Maybe fronting a revamped version of the Cars inspired Todd Rundgren to record an album of loud, concert-ready rock. Arena — released on September 29, 2008 after a stint that helped jumpstart those new wave pioneers again — was true to its title: This is unabashed, hook-filled fun.
Ideal for football stadiums, Todd Rundgren’s Arena worked as a throwback to that time when that kind of big-sounding baby-boomer rock was popular enough to regularly fill those large venues. Nearly every track on Arena — all of them single named — will remind you of a major act whose heyday was in the mid-’70s to early-’80s time frame.
“Mad” has the feel of some lost Boston song, while “Gun” might recall Molly Hatchet. Rundgren’s “Strike” offers his dead-on impression of AC/DC, and “Panic” has that dynamic vibe made famous by the Police. “Bardo” could have come out of Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs.
Meanwhile, “Courage” recalls Todd Rundgren’s work as a solo artist, specifically his underrated vintage arena-rock band Utopia. The very fact that Rundgren was there creating some of his most well-known work — “Bang the Drum All Day,” indeed! — during the same period he’s clearly targeting on Arena lent no small amount of credibility to this old-school project.
Maybe Arena wasn’t a particularly substantial piece of work, especially by Todd Rundgren’s standards, but it’s both consistently good and very enjoyable to listen to. He created an album of music best heard with the amps cranked all the way up to 10 — loud enough to hear on the very back row.
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Arena was a substantial piece of work, subtle politics, very enjoyable unlike Global, 10+ years from now I’ll reach for my Arena not my Global CD.