Customer Reviews

Utopia

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Todd went through many phases, both individually and with Utopia. Here he dons the new wave duds, the two-tone attitude, and shows he can do power pop/new wave as well as anybody who's ever attempted it. Too bad poor promotion and releasing this after the brilliant but obtuse Deface the Music pretty much meant Todd, once again, killed the buzz. As another reviewer mentioned, they limped off with two ok but not great albums, never to have reached the summit that seemed quite attainable after the well-received Adventures....

But the three-sided artifact those silly Utopians left is great -- tremendous tight harmonies, crystal clear production and glistening guitar runs, clever lyrics, too-cool melodies -- it's a solid, consistently superior package. It's hard to put this on and not feel the infectious, upbeat, intelligent melodies put you in a better mood - from the clever "Princess of the Universe," to the moody "Bad Little Actress" to the Beatlesque "Chapter and Verse," to the should-have-been hit rock ballad "There Goes My Inspiration." Add to that the hits (for Utopia)"Feet Don't Fail Me Now" and "Hammer in My Heart" and you have an irresistable top notch package. As this will surely go out of print again soon, I recommend this for any serious music collector, and the casual Todd fan as well.

I own Todd and Utopia's complete catalogue, and this particular album is their most mainstream pop rock of them all. This collection is a particular favorite in that after repeated listenings, I learned to appreciate all sixteen tracks, which is very unusual for me.

Lovers of Todd's very early or recent material may find this too bland. However, I have enjoyed each stage of Todd's work.

Vocal harmonies are a favorite of mine, and there is an abundance here on this album. On this CD, I found it very enjoyable to hear all four singers have a turn to lead, and the background vocals are featured loudly enough to where one can make out each particular singer doing their thing, which can be very cool and adds to the relistenability. Each singer is quite competent, and Kaz of course has an excellent voice as always.

This band deserved so much better a fate than the relative obscurity under which it toiled.

Their final album, from 1982, has been out-of-print for years. This "3-sided" album finds Todd Rundgren, Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton and Willie Wilcox in superb form. Sounding tighter than ever, sixteen great songs, this is one of Utopia's most overlooked efforts, by one of the most underrated power-pop bands in history. Highlights include "Bad Little Actress," "Feet Don't Fail Me Now," "I'm Looking At You But I'm Talking To Myself," "Hammer In My Heart," "There Goes My Inspiration," "Princess Of the Universe"...I'm going to stop there.

This album is so great (considering Utopia's power-pop/rock side, not the earlier prog side), that any attempt at a retrospective of their career pales comparing to this single album. And that's saying a lot.

It's the prog fan in me that brought me to Todd's "A Wizard, A True Star", then "Todd Rundgren's Utopia". Over the years, I've found many a TR/Utopia LP that I listened to, enjoyed three or four tracks fully, maybe appreciated one or two more, and felt turned off by the rest. ("Swing to the Right" was the nadir, with only "Lysistrata"'s name bringing good musical memories.)

I almost fast-forwarded an Internet radio station when Utopia's "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" (from this album) came on a "Gentle Giant"-themed radio station. Say what? My preoccupation with work ended up being a major bonus that got me to the surprisingly catchy chorus, which avoids being saccharine due to the fact that none of the four has a particularly sweet voice (each has its own edge).

And so I started looking around to see if I could find a copy of the song. My only hope was (gulp!) buying the CD. Listening to the sound samples on Amazon, I gulped harder. This didn't sound very friendly.

I received the CD yesterday. I am in _awe_. I played it three times last night (a rare feat for me). There are so many insanely great "nerdy-chords-meets-catchy-melody" moments that few apart from Utopia could pull off that I can't really get bored listening to it. I wonder, had "Perfect Heaven" been pulled off the album so that everything could fit on one 45-minute LP, if the album would have fared better in the shops.

Definite highlights are "Neck on Up", "Say Yeah", "Burn Three Times", "Call It What You Want", and the aforementioned "Feet Don't Fail Me Now". But selecting highlights is an injustice to the album, as "Libertine", "Bad Little Actress" and "Hammer in my Heart" are superior to 90% of the songs on the other albums from their poppier years.

At the risk of sounding like I'm gushing endlessly, it really sounds as if Utopia set out to better every highlight of their "power pop/rock" years with this album. "Say Yeah" beats Deface the Music's similar "That's Not Right" with sheer exuberance. "Libertine" comes really close to matching Oops! Wrong Planet's "Trapped". Roger Powell even screams out a note right at a breakdown in "Burn Three Times". It even seems like Utopia seriously worked this one out before going into the studio, with all four singers demonstrating remarkably similar vocal delivery, hitting most every note dead on. Solos are often eschewed so that the whole arrangement stands out, and at times the right "different chord" can be heard in _just_ the right place during the last chorus. This should have been all over the airwaves in the '80s, alongside the Cars' "Heartbeat City" and Yes's "90125". And the samples on here don't do the album justice. If you're too nervous to buy a copy, do yourself a favor and borrow a friend's, or hunt the local 2nd-hand record shops which still allow you to preview the album. The only thing that stops me from calling this "Utopia's Party Album" is the presence of three ballads, of which I feel one is superfluous ("Perfect Heaven"). (And hey, I could always program my CD player to skip it, or them, were I to play this CD at a party.) It may or may not be my absolute fave Utopia album (the first one is hard to beat), but it'll definitely be my most listened to. I want to start an "original songs" band based on this album alone. Any takers?

The self titled Utopia LP, originally released in September of 1982 as a 3 sided LP (actually the 4th side repeated the third so, call it what you will) was not Utopia's last LP as someone below stated. They switched to PVC records and recorded 2 more full LPs (POV and Oblivion)and an overview/odds and ends LP (Trivia). However, this was the last really great Utopia LP and it really delivers a diverse set of music with tracks stylistically all over the Rundgren/Utopia map. A lot of the album is in a new wave vien, but still with enough signature Utopia thrown in make it comfortable. It has a little something for everybody (except maybe the fans of the original progressive unit Todd began with). There is hard rock (Princess Of the Universe, and Hammer In My Heart), power pop (Libertine, Neck On Up), Nazz inspired psychedelia (Infrared & Ultraviolet), and material that sounds like it could be Todd solo (Call It What You Will, There Goes My Inspiration). Some new ideas are pulled out of the cannon with Feet Don't Fail Me Now (which had one seriously weird early video that Todd produced--check it out on Utopia's Retrospective DVD, another worthwhile purchase for fans) which runs a bit into Beatles territory while still remaining very much a Utopia song. My personal favorites would be Princess of the Universe which has Willie Wilcox spitting out venomous lyrics to a (possibly potential??)significant other over a garage rock beat and Neck On Up which is sung by Roger and has some highly interesting wordplay. My least favorite songs here tend to be the ones that sound like Todd's solo recordings, and that maybe because the group really gelled on this album and their efforts in that direction are so strong. It's just a shame that the album flew under the radar.Unfortunetly it was the beginning of the end for the band as they just weren't selling that many records anymore and were reduced after this record to the tiny PVC label and made two really worthwhile albums (and one overview record)that most people don't even know about (as I stated at the beginning of this review). Oblivion had the brilliant "Cry Baby" on it that in a perfect world would have been a huge hit and kept the band together.

I bought this LP when it first came out...and I wore it out! Being a professional musician/singer for over 20 years, I am always looking for musical inspiration. This album helped me change my musical direction for the better...it's happy, bouncy, melodic and intellegent! Great lyrics & melodies, especially on "I'm Looking at You But I'm Talking to Myself", "Chapter & Verse" & "There Goes My Inspiration". Todd and the Boys are incredible...this album is, too!

Pure power-pop joy! This is definitely one of the most under-rated albums of the eighties. Why rock radio wasn't ALL OVER this gem is one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. Todd and the boys have truly outdone themselves with this magnificent opus and there's not one clinker in the bunch. It's tough to choose standout tracks, but start with the hard-charging cautionary tale "Libertine" that opens the disc, the gorgeous balladry of "Bad Little Actress," and "Private Heaven," the raw, psychedelic rock of "Infrared and Ultraviolet," and the sprightly "Forgotten But Not Gone" and go from there. This is everything you could ever want in a pop album and deserves a proud place on your music library shelf.

Never thought I'd find this collection. Older bro had this on cassette eons ago. This can't be an impartial review of technical music mumbo-jumbo. I'm just ecstatic to find this disc of songs that I love. Just can't get into Todd or Utopia with any other collection. I love other of his/their music, but this is the quintessential Utopia collection.

I mean, really, is this not the most musically satisfying, tunefully consistent, best collection of songs on any Utopia album???

I stumbled across Utopia when Todd & the boys came to Tacoma Wa October 12th 1978 for two show at a club call the place.we showed up for the first show,not sure what to expect.here were these excellent musicians,swapping instruments,joking around and singing beautifully.I was so impressed,right after the show ended we were able to get tickets for the second show,a small table,right up front.these guys were professionals from the start.I became an instant fan.this album was out and we bought it with the limited bonus record,still have it and the stubs.I sure would love to have a remastered copy though.