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 (band). 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 original vinyl, cassette and 8-track editions of the album. When Rhino first issued the album on CD, the title of the song was altered to "Utopia Theme." The 2CD Edsel remaster (paired with "Another Live" restores the track title to its original form.

Track listing

CD Version

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Utopia Theme (live)"	Mason, Rundgren	14:31
2.	"Freak Parade"	Klingman, Rundgren, Siegler	10:14
3.	"Freedom Fighters"	Rundgren	4:04
4.	"The Ikon"	Klingman, Rundgren, Schuckett, Siegler	30:26
Total length:			59:15

Side One

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Utopia (live)"	Mason, Rundgren	14:18
2.	"Freak Parade"	Klingman, Rundgren, Siegler	10:14
3.	"Freedom Fighters"	Rundgren	4:01

Side Two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Ikon"	30:22

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

Year	Chart	Position
1974	Pop Albums	34

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.