Utopia (band)

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Utopia performing in Atlanta (1977)

Utopia was a progressive rock project by musician and producer Todd Rundgren . The band was founded by him in 1974.

history

For the first two albums, the band played with up to three synthesizers , two drummers and several guitarists . The sound was somewhere between jazz , progressive rock and hard rock . The songs were partly very experimental and offered a variety of variations, as the track The Ikon on the 1974 album Todd Rundgren's Utopia proves. It is also one of the longest tracks that has ever been pressed onto an LP side. Also worth mentioning is the title track Utopia , recorded live in Atlanta, Georgia in 1973, which reflects the joy of playing and the virtuosity of the group. This live performance was also one of the first in which the instruments were not played directly into the amplifiers, but instead ran through a mixer operated by a sound engineer.

After changing the line-up for the 1977 album Ra, which only had four musicians playing, the band's sound went more and more towards melodic rock. This album also contains a long track that takes up almost the entire second LP side: Singring and the Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairy Tale) . The song tells a so-called electrified fairy tale , in which each instrument in the group is one of the main actors.

The Utopia sound became much more commercial on the following albums, but the band never managed to attract a large fan base.

The last new Utopia album came out in 1987. The band never officially broke up.

The band Utopia also formed the backbone for many Todd Rundgren productions. She can be heard on Steve Hillages L and on the Meat Loaf LP Bat out of Hell .

Band members

  • Kevin Ellman (drums) (1975)
  • Moogy Klingman (keyboard, synthesizer) (until 1976)
  • Ralph Schuckett (keyboard, synthesizer) (until 1976)
  • John Seigler (bass) (until 1976)
  • Roger Powell (keyboard, synthesizer, vocals)
  • Todd Rundgren (guitar, vocals)
  • Willie Wilcox (drums, vocals)
  • Kasim Sulton (bass, vocals) (from 1977)

Discography

Albums

  • 1974: Todd Rundgren's Utopia
  • 1975: Another Live
  • 1977: Ra
  • 1977: Oops! Wrong Planet
  • 1980: Adventures In Utopia
  • 1980: Deface The Music
  • 1982: Swing To The Right
  • 1982: Utopia
  • 1984: Oblivion
  • 1985: POV
  • 1992: Redux 92: Live In Japan

DVDs

  • Utopia & Todd Rundgren - Live in Columbus, Ohio, 1980 (2004)

Web links