''Todd Rundgren's Utopia'' is the debut album by the American rock band

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

, released in October 1974 on Bearsville Records. The band was formed in 1973 by musician, songwriter, and producer

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

who decided to expand his musical style by moving from pop-oriented rock towards

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

. He assembled a six-piece group that featured three keyboardists and toured as a live act. Most of the album was recorded in the studio except "Utopia", the opening track, which was recorded live in concert in 1974. The album peaked at number 34 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and critical reaction towards it was mixed.Utopia chart placings
AllMusicGuide.

Background

Like Rundgren's solo albums ''

A Wizard, a True Star ''A Wizard, a True Star'' is the fourth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released March 2, 1973, on Bearsville Records. It marked a departure from his previous, ''Something/Anything?'' (1972), with its lesser reliance on straightforward p ...

'' (1973) and ''

Initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

'' (1975), the album pushed the limits of vinyl. At almost an hour in length, the sound needed to be compressed in order to fit it onto one record, resulting in a decline in audio quality. The CD version avoids this issue. On the first reissue of the album, released in 1978, the title of "Utopia" was changed to "Utopia Theme" and publishing credits were changed from Earmark Music to Earmark Music and Screen Gems - Columbia Music. This may have happened as a result of legal action against Rundgren by Tony Sales for appropriation of the song in 1976, for royalties of $100,000 or more. "Utopia" was recorded live in concert at the Fox Theatre in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

on April 25, 1974. After a bootleg of the entire concert circulated amongst collectors for many years, the recording was officially released as ''Live at the Fox 1973'' in 2015 by RockBeat Records. There has been confusion as to which date is correct, because the performance date was erroneously listed as November 8, 1973 on the original broadcast LP from the radio show ''Retrorock'' that aired in 1983 that features a reworked version of "Utopia". Previous performances from the 1973 tour have a marching band feel during the quiet sections that were reworked into a looser feel for the subsequent 1974 tour. The performance is also heavy on songs from the ''Todd'' album which were not performed until 1974.

Track listing

Note: "Utopia" is titled "Utopia Theme" on later editions.

Personnel

Utopia *

– vocals, electric guitar * Mark "Moogy" Klingman – keyboards,

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

* Ralph Schuckett – keyboards * Jean Yves "M. Frog" Labat – synthesizer * John Siegler – bass guitar,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Kevin Ellman – drums, percussion Production * Todd Rundgren – producer and engineer * David Le Sage – assistant engineer * Maruo Miyauchi – design and illustration at Push Pin Studios

References

{{Authority control 1974 debut albums Todd Rundgren albums Albums produced by Todd Rundgren Utopia (band) albums Bearsville Records albums Rhino Records albums