Utopia
Ra

And finally the moment arrived when Todd Rundgren collaborated with someone... Not that he found someone on his level (and few, at his level, were those he produced), but without a doubt, he recognized in Roger Powell, Willie Wilcox, and Kasim Sulton the competence and ability necessary not only to make Utopia "Todd Rundgren's band," but to turn it into a distinct entity with its own profile and peculiarities.

All the former members join Todd in writing and take the mic to interpret the songs. In one instance, "Eternal Love," Powell and Sulton even compose everything by themselves, and the amazing thing is that the track is "as Todd Rundgren as it gets" for a wizard's album, a piano ballad tinged with soul.

Sure, this is the debut of a new band with a charismatic leader, and the task of breaking away from the clichés of Rundgren's tireless production is still underway... And here, in this first collective work, dated 1977, we find one of those vaudeville tracks that Todd has long been accustomed to including, for his own delight, in each of his albums: "Magic Dragon Theatre," crazy old-style jazz with spoken parts in the middle, a comedic episode with perpetually off-key vocal parts, which would have better fit into a Todd lp, we're sure.

Nice but nothing more, the blues rock of "Jealousy," where Wilcox's voice is that of a charming rascal, and "Sunburst Finish," another even more basic blues rock where Rundgren, Powell, and Sulton take turns—one verse for you and one for me—singing, and which in the second half veers into deranged prog rock, accelerating and decelerating continuously, madly, without warning...

In short: so far, Rundgrenian mediocrity, and, apart from the initial "Communion With The Sun"—an excellent Arena rock ride all in chorus with a declaration of fidelity to the sun god—sheer mannerism... Thankfully, side B saves this work with (the only) two great pieces. In "Hiroshima", the standards of prog (echoes of Iron Butterfly) mix with the solemnity of Arena rock. The result is epic, dramatic, evocative, and as grand as the theme being tackled deserves. "Singring And The Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairytale)," composed by the whole band, is, as the title suggests, a fairytale in rock form, complete with memorable motifs, a "seven dwarfs-rock song" style, victory anthems, daring instrumental parts like a drum solo accompanied by the sound of a flowing river, followed by bubbles bursting underwater.

If "Ra" had more good songs than interesting finds (someone wrote that Rundgren is more "A Wizard" than "A True Star," meaning more often capable of devising brilliant musical solutions rather than composing truly beautiful songs)... If there were more rock or prog songs, instead of once more treading the paths of blues rock (again with surf-style guitars and vocals) and pop-jazz/pop-soul in "Runt" style... If all this had happened, "Ra" would certainly have been a masterpiece, and it would have been the concept album that did not come out. But Todd, whose prolific nature is an understatement, will not hesitate to try again.