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Todd Rundgren / A Wizard, a True Star and Faithful – limited coloured vinyl

By Paul Sinclair

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Music On Vinyl continue their Todd Rundgren reissue campaign with limited edition coloured vinyl pressings of 1973’s A Wizard, a True Star and Faithful, from 1976.

A Wizard, a True Star saw Rundgren change direction significantly from the previous album (1972’s Something/Anything) and the American musician delivered an almost hallucinatory musical experience, particularly on the scatty, frantic side one. The second side calms down somewhat and contains the single ‘Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel’ and the ten-minute soul medley that features covers of five songs.

Talking of covers, Faithful (Todd’s seventh album and three down the line from AWATS) features six covers including two Lennon-McCartney songs in ‘Rain’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. He doesn’t attempt to radically reinterpret the originals which is where the Faithful title comes from. The second side is all Rundgren originals.

Both these new vinyl pressings are limited to 1000 units and Faithful is pressed on white vinyl while A Wizard, a True Star is a gold/ white / transparent green mix (and housed in a gatefold package).

These are released on 22 November 2019 and can be pre-ordered from the SDE shop using this link or the buttons below.

A Wizard, A True Star green vinyl LP

SIDE A

1. International Feel 2. Never Never Land 3. Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off 4. You Need Your Head 5. Rock And Roll Pussy 6. Dogfight Giggle 7. You Don’t Have To Camp Around 8. Flamingo 2 9. Zen Archer 10. Just Another Onionhead; Da Da Dali 11. When The Shit Hits The Fan; Sunset Blvd. 12. Le Feel Internacionale

Side B

1. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel 2. Does Anybody Love You? 3. Medley: I’m So Proud Ooh Baby Baby La La Means I Love You Cool Jerk 4. Hungry For Love 5. I Don’t Want To Tie You Down 6. Is It My Name? 7. Just One Victory

Faithful white vinyl LP

SIDE A

1. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 2. Good Vibrations 3. Rain 4. Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine 5. If Six Was Nine 6. Strawberry Fields Forever

Side B

1. Black And White 2. Love Of The Common Man 3. When I Pray 4. Cliché 5. The Verb “To Love” 6. Boogies (Hamburger Hell)

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20 Comments

20 thoughts on “Todd Rundgren / A Wizard, a True Star and Faithful – limited coloured vinyl”

  1. 23 quid and they can’t replicate the original shape of AWATS’s cover? I have a Japanese import CD from the 90s that did it. And you guys are right: this needs to be on two LPS. I bought it when it was a new album, and noticed the thin sound on my awful record player even then. It turned out that it was too long for average vinyl to contain back in the day, so sound problems were inevitable.

    This album really blew my mind when I was a kid. I sure as hell didn’t understand it, but the weirdness of it kept me a Todd fan throughout the rest of the 70s.

  2. This is odd because on Nov. 29th Friday Music is releasing a version of AWATS on 2 LP’s, then on Jan. 10th, they’re releasing it on “translucent blue swirl” vinyl (also 2 LP’s).
    Perhaps Friday Music has a U.S. exclusive, while MOV has other territories?
    Regardless – I’d go with the 2 LP.

  3. I would have put AW,ATS on two discs, since there’s so much music packed into the grooves (almost 30 minutes per side). I remember the original issue was noisy with lots of pre-echo because of the groove packing.

  5. In a U.S. vendor search came upon a Translucent Blue Swirl Vinyl/Anniversary Edition version to be released same week. Wonder if there will be variants or just an error listing?

  6. Good had swept me away 49 yrs ago. I was 19. And j thought my ears were on fire, and my heart was exploding . He helped shape who I am..I’m 56. And loving every day. I’ve seen him 13 times. And each show only gets better . He Rocks my backyard, CLEVELAND, OHIO. Thanks Todd, I love you ❤️ Kim Blasko life long fan

  7. I’ve got a weird promo LP of AWATS with a die cut sleeve and a giant insert in the shape of a plaster with a poem by Patti Smith written on it. Most oddly, it leaves off Does Anybody Love You from the running order. Perhaps it’s time to actually get a proper copy of the album…

    2. Tim you should be happy if you have a weird copy of AWATS. My white label promo of it was with a friend and was never returned. Besides dropping Does Anybody Love You, the When the S#÷! Hits the Fan is censored with a synth blip to cover that word. I much prefer the censored version and wish that some company would have included it as a bonus track. Then I’d buy a reissue.

  9. Whilst not as bad as Initiation, AWATS is notorious for poor audio quality on vinyl because it’s really too long to fit. It was actually better on cassette & I remember the joy with which we greeted the CD release. A vinyl reissue should really be on 3 sides rather than 2.

    1. There was a recent 2LP version on Friday music which was OK, but nothing stellar. I was able to pick up from *ahem* certain sources a ‘rip’ of the R2R version from 1973. It does sound better than the vinyl, but perhaps some of the charm of the original vinyl is how it sounds?

    2. I had it on cassette and loved it. Although it sounded muddy. Eventually it came out on CD and I thought, this will be great! Clear and full. But…it pretty much sounds the same! Love the album anyway. But it needs remastering

      1. It was remastered in 2017 for the hybrid SACD. I don’t know how good it though because it costs a fortune. However, if what Gary Thompson says about the multitracks missing is correct, perhaps the 2017 remaster isn’t that much of an improvement anyway.

  10. Thanks Paul, ordered the bundle. AWATS is the album which started me on my TR journey over 40 years ago, and is still astonishing. It’s a pity that the multitracks appear to be missing as this is an album which would benefit from a Steven Wilson m/c remix.

    2. I have the feeling that Todd’s filing system for his multi’s isn’t the best. AWATS would benefit from a two LP set with all the music on it.

      Any idea who is mastering this? Kevin Gray?

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