Todd Rundgren's Utopia (album)
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| Todd Rundgren's Utopia | |||||
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| Studio album by Utopia | |||||
| Released | September 1974 | ||||
| Genre | Pop rock Progressive rock Art rock |
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| Length | 59:17 | ||||
| Label | Bearsville, Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Producer | Todd Rundgren | ||||
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| Utopia chronology | |||||
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Todd Rundgren's Utopia is the debut album by the band Utopia. Rundgren (who was primarily a pop musician at the time) was noticing the success of artists like Genesis, Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and decided to take advantage of the current progressive rock trend. Putting together top musicians, including three keyboardists, the album covers almost all aspects of progressive rock including funk, jazz, classical and even avant garde music.
Critical reaction was mixed with some critics labeling the album as pretentious fluff but did sell relatively well. Today the album is considered by many progressive rock fans as a classic.
Like a few of Rundgren's solo albums, Utopia pushed the limits as to how much music a vinyl could hold. At nearly an hour, the sound needed to be compressed in order to fit it onto vinyl, rendering it of a poorer quality than usual. The CD version avoids this issue.
Contents |
[edit] Track list
[edit] Side one
- "Utopia Theme" - 14:31
- "Freak Parade" - 10:14
- "Freedom Fighters" - 4:04
[edit] Side two
- "The Ikon" - 30:26
[edit] Personnel
- Todd Rundgren: Guitar
- Moogy Klingman: Keyboards
- Ralph Schuckett: Keyboards
- M. Frog Labat: Synthesizers
- John Siegler: Bass and Cello
- Kevin Ellman: Percussion
