Todd Rundgren's Utopia (album)

Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Studio album by Utopia
Released	October 1974
Recorded	The Secret Sound and The Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia April 25th, 1974.
Genre	Progressive rock, art rock
Length	59:15
Label	Bearsville
Producer	Todd Rundgren
Utopia chronology
Todd Rundgren's Utopia (1974) Another Live (1975)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	(Not rated)[2]

Todd Rundgren's Utopia is the debut album by the band Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Rundgren (who was primarily a pop musician at the time) had decided to delve into progressive rock. Putting together several musicians, including three keyboardists, the album covers a variety of styles including funk, jazz, classical and even avant-garde music.

Critical reaction was mixed, with some critics labeling the album as pretentious fluff, but it sold extremely well, peaking at #34 on the Billboard charts, a placing which no Utopia album save Adventures in Utopia would ever surpass.^[3]

Like a few of Rundgren's solo albums (notably A Wizard, a True Star and Initiation), the album's sheer length pushed the limits of vinyl. At nearly an hour, the sound needed to be compressed in order to fit it onto one vinyl record, resulting in a lesser audio quality than a shorter album. The CD version avoids this issue. The title track of the album was simply called "Utopia" on the first edition vinyl, cassette and 8-track editions of the album. On the first reissue of the album (1980) the title of "Utopia" was changed to "Utopia Theme" and publishing credits were changed from Earmark Music to both Earmark Music and Screen Gems - Columbia Music. This may have happened as in 1976 Tony Sales sued Rundgren for appropriation of the song, suing for royalties of $100,000 or more.

Track listing

CD Version

Side One

Side Two

Personnel

• Todd Rundgren – guitar
• Mark "Moogy" Klingman – keyboards
• Ralph Schuckett – keyboards
• Jean Yves "M. Frog" Labat – synthesizers
• John Siegler – bass and cello
• Kevin Ellman – percussion

Production

• Todd Rundgren - producer and engineer
• David Le Sage - assistant engineer
• Maruo Miyauchi - design and illustration at Push Pin Studios

Charts

Album - Billboard

References

1. ↑ "allmusic ((( Todd Rundgren's Utopia > Review )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 
2. ↑ "Todd Rundgren: Todd Rundgren's Utopia : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 
3. ↑ Utopia chart placings, AllMusicGuide.