Faces' "Tin Soldier") and Gilbert & Sullivan parodies ("Emperor of the Highway"), but also in the monumentally silly "Bang the Drum All Day," which not only became a hit, but a hit that refused to die, lasting as a radio staple into the late '90s. These three songs are anomalies on Tortured Artist, which for the most part is pure pop and pop-soul, delivered with little fuss or pretention. There's also little deep meaning to the songs themselves, which is quite unusual for Rundgren, yet the best tunes -- "Hideaway," "Influenza," "There Goes Your Baybay," "Drive," "Chant" -- are indelible, irresistible pop confections that prove Rundgren can be quite involving, even when he's not trying his hardest. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Hideaway | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (5:00) |
| Influenza (Lyrics) | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (4:31) |
| Don't Hurt Yourself | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (3:45) |
| There Goes Your Baybay | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (3:55) |
| Tin Soldier (Lyrics) | Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane | Todd Rundgren | (3:13) |
| Emperor of the Highway | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (1:41) |
| Bang the Drum All Day (Lyrics) | Jeff Lynne, Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (3:39) |
| Drive | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (5:28) |
| Chant (Lyrics) | Todd Rundgren | Todd Rundgren | (4:26) |
