I think that describes AWATS quite well, although I think it has plenty of beautiful moments and even passages.
The "A Wizard, A True Star" book goes into Todd being drug free until getting into DMT, big time, during this period. It goes into a fair amount of detail and is "Researched and written with the participation and cooperation of Rundgren himself." Who knows? It is a very interesting book though.
I bought AWATS when it came out and thought of it as a great and creative album. It has remained my favorite TR album. I never thought of it as strange. I can see what you guys mean though. I'm not sure if that says something about me.
For me, the live version is much more accessible (even though the fidelity is also lacking, compressed-sounding, almost like an FM broadcast). It just seems less erratic, less frenetic, and more coherent. And moving the International Feel reprise to the end (before Just One Victory) gives the album the bookend it needed (rather than just bookending Side 1).
Wizard. As a hungry teenager, I found it riveting from start to finish. I must have pored over every lyric and every sound, every dog-bark, every arrow twang. It was the most exciting thing I'd heard in terms of production and imagination. I can't remember exactly where it came in my listening trajectory, but the photo of him with Iggy (the one where Iggy is sporting a plaster on his chin) alerted me to the fact I needed to watch out for him, and then Wizard just leapt into my hands. It even turned me on to the idea that Soul could be interesting in the right hands.
Yup. Precisely why I like it. It's like Todd suddenly became unhinged for an hour. The remaster sounds pretty good. I've only listened to the SACD layer right now.
I wish he would do a 5.1 mix of the live AWATS recording. Supposedly, that was one of the reasons that was done. The Liars DVD-Audio is the best sounding Todd recording out there, and if it had sold better, could have been the start of some amazing releases.
I wish I understood why it sounds so awful. There’s no reason for it to be such a compressed recording. A 5.1 mix would be great, provided the source was better than what was released.
It's also the most underrated Todd Rundgren albums. I'd love a vinyl release, though it would require splitting up a lot of segues.
Listening to the SACD layer now, and it sounds as good as I suspect this album will ever sound, noticeable improvement over my old Bearsville LP. Huge Todd fan, all styles/phases, but this one holds a special place in my heart, sonic warts and all. He really let it fly, let it all hang out, in an arresting and seemingly stream of consciousness way (though I bet it was harder work getting it down than the finished product would suggest). An utterly unforgettable and unrepeatable album. And as idiosyncratic as it is, AWATS also just happens to be full to the brim with memorable hooks and melodies.
It was recorded out of a digital board via Pro Tools. I can only assume it sounds that way because Todd wanted it to sound that way.
Really?!? Every song is discrete? Are there gaps between the tracks? On my music player I broke the music apart at what I consider to be musically logical points, keeping the suites intact. It came out like this: International Feel / Never Never Land / Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off / You Need Your Head / Rock and Roll ***** Dogfight Giggle You Don't Have to Camp Around Flamingo Zen Archer Just Another Onionhead / DaDa Dali Sunset Boulevard / Le Feel Internacìonále Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel Does Anybody Love You? I'm So Proud / Ooo Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk Hungry for Love I Don't Want to Tie You Down Is It My Name? Just One Victory
I've seen that too.. Anyone have more details? multi-tracks or mixed master? format (reel size? tape width? half/quarter track? speed?). which side? It's insanely unlikely, but I did find a single reel / one side of AWATS. one sided, marked "tails out" -- not something a home taper would typically do...
Any idea how to obtain this live album? It's not listed on any Amazon sites or ebay & Discogs have none for sale.
I couldn't find any information about the master multitrack tapes for AWATS, but I did find this quote, which is in relationship to the live production of AWATS: Q&A: Todd Rundgren on recreating A Wizard, A True Star | MusicRadar
The new Kevin Gray SACD has a comment in the liner notes that says something like this release was mastered from the stereo master tape. I can't recall the exact wording and I am not at home right now.
AWATS is near and dear to my heart; I have the original vinyl, the Bearsville CD and the Japanese CD and the HDTracks version . . none of them a revelation. I think this thing sounds like it's going to sound always. I'm ok with that, I don't love it any less. Thank You! For years I thought it was my Oppo player that hated Liars, it never occurred to me that it was supposed to be that way as opposed to the American release. And it never occurred to me to ask here. Another of life's mysteries solved.
Even though I'm not familiar with either of these Todd Rundgren albums I preordered the SACDs at Importcds. Just to familiarize myself with them I listened to A Wizard, A True Star on YouTube. To be honest I didn't make it through the entire album and then cancelled my preorder. I'm going to wait to see what the overall thoughts are on both SACDs and then reconsider ordering them.
This is all from memory.... I read somewhere that the actual master tape is so full of tape edits that it's difficult to play it back. A copy was made and that has been considered the master from that time forward. Again, no idea if that's correct, or if it was just speculation posted on this forum.
