When I think of Todd Rundgren, the last thing to enter my mind is progressive rock. Psych, garage, power pop, art pop, singer-songwriter, new wave, oh sure all of those things. The guy was born to be ultimately successful in the 1980s. I think of him in the same way I do David Bowie or Bryan Ferry. But Utopia's first album isn't just progressive rock - it's prog overload. One hour of complex proggy prog prog. I've read that some folks think it's something of a joke, an ironic take on the excesses of rock. The bloated dinosaur of Yes and the lot, that needs to be killed immediately by true rock n' roll - like punk! And it's Todd Rundgren - c'mon man! This is Pat Boone doing heavy metal right? I don't buy any of that. No one would take the time to put this kind of effort into a parody. Certainly Rundgren had an experimental streak going all the way back to Nazz, but he still channeled that through the Rolling Stone Guide's comfort zone of pop music. I'm sure for many fans, Utopia's debut is Rundgren's nadir. While I still can't get myself to rate it at a first division level (12 and up), I seem to always enjoy listening to it. Albums like this were made for the compact disc. I started with the vinyl in the 80s, and of course it sounds like crap. 60 minutes of music in those tiny grooves will do that (and it's not even his longest single album!). This is one commodity CD I have no intention of letting go.
Ownership: CD: 1987 Rhino. Standard jewel case release. This replaced the commodity LP on Bearsville (1988).
1988; 2/19/23 (CD 4.5); 4/18/23 (new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment