Worldwide Epiphany: Esoteric Reissues Todd Rundgren’s “Live at The Forum”
On the heels of 2015’s new studio album Global, there’s been a flurry of reissue activity surrounding Todd Rundgren. Edsel has reissued For Lack of Honest Work, a 3-CD, 43-song compendium originally released in 2010 spanning the years 1971-2006. Purple Pyramid has offered Box O’ Todd, another 3-disc affair drawn from 1971-1973 radio broadcasts. Newly available from Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint is a new entry in Esoteric’s Todd Rundgren Archive Series: Live at the Forum – London 1994. This concert was first issued on CD in 2002 on the Sanctuary label and returns in a spruced-up package.
Live at the Forum follows past stellar Archive Series releases including Live at the Old Waldorf and Live at the Electric Ballroom (both 1978) as well as Todd Rundgren at the BBC: 1972-1982 and Live at the Warfield (1990). Whereas that 1990 show returned the ever-searching artist to a “back to basics,” R&B revue-style approach, the Forum concert epitomized his forward-thinking fascination with technology and its many applications in music. Rundgren’s world tour was in support of No World Order, his 1993 “interactive” studio album as “TR-i” released in the “CD-i” format. Influenced by electronica and hip-hop/rap, No World Order invited listeners to select a sequence programmed by Rundgren, Hal Willner, Don Was, Bob Clearmountain or Jerry Harrison and then control various aspects of the playback including Form (Creative, Standard, or Conservative), Tempo (seven selections ranging from 96 BPM slowest to 132 BPM fastest), Mood (bright, happy, thoughtful, sad or dark) and more. In all, there were thousands of ways to play the album; one would have had to play it 24 hours a day, seven days a week for several years to hear them all, Rundgren figured. (In 1994, a more conventional version of the album, entitled No World Order – Lite, was issued on CD.)
The tour gave Todd the opportunity to translate the interactive aspect to a live presentation. A traffic light onstage signaled audience members when they could actually join the artist onstage; 24 TV monitors flanked the stage in the center of the venue. Rundgren was flying solo with no band, armed only with guitar, keyboards, a Macintosh computer and loops and samples, as well as three dancers. The London Forum concerts on October 6 and 7, 1994 were both recorded and highlights were assembled for the live album reissued by Esoteric.
The setlist as preserved on this 2-CD set is, naturally, heavy on songs from No World Order. The album’s “Worldwide Epiphany,” “No World Order,” “Love Thing,” “Day Job,” “Property” and “Fascist Christ” all appear. A smattering of older Rundgren and Utopia favorites also peppered the setlist including “International Feel,” “Don’t You Ever Learn,” “Black and White,” “One World,” and “Bang the Drum All Day.” The new reissue boasts a 12-page booklet with new liner notes by release coordinator and Esoteric label manager Mark Powell. (No remastering credits are present, although Powell is credited with “master preparation” and sound is solid throughout.)
Live at the Forum – London 1994 presents Todd Rundgren in one of his most creative, spontaneous concert settings. You can order this 2-CD set from Esoteric Recordings at the links below!
Todd Rundgren, Live at The Forum – London 1994 (Sanctuary 06076 84567-2, 2002 – reissued Esoteric ECLEC 22531, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1
- Introduction/Love Thing
- Day Job
- International Feel
- Property Chant
- Secret Society
- Feel Too Good
- Don’t You Ever Learn
CD 2
- Worldwide Epiphany
- No World Order
- Black and White
- Fascist Christ
- Love Thing
- Bang the Drum All Day
- Incidental Music
- One World (Acoustic Encore)
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