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Question: what is the title of this record? "Todd Rundgrens Utopia" as read on the cover or "Todd Rundgren's Utopia," in accordance with the possessive rule, as you can see in the famous online encyclopedia? And to whom does it belong? Who is the author, natural or legal person, of the work? Todd Rundgren? The Utopia? In whose name should it be listed? And in which chapter? The 'Rundgren' chapter or the 'Utopia' chapter? Today, after a dozen records and about thirty (33) years, we could insert it as the debut work of Utopia, but in 1974, was it attributed to Rundgren or the emerging band? If other records had been born, perhaps it was thought, this one would have belonged to the band, while if Utopia had lasted a season's fire, well that would have been the fifth solo album, titled "Utopia," by an artist whose name was misspelled on the cover: his name is Rundgren, not RundgrenS...
I don't feel like classifying it as the first of a band, nor the fifth of a solo artist, and therefore for me the creator is called "Todd Rundgrens Utopia," as I read it on the cover, without any respect for the Saxon genitive rule, while the album, lacking other indications, is self-titled. Editors should feel free to make whatever changes they deem necessary. If nothing else, however, to further validate the reasons for my thesis, besides good Todd, of the remaining three-quarters of the Utopia lineup, in this "non-debut," there is not even a trace. No Roger Powell, nor Kasim Sulton nor John "Willie" Wilcox. Five virtuosos were "recruited" instead, including three keyboardists... Along with them, Todd embarked, from this live, on his new and audacious path.
Four pieces presented to an audience that had never had the pleasure of listening to them before, but, as we know, in the early seventies, the ears of the average rock audience were rather well-trained. And these discerning ears could not help but be astonished by such beauty prog, such complex perfection. The eardrums, accustomed to every possible sound in a poprockprog key, rejoiced once exposed to so many new notes, in the presence of so many innovative sound solutions.
The hard solos of "Utopia Theme", where Todd (what a guitarist!) imitates the prog sound of keyboards, his solemn "megasolo" after the sung part, the catchy riffs, in the face of which intellectual ears cannot help but transmit to the brain the desire to applaud, to jump... the pianistic jazz of Michel Petrucciani, the jazz rock with hypnotic and lunar intervals of "Freak Parade", the almost funky prog, Todd's falsettos, the vocal watercolors, in the "enduring half-hour" "The Ikon". Listing them all, one by one, the moments that struck me, perhaps ranking the most original, the most unexpected, the most surprising, would be stupid: here there's an hour of excellent live music, from which anyone could draw infinite ideas, infinite words. And there's also a simple, clean, great song, 4 minutes of blues rock that become hard in the finale, with a fading guitar.
This time there's no need to dwell on a Todd Rundgren record: there's not much to analyze, to deconstruct to make it easier to understand and more enjoyable. This is prog rock (jazz rock, blues rock, pop rock, arena rock) all to enjoy, all in one breath. Maybe at that time, the little help needed to open the doors of perception would have made everything even more imaginative and wonderful, but here there is bread for every ear, there is material for every mind, there are notes for every little heart. Without the need for acids.
Todd Rundgren(S): a wizard, a true ROCK star.
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