L

For a long time (until I found a copy of Fish Rising) I thought this was Steve Hillage's best album. His work here with Todd Rundgren's Utopia (with Todd as producer) is fantastic. In fact, this is not so different from Todd's own albums from the same period.

Hillage's rocking version of Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man is great, and the follow up Hurdy Gurdy Glissando takes it into outer space. And don't miss Roger Powell's perfect keyboard solo. Electric Gypsies is a nice psychedelic ballad. Om Nama Shivaya an Indian inspired guitar extravaganza starts the best part of the album, and the amazing Lunar Musick Suite completes the eargasms.

I do have a problem with the cover of George Harrison's It's All Too Much. Here, Rundgren's tendency to over-produce drags the song into a mass of mushy sounds. Or was that the point? It's all too much.

I'd rate this a solid 4 stars.