RA

I don't think this album has stood the test of time. The American's were not doing a really good job with progressive rock in the late seventies - maybe Kansas had a few flashes of inspiration - but generally it was a European thing. Just as the first wave of progressive rock was starting to be eclipsed by the the big bad Punk scene Todd decided to have a last hurrah with his recently formed Utopia. By looking at the track timings on the "Ra" album you can't help but notice "Singring and the glass guitar" weighing in at 18.24 minutes. Unfortunately this is no "Close to the Edge" or "Shine on you Cray Diamond". What we have here is Todd telling us a bland little fairytale in a synthesized "funny" voice (it's been done, boring!) Good on you for giving prog rock a try Mr Rundgren but your about as close to the real deal as Neil Sedaka. I'm glad I "Saw the light" and hocked this one back to the shop.