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Todd Rundgren's Utopia is the debut album by the American rock band Utopia, released in October 1974 on Bearsville Records. The band was formed in 1973 by musician, songwriter, and producer Todd Rundgren who decided to expand his musical style by moving from pop-oriented rock towards progressive rock. 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.

Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Studio album by Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Released	October 1974
Recorded	Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia on April 25, 1974 ("Utopia") and The Secret Sound (all other tracks)
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	59:18
Label	Bearsville
Producer	Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren's Utopia chronology
Todd Rundgren's Utopia (1974) Another Live (1975)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	(Not rated)[2]
Tom Hull	C+[3]

The album peaked at number 34 on the Billboard 200 and critical reaction towards it was mixed.[4]

Background

Like Rundgren's solo albums A Wizard, a True Star (1973) and Initiation (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 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

• Todd Rundgren – vocals, electric guitar
• Mark "Moogy" Klingman – keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ
• Ralph Schuckett – keyboards
• Jean Yves "M. Frog" Labat – synthesizer
• John Siegler – bass guitar, cello
• 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

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