Second Wind

by William RuhlmannTodd Rundgren's last major-label album was recorded in July 1990, at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco before a live audience, although under recording studio conditions, with a backup band that included some local talent: Roger Powell of Utopia, Vince Welnick (who would join the Grateful Dead later in the year), Prairie Prince of the Tubes, Ross Valory of Journey, and Jenni Muldaur. It's a mixed set, including three songs Rundgren wrote for the off-Broadway musical Up Against It, which was based on an unproduced screenplay British playwright Joe Orton wrote in the 1960s for the Beatles. Those songs have a Kurt Weill-ish tone, while songs like "Love Science" are up-tempo R&B and the leadoff track, "Change Myself," is in Rundgren's familiar pop/rock style. On the whole, though, there's nothing to get excited about here.