Utopia - Todd Rundgren's Utopia

After five solo albums released between 1970 and 1974, Todd Rundgren organized the band Utopia, although he also maintained a solo career. At this point, the group, a sextet featuring Kevin Ellman on percussion, Moogy Klingman and Ralph Schukett on keyboards, M. Frog Labat on synthesizers, and John Siegler on bass and cello, had little independent existence, as indicated by its billing, but later it would be a more equal unit. On this debut album, Tr's U plays extended compositions -- three of the four tracks run over 10 minutes each, with "The Ikon" clocking in over half an hour -- in a hard rock/heavy metal/progressive rock mode with little of Rundgren's usual melodic appeal. Read More