Track of the Week: Todd Rundgren: Zen Archer (1973)

Imagine you're Todd Rundgren: it's 1973. Your album from last year, 'Something/Anything?', was hailed by the critics as a brilliant example of pop songcraft in a range of styles and one of a few genuinely consistent double albums, an opinion that will not change with time, and it's attendant singles have sold well and pushed the album up the charts. How do you follow it? The answer you came up with probably wasn't 'make a sporadically brilliant but largely indulgent album of wonky art rock detailing an acid trip that will usher in years of prog rock obscurity from which my chart momentum will never recover,' but that's just what Todd did. Irritating and unsettling as much of 'A Wizard/A True Star' is, it does contain moments of warped pop genius, 'Zen Archer' being perhaps the most striking. 'Zen Archer' is miles away from the soul-influenced pop Rundgren is renowned for, starting off with a minor key organ vamp (Todd plays almost all the instruments on the record) accompanied by martial drums and spooky synthesisers. The lyrics tell the tale of the derranged eponymous archer, who 'finds relief inside a hatchet' by destroying beautiful people and things. The air of sinister camp with vague political overtones (the UN gets namechecked) is not disimilar to Diamond Dogs-era Bowie. The dials get turned up once we get to the bridge, with increasingly overdubbed vocals and synths and lyrics about 'rivers of blood.' The strong melody holds the song together seamlessly despite an erratic change of time signature for the piano-bolstered chorus. By the time we reach the cosmic saxophone solo at the coda, the vocals have morphed into an unearthly choir floating over a bed of spacey synths. The song gets the balance between trippy, sinister weirdess and melody just right, avoiding the somewhat directionless experiments that make up some of the rest of the album (see Dogfight Giggles - the sound of dogs having sex for 65 seconds!). Todd Rundgren's subsequent career would veer between moments of infuriatingly daft indulgence and melodic brilliance, often within the same song, but every now and then, his bizzare flights of whimsy combine with his finely-honed pop craftsmanship to create a truly unique piece of pop perfection.