Defend the Indefensible--Utopia

So I'm finally hearing some of this stuff just so I can say I've heard it...uh.

Never heard them but it will take work to convince me that Todd Rundgren putting out prog records could not be awesome.

They ARE awesome! Get yrself a copy of "Ra", Sundar, it's the best - great tunes & vocal harmonies, totally OTT arrangements & solos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej9xzLCyiWE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz76Mxb2kEw&mode=related&search=

^ Roger Powell's synthesiser solo on the second clip is like 3 minutes of WTF?!?!?!

I like "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" a lot more than "Ra" tho I have no problem with the latter. A friend of mine who listens to a lot of prog says that first Utopia Lp might be the best prog album. Otherwise, "Deface the Music" is a silly masterpiece, a wonderful Beatles tribute/parody, I don't think they need much defending.

In the early days, MTV used to play Feet Don't Fail Me Now quite a lot, so I have a particular affection for that song. (Click through if you've never seen Rundgren dressed as a yellow-and-black insect and feel you should. Roger Powell on lead vocals here, I believe.)

Ditto "Cry Baby," which I think was off their final album, and is pretty disposable Rundgren arena rock, but still evokes a little nostalgia.

"Deface the Music" is pretty great, even if there had never been a Rutles.

disposable Rundgren arena rock

See, this is my problem with it -- and it leads me to conclude that my issue is not with Utopia per se but with Rundgren (who I've generally found an extremely overrated figure as a songwriter, less so as a producer). Though the comparison is hardly exact I was thinking this morning of how much more I enjoyed, say, Bill Nelson's Red Noise in comparison.

In comparison in comparison. Comparing.

I've never heard the prog-era Utopia, but I've heard everything from Oops! Wrong Planet onward. Most of it doesn't date very well. I loved the self-titled LP+EP as a youth, but the horrid '80s production is hard to take now. Adventures in Utopia is a decent stab at Boston-styled arena-rock bombast - but again, that's hardly a recommendation. It's no surprise that Kasim Sulton went on to play with Meat Loaf.

Deface The Music is the only one I could heartily recommend today, but I still wouldn't place it before the Nazz or Something/Anything. (I've heard a rumor that Rundgren made Deface The Music as a response to John Lennon's snubbing, and their subsequent beef in the UK press.)

Bill Nelson sucks. Pash to thread

i just bought modern music by be bop deluxe and was pretty disappointed by it. never heard 'em before.

i really really dislike todd rundgren for some reason. i've barely ever heard his music. something about him bothers me. he seems like the zappa of 70s soft rock or something.

"Deface The Music" alone secures Utopia defensibility.

oblivion/pov/2nd st hit a strong nerve for me from hearing it in the car all the time as a wee tot. so many of these songs still sound amazing, but there are few i can safely recommend to just anybody.

lots of good tunes but severely bad lyrics.

that roger powell album "air pocket" is kinda sweet in a 'rape this album for samples'/'re-edit the fuck out of this track' kind of way

"freedom fighters" from the very first utopia album might be the best utopia song, though.

i really want to play "too much water" at a party but i'm sure it sounds totally wack to everyone except me.

"Love Is the Answer" from Oops Wrong Planet is the blue eyed soul number for the apocalypse.

Okay, so I'm enjoying the first Utopia album a great deal more than I thought I would from reading about it.

I picked up Something/Anything a few months back and really got into it. So today when I spotted the first Utopia album in the dollar bin, I thought "why not?"

Turns out there were a lot of reasons.

I think that people who say they hate prog, this is what they're hearing in their heads when they say it.

Roger Powell’s keyboards on “windows” are truly exquisite

This, um, rules, or sth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPcK8xSye-A

"Martyr" is a really cool tune

kasim's vocals are excellent on that one, agree, hell of a tune

things i learned about utopia today:

1) there are THREE keyboardists on Another Live

2) luther vandross sang backing vocals for them at a London show in 1975 bootlegs are out there

He's here w Todd on the Old Grey Whistle Test as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA_zFgjvuqk