TODD RUNDGREN'S UTOPIA

It's been stated again, and again, but I'll say it once more: Todd was just a pop/three-chord kind of guy, and suddenly he took a cocktail of psychedelics and began his progressive experiments. Todd created Utopia like the Beatles created Sgt. Pepper: he used this new alter-ego to create complex music. This album combines many types of progressive genres into a hard-to-describe sound.

"Utopia Theme" is a power struggle between stabby keyboards and roarin' guitar and has some dissonant stabs that make me think of ELP. The song then changes to a calmer, more spacey mood, and Todd's singing kicks in. To think this a live performance. The remaining songs are done in the studio.

"Freak Parade" is very silly in both lyrics and song sound. Lots of time changes in this one. When the singing starts, it gets somewhat funky and the lyrics and voices become Zappa-like. Wild synth tones in this one someways in some. Lots of ring modulations and LFOs to go around.

"Freedom Fighters" is some great prog-pop with a strong AOR feel, but an unusual psychedelic sound. The shortest track too.. not much else to say,

"The Ikon" is my favorite Utopia track, and one of my favorite prog-rock epics. This one bounces all over the place. I couldn't possibly describe all of it, One listen does all the talking... Some parts sound like hard rock highway tunes, while others are spacey bridges between moods, and to even at points, symphonic-esque interweavings. There are even Jazz fusion and country-hoedown-tinged moments in there that make this sound like no other prog band around. This song alone is worth buying the album.

Album's sound quality itself is rather muddy and reminds me of Nursery Crime. These days this album goes for quite a bit of money, partly because it's been out of print... I recommend buying any format you can. I spent 30 USD on a used CD, and it was. Worth. Every. Penny.

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