State is the twenty-fourth studio album by American rock musician Todd Rundgren. It was released on April 9 2013, by Esoteric Recordings. The album was written, performed and produced by Rundgren alone with the exception of vocals by Rachel Haden on "Something From Nothing". Limited editions included a bonus second disc of a live performance at Paradiso, Amsterdam on November 11, 2012 by Rundgren and The Metropole Orchestra.[5]

State
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 9, 2013
Genre
Length51:46
LabelEsoteric Recordings, Antenna
Producer
  • Todd Rundgren
  • Co De Kloet
Todd Rundgren chronology
(re)Production
(2011)
State
(2013)
Global
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic53/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blurt[3]
PopMatters4/10[4]

Critical reception

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State was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 53 based on 9 reviews.[1]

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "State never feels forced, either in its execution or concept. Rundgren is pushing the edges of his comfort zone just enough to keep himself stimulated while offering enough melody to satisfy those fans whose concentration usually drifts whenever he wanders."[2] Lee Zimmermman of Blurt said: "Paying a revisit to several classic tracks, it offers ample reassurance that regardless of how he diverges, there’s always the comfort of those earlier endeavors."[3]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Todd Rundgren

State track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Imagination"8:10
2."Serious"4:13
3."In My Mouth"4:16
4."Ping Me"4:40
5."Angry Bird"4:18
6."Smoke"5:48
7."Collide-A-Scope"5:19
8."Something from Nothing"4:23
9."Party Liquor"4:17
10."Sir Reality"6:22
11."Hello - Light - Friends (Digital edition bonus track)"8:39
Bonus disc – with the Metropole Orkest (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)[5]
No.TitleLength
1."Another Life"7:03
2."Hello, It's Me"4:48
3."Pretending To Care"4:51
4."Flamingo"3:09
5."Frogs"3:52
6."If I Have To Be Alone"3:56
7."Love in Disguise"4:08
8."Love Science"5:35
9."Mammon"4:47
10."Fascist Christ"7:49
11."We Gotta Get You A Woman"3:44
12."Bag Lady"4:12
13."Can We Still Be Friends?"4:20
14."Fade Away"3:52

Personnel

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  • Todd Rundgren - vocals and all instruments
  • Rachel Haden - vocals
  • Mathilde Santing - vocals

Charts

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Chart performance for State
Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[6] 12
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[7] 49

References

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  1. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "State – Todd Rundgren | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Zimmermann, Lee. "Blurt Magazine Review". Blurt. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  4. ^ Houle, Zachary (April 11, 2013). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Special release". Discogs. April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  6. ^ "Todd Rundgren Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  7. ^ "Todd Rundgren Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2021.