2nd Wind

Summary

2nd Wind is the thirteenth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in 1991 on Warner Bros. Records. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 album chart. 2nd Wind includes the single "Change Myself" and was Rundgren's final album on a major label until 2004's Liars.

2nd Wind
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 16, 1991 (1991-01-16)
VenuePalace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California
GenreRock[1]
Length53:52
LabelWarner Bros.
Friday Music (2008 Remaster)
ProducerTodd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren chronology
Nearly Human
(1989)
2nd Wind
(1991)
No World Order
(1993)
Singles from 2nd Wind
  1. "Change Myself"
    Released: July 1991
  2. "Public Servant"
    Released: 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Classic Rock[3]

Background edit

As with its predecessor, Nearly Human, Rundgren chose to record the album with a full band, as opposed to playing all of the instruments himself. The album was recorded live in front of an audience at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, over the course of a week.

The album includes three songs ("The Smell of Money", "If I Have to Be Alone" and "Love in Disguise") written for Rundgren's musical version of the Joe Orton play/screenplay Up Against It. "Gaya's Eyes" continues the new, more mature sound introduced on the preceding album Nearly Human.

Rundgren used the video for the album's only single, "Change Myself," as a showcase for the NewTek Video Toaster, a desktop video card for the Commodore Amiga computer.[4][5]

Releases edit

Promotional DJ issues of the CD have a black, gold and blue swirl on the CD label where the stock releases have a blue and yellow swirl. There was also a vinyl release of the album in Europe which is nearly impossible to find.

After the album had been out of print for several years, Friday Music released a remastered version in October 2008, the first release in what the company called the "Todd Rundgren Remaster Series", although the follow-up remastered release of Nearly Human didn't arrive until 2021.

In 2002, Image Entertainment released a DVD entitled The 2nd Wind Recording Sessions, which detailed the making of the album, and featured interviews with Rundgren as well as band members and fans. Also included with the video was The Desktop Collection, a compilation of Rundgren's Video Toaster-powered music videos, including "Change Myself."

Track listing edit

All songs written by Todd Rundgren.

No.TitleLength
1."Change Myself"5:21
2."Love Science"5:23
3."Who's Sorry Now?"6:15
4."The Smell of Money" (from the musical Up Against It)4:06
5."If I Have to Be Alone" (from the musical Up Against It)3:51
6."Love in Disguise" (from the musical Up Against It)4:02
7."Kindness"5:31
8."Public Servant"5:38
9."Gaya's Eyes"6:13
10."Second Wind"7:32

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ Sisario, Ben (November 2, 2004). "Todd Rundgren". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 707–708.
  2. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Todd Rundgren – 2nd Wind review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  3. ^ Quantick, David (March 2012). "Todd Rundgren – Reissues". Classic Rock (168): 108.
  4. ^ Electronic Musician 1991 – Volume 7, Issues 7-12 – Page 99 "Todd Rundgren's stunning video for his song "Change Myself" required no less than ten Toaster systems running in parallel for a period of five weeks."
  5. ^ Wood, Sam (June 14, 1991). "Todd Rundgren – Rundgren Making Music for the Ears – And Eyes". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 30, 2012. "Change Myself" is four minutes of state-of-the-art computer animation. Rundgren wrote, directed and programmed it.