Something/Anything? (1972)

Something/Anything? is the third studio album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972 by Bearsville Records. It was Rundgren's first album released under his own name, following two records credited to the quasi-group project Runt, and was also his first double album. It was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. The album is divided into four sections focused on different stylistic themes; the first three parts were recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals in addition to producing. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.

Over time, Rundgren developed proficiency on other instruments beyond guitar and keyboards, and this, coupled with a general dissatisfaction with studio musicians, led him to temporarily relocate to Los Angeles in an attempt to record an entire album single-handedly. After Rundgren created significantly more material than would fit on a standard LP, an earthquake struck Los Angeles. He decided to head back to New York for some live sessions, with the help of Moogy Klingman, to lighten the mood. These final sessions were held at Bearsville, where the remainder of the recording and mixing took place, resulting in enough material for a double album.

The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold three years after its release. A single taken from the album, "Hello It's Me", was a top-five hit in the US in late 1973, and it contained a further hit, "I Saw the Light". Something/Anything? later attracted critical acclaim as one of the most significant records of the 1970s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, and later ranked at number 396 in the 2020 edition. It was voted number 797 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). After Something/Anything, Rundgren moved away from the straightforward pop ballads present on this album to more experimental and progressive rock in later releases, beginning with A Wizard, A True Star.

Background

By the time Rundgren started recording the album, he had already achieved commercial success as a solo artist and producer, and this increased his self-confidence. He had also become dissatisfied with other musicians playing on his recordings, recalling, "I'd never played drums or bass before, though I would hector those that did." This led him to decide to record the entire album by himself using multi-tracking. He wrote the material for the album at a prolific rate. He attributed his productivity to Ritalin and cannabis, stating that the drugs "caused me to crank out songs at an incredible pace." He found some of the other songs quick to write, too, noting "they were all basically starting out with C Major 7th, and I'd start moving my hand around in predictable patterns until a song came out."

Recording

Los Angeles sessions

The majority of backing tracks on the first three sides of the album were recorded at I.D. Sound Studios, Los Angeles, engineered by James Lowe with assistance from John Lee. The studio was one of the first independent units in LA, and Lowe believes Rundgren chose it due to the ability to work hands-on without record company interference and having all the latest technology and equipment. Rundgren played every instrument in turn, starting with the drums, noting it "was the logical place to start," with the others individually laid down on top. While recording the drums, Rundgren would try and hum the song in his head to remember where he was, but "if I would screw up, then I would change the song afterwards, to fit the mistake that I had made, because it was easier than going back and fixing it." In retrospect, Rundgren felt he might have performed better with a click track, being a novice drummer at the time, but concluded that the result "sound like a band". He didn't think his lack of technical proficiency on the instrument was a particular handicap, saying that "people comprehend what you're playing, and it has a greater impact." Engineering the album, Lowe recalled he was "mostly working in the dark", and that Rundgren would leave spaces for instruments during recording, spontaneously developing a song as it was being recorded. "I was never sure exactly where the song was going until we'd put down about four or five tracks."