John Lydon: "Oh, I really love Todd Rundgren. His whole attitude musically is thrilling. He does what he wants to do, therefore he gains maximum interest no matter what he gets up to, for me. I would say he was more punk than a lot of these wannabes because of the variances and the challenges he gives himself musically, which is massively entertaining. That's inspiring stuff to me. People that don't wear the uniform of genres will always thrill me." [Goldmine, July 2015]
Whilst the Decemberists have been around for a number of years, and a friend of mine is a big fan, I have to confess - a few tunes aside - they have never really made much of a splash with me. With their fifth album - 'The Hazards of Love' - a 17-track concept album that sort of tells a story about a fair maiden ravished by a shape-shifting demon (no, really) - however, I am suddenly find myself surprisingly won over. On some levels - like most concept albums - it is utter tosh, but with its repeating musical motifs and reprises, making you quickly think that actually there are only about five actual songs on the album - a clever trick. Like with all good concept albums this makes listening on shuffle not the ideal way to digest this album - especially as their are short 'interlude' pieces joining all the songs too. Added to all this the fact that the band seem to have a love for early 70's British folk/prog/heavy metal and this walks right up my street - and will ...
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