Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Have For All Utopia Enthusiasts, January 25, 1999
Preceding Adventures In Utopia, which is perhaps Utopia's most commercially accessible album, Ra is for me the best album the band produced. Todd Rundgren is very creative and playful here, free from the suffering that seems to undermine a lot of his later work. I get the feeling that the band had fun making this record, and it rocks. Todd and Roger Powell create hypnotic synth and guitar interplay, trading licks in Jealousy, Sunburst Finish, Hiroshima and Singring and the Glass Guitar. Utopia's signature four-part vocal harmonies are right on throughout, and Todd, Kasim Sultan, Roger, Pand Willie Wilcox are uniquely showcased both as vocalists and musicians in Singring.This is one to have... and listen to.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good musicianship, July 20, 2007
This 1977 follow-up to the great 1974 debut (Todd Rundgren's Utopia) covers somewhat similar ground (American proggy hard rock), although the lineup had been stripped back and there was a higher proportion of shorter pieces. While I do not feel that RA is as consistently good as the debut, there is some excellent musicianship and fantastic melodies that make this album a worthwhile addition to the prog rock collection.
The huge, electric "orchestra" present on the debut had been reduced to a four-piece comprised of Roger Powell (synthesizers, piano, organ, and vocals); Todd Rundgren (electric and acoustic guitars); Kasim Sulton (electric bass guitar and vocals); and John "Willie" Wilcox (drums percussion, and vocals). This lineup was great and there is some impressive proggy ensemble work on RA. The abilities of each member are showcased on the lengthy track Singring and the Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairytale) - they all get a 1-2 minute unaccompanied solo. Of the solos, I liked Roger's synthesizer workout the best.
The seven tracks on RA range in length from 3'28" to the lengthy 18'24" Singring and the Glass Guitar. The music on RA is very much in the vein of what you might expect from the early Utopia albums: Olympian-scale feats on individual instruments; dense ensemble work; great vocal harmonies; and the occasional pop hook or two...or three. In general, I am fine with the music although I do not think that Singring works very well from a composition perspective: while there are excellent main themes and some great ensemble work at the beginning and end, about half of the piece is comprised of unaccompanied solos, a few of which are just a bit dull. My favorite tracks include Overture: Mountaintop and Sunrise/Communion with the Sun along with Sunburst Finish, although all of the pieces have something to offer. The odd track out is Magic Dragon Theatre which merges a scene from an imaginary "play" (complete with dialog), with some good prog. Very interesting overall.
In terms of the concepts on RA, quite literally, everything under the "sun" is taken on. Of these concepts, the one that I latched on to (or at least loosely embraced) is that presented on Singring. There is a narrator on Singring that is supposed to be a Middle Earth dweller (an elf) that narrates the tale of Singring in what sounds like a mock Scottish accent on helium. I have to admit it is actually pretty funny, although I can imagine that most prog fans would raise their eyebrows at this track. As far as the actual concept goes, Singring tells the tale of four brave souls that locate the four keys needed to open up a glass guitar that contains an imprisoned and weeping spirit (Singring). I may be way off here (I am a Biologist), but it seems that Todd may have been bemoaning the loss of urgency and "spiritual vitality" in music in the late 1970's - "if you take a look around, harmony is dying" - and that this was his attempt to "rescue" the vitality and urgency of rock music. If this is what the band was aiming for then hats off to them.
In terms of the CD package, Rhino/Bearsville did a pretty good job and the CD booklet features each of the band members dressed up in Egyptian garb and posed in odd (quasi-ritualistic?) stances - with the exception of the drummer who simply stands with his arms folded over his chest. The lyrics to each of the songs are printed on the inner sleeve. The sound quality is excellent.
All in all, while RA is a good album of interesting prog rock and nice pop tunes, there were aspects of the album that just did not sit too well with me, although I am very forgiving and was able to overlook them. I would recommend this album to hardcore proggers as the last album of its type to be released by Utopia. After RA, the band plunged headlong into pop territory with Oops, Wrong Planet (1977). For those folks that are starting out with Utopia, definitely snag the 1974 debut album - it is a great listen.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"How about a little fanfare?", August 11, 2003
I first heard this piece of work sitting on the patio of a friend shortly after it came out. I was extremely impressed at the time and didn't think that anything Todd Rundgren could do would impress me more than the double album, Todd. This album, however, did just that and if you had the good fortune to see this concert tour then I don't have to tell you anything about this album, you already own it. Seldom do I like every song on an album but Ra is one that I can play and enjoy even now . I'm glad it's now in the CD format but I still have the old album...there's no way a CD cover can compete with "Album Art". If you are a Todd Rundgren fan, old or new, Ra is one of the mandatory albums to own.
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~ Todd Rundgren
~ Todd Rundgren
~ Todd Rundgren
~ Todd Rundgren
~ Todd Rundgren
by Utopia 
