Todd Rundgren

Photograph: Lynn Goldsmith

Blender Theater at Gramercy; Fri 26, Sat 27

Todd Rundgren abdicated conventional pop stardom in the early ’70s, soon after scoring the breakthrough hits “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me.” In the decades since, the restlessly eclectic tunesmith, multi-instrumentalist and studio wizard has pursued a thorny progressive-rock path that alienated much of his early audience, while attracting a fiercely devoted following that’s stuck with him through his most extreme stylistic swings. Fortunately, Rundgren’s affinity for technological bombast has generally been balanced by his world-class melodic sensibility.

But the electronic elements that have become integral to Rundgren’s work are in short supply on the new Arena (Hi Fi), which returns him to the melodic riff-rock style he abandoned in the early ’80s. While the album’s swaggering sound—perhaps influenced by Rundgren’s head-scratching 2006 stint as lead singer of reunion-tribute act the New Cars—is largely a throwback to his past, its lyrics are firmly rooted in the anger and frustration of the present. It gives the album a bracing urgency that extends to its more sensitive moments.

Album title aside, Rundgren’s instinctive iconoclasm has kept him playing smaller venues in recent years, which means loyalists get to see him reembrace his long-repressed guitar-hero identity in the Blender’s relatively intimate environs. With his recent set lists heavy on his beloved classics alongside his punchy Arena material, Rundgren fans should have plenty to celebrate this holiday season.