Reviews
On his latest album “The
Ever Popular Tortured Artist
Effect,” Todd Rundgren, the
music industry’s resident class
clown, makes it known that
there’s nothing wrong with be
ing an optimist. The nine
upbeat songs on the new album
are alive with Rundgren’s vi
sionary views about how the
world should be.
There’s no reason why this
album shouldn’t be all over the
.top-40 radio dial- it would be a
"welcome relief from average
Eessimistic “don’t break my
eart”- songs that dominate the
pop-radio airwaves.
Rundgren is definitely one of
the rock world’s most produc
tive artists- the public can
usually look forward to a new
Rundgren album every six
months or so. In addition to his
solo efforts, he also moonlights
as a member of Utopia, and has
produced albums by Various
Farmer victim of circumstances
By Pat earthy
No Frances Farmer is not the
“Fanny Farmer” of candy
fame. She was “a star” of film
and theatre in the late 1930’s
and 40’s. The film “Frances” is
the biographical sketch of the
destruction of a human spirit by
an ambitious, vindictive,
mother and the psychiatric in
stitutions of the time.
The late show premier au
dience seemed unprepared for
the events that unfolded with
each new scene, as an occa
sional “gasp” or “oh no” broke
the silence of the theatre.
Jessica Lange portrayed
Frances as a beautiful, defiant,
vibrant person. This pre
institutional Frances rages her
way through scenes set, on film
location, a jail scene after her
arrest, and through a court
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bands (most noticeably, the
Psychedelic Fur’s “Love My
Way” E.P.).
The “Tortured Artist Effect”
was recorded in Rundgren’s
own state-of-the-art studio in
Bearsville, N.Y.- all the songs
being produced, engineered,
and performed by Rundgren
himself, guaranteeing him total
artistic control over all the
songs.
Side one opens with the
album’s powerhouse cut
“Hideaway”- a light-hearted
power-pop tune driven along by
a throbbing bass and drum sec
tion that won’t quit. Rundgren’s
boyish voice lends itself perfect
ly to the hopeful mood of the
song, stating that-
Everybody’s looking for a
heaven on earth
A slice of paradise where
nobody gets hurt
Someone to put the pieces
bade together again
When your daydreams die.
Rundgren’s offbeat humor
shines through on “Emperor of
the Highway”- Rundgren being
the “royal prince of foreign
sports cars,” who blows off all
the “regal road hogs” on the
highway. Equally as humorous
is “Bang the Drum All Day”-
Rundgren’s paean to the
pleasures of making music all
day instead of working.
The remaining songs on the
“Tortured Artist effect” are
hearing. The impact of Lange’s
performance is riveting,
awesome yet, the character of
Frances gains sympathy from
the audience. Frances is a
misunderstood frightened
woman, her punishment far
The
Reel
World
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outweighs the deeds.
The scene of Frances confron
ting the psychiatrist upon her
first committal to an institution
would have been funny if the
results of her insolence weren’t
so horrifying. The insulin injec-
Michael
just as sponsaneous, placing
Rundgren’s latest effort above
the many image-concious,
calculated, hit-making bands
that dominate the record
charts.
On their debut LP,
Vandenberg uses up virtually
every hard-rock cliche known to
the world, making one wonder
what they will use for material
on their next album. The song
titles tell it all “Back on My
Feet,” “Ready For You,”
“Nothing to Lose,” “Too Late,”
etc.- These songs have all been
heard many times before in
tions she is given throws her
body into convulsive shock and
as Frances is contorting her
strapped-down body, the au
dience begins to witness the
awful destruction of a human
essence.
The film doesn’t address the
issue of whether Frances
Farmer was mentally ill or if
the combination of alcohol,
drugs, and long work hours
were responsible for her erratic
behavior. That they contributed
to her downfall isn’t in doubt.
The institutional scenes with
women chained to filthy bare
mattresses, or wandering
around in a daze has a
nightmare quality. The condi
tion of horror is heightened
when the hospital orderlies let
soldiers into the room at night
to rape the women. Frances is
one of the victims. The au-
dience, like Frances, isn’t given
Page 17
slightly different vaviations
rendered by countless hard
rock bands.
Vandenberg, Holland’s
answer to the Scorpions and
Van Halen, throw melody to the
wind, aurally assaulting the
listener with hammerjack
guitars and thunderous drums.
The “wall of sound” production
on this album would make even
Phil Spector take notice. What
Vandenberg lacks in lyrical
content or dynamics, they com
pensate for in the sheer force
and volume of the songs.
While their debut LP will
surely satisfy many hard-core
rockers, one can’t help but
notice the absence of any real
tasteful quitar riffs- such as
those of Judas Priest guitarists,
Glen Tipton and K.K. Downing.
Most of the guitar work consists
of blatant power chords that
lack any real substance. The
drumming is destitute of any
real pyrotechnics- the twin bass
drums sounding like a herd of
wild buffaloes on a rampage.
“Burning Heart” is the sole
salvation on the album, contain
ing one of the best lead guitar
solos heard in recent memory.
Lead wailer Bert Heerink pines
for his lost love while guitarist
Adrian Vandenberg slams a few
well-timed crunch- chords to
back him up.
“Ready for You” is a typical
banal rocker that exhorts the
listener to pledge allegiance to
the heavy-metal army. “Lost in
the City” is a real thought
provoking tune that is about
you guessed it- driving around
and getting lost in the city.
Vandenberg’s debut LP is ad
mirable in it’s formidable ap
proach, but it is ultimately
devoid (except for “Burning
Heart”) of any real musical
value- this one is best left in the
bins of your local record store.
> -i
Graphic by Pat Carthy
a reprieve from this hell as she
is subjected to a transorbital
lobotomy. This is a polite way
of referring to an ice pick type
instrument driven behind the
eyeball into the brain and
manipulated to sever certain .
nerves. The only relief from the
gruesome events is in the
character of Harry York (Sam
Sheppard), in the guise of a
romantic interest but this too is
doomed to fail.
The post-institutional Frances
is docile, serene, empty. The
audience leaves the theatre
shocked, angry, quiet.
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