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LAST OF THE NEW WAVE RIDERS

Utopia

Eclectic Prog


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Utopia Last of the New Wave Riders album cover
3.00 | 8 ratings | 2 reviews | 12% 5 stars

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Live, released in 2003

Songs / Tracks Listing

Disc: 1 (Oblivion tour)
1. Too Much Water
2. Rock Love
3. Princess of the Universe
4. If I Didn't Try
5. Bring Me My Longbow
6. Hammer In My Heart
7. Abandon City
8. Set Me Free
9. Itch In My Brain/Love With A Thinker
10. You Make Me Crazy
11. Swing to the Right
12. The Very Last Time
13. Trapped
14. Caravan
15. Last of the New Wave Riders
16. Cry Baby
17. Love is the Answer

Disc: 2 (Deface the music tour)
1. I Just Want To Touch You
2. Where Does The World Go To Hide
3. Silly Boy
4. Feel Too Good
5. The Road to Utopia
6. Set Me Free
7. Love of the Common Man
8. Crazy Lady Blue
9. One World
10. Back on the Street
11. Crystal Ball
12. All Smiles

Disc: 3 (Deface the music tour)
1. Shot in the Dark
2. Caravan
3. The Very Last Time
4. Alone
5. Always Late
6. Take It Home
7. That's Not Right
8. Everybody Else is Wrong
9. I Saw the Light
10. Trapped
11. Love in Action
12. Couldn't I Just Tell You
13. Love is the Answer

Disc: 4 (Oops wrong planet tour)
1. Intro
2. Trapped
3. Marriage of Heaven and Hell
4. Abandon City
5. Love of the Common Man
6. Back on the Street
7. Black and White
8. Crazy Lady Blue
9. Love in Action
10. The Death of Rock 'n' Roll
11. Communion With The Sun
12. When the Sh** Hits the Fan - International Feel
13. The Last Ride
14. Gangrene

Disc: 5 (Oops wrong planet tour)
1. My Angel
2. The Seven Rays
3. Heavy Metal Kids
4. Singring and the Glass Guitar - Utopia Theme
5. Love is the Answer
6. Couldn't I Just Tell You
7. Just One Victory

Disc: 6 (Live in Tokyo 1979)
1. Trapped
2. Love In Action
3. Abandon City
4. Love of the Common Man
5. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
6. Shot in the Dark
7. The Seven Rays
8. Can We Still Be Friends
9. Gangrene
10. The Wheel
11. Love Alone - Kaz's Song

Disc: 7 (Live in Tokyo 1979)
1. Last of the New Wave Riders
2. The Death of Rock 'n' Roll
3. The Verb To Love
4. Hiroshima
5. A Dream Goes On Forever
6. Black Maria
7. Eastern Intrigue
8. Initiation
9. Couldn't I Just Tell You
10. Hello It's Me
11. Just One Victory

Line-up / Musicians

- Todd Rundgren / vocals, guitar
- Roger Powell / vocals, keyboards
- Kasim Sulton / vocals, bass guitar
- John Willie Wilcox / vocals, drums

Releases information

Castle communications

Thanks to easy livin for the addition
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UTOPIA Last of the New Wave Riders ratings distribution


3.00
(8 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(12%)
12%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(25%)
25%
Good, but non-essential (12%)
12%
Collectors/fans only (50%)
50%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

UTOPIA Last of the New Wave Riders reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
2 stars Love in action all over the world

This mammoth 7 CD collection mirrors sets such as ELP's and Tangerine Dream's bootleg series. The recordings here are not from official live albums, but are gathered together from a range of Utopia bootlegs. The intention is clearly to beat the bootleggers at their own game by bootlegging the bootleggers. Four separate gigs are covered, with three of these extending to two CDs each.

The results are to say the least predictably variable. The sound quality at times is awful sounding like a smuggled cassette recorder in someone's pocket. Other sets are not too bad, with some perhaps being taken directly from the sound board. Unfortunately, it is the "Oops wrong planet" tour recordings which are the worst. I say unfortunately, as these contain the best of the songs, including several from the fine "Ra" album. Heard through the haze, "Communion with the sun" is given a superb workout including a dazzling synth solo. The highlight though is the 34 minute run through of "Singring and the glass guitar", which is combined with the "Utopia theme" from the band's first album to form a 34 minute monster.

There is of course a lot of overlap in the set lists, with tracks like "Love is the answer", "Love in action" and "Trapped" appearing numerous times with little variation. The songs from the later albums were much more variable in standard to start with, and this is reflected in the overall attraction of those discs.

Summed up, this is of course intended only for the dedicated Utopia/Todd Rundgren fan. The sound quality, the repetition of tracks, and the lack of any great innovation in a live environment all lead to the conclusion that for most people, the original studio albums will more than suffice.

Review by kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Reviewer
4 stars As with Todd's 'Can't Stop Running' boxed set, this is another collection of albums that have previously only been available as very expensive Japanese imports. Four albums, seven CDs, the set may be basic with no sleeve notes as such (and again, as on the other set, one of the albums has no dates) but this is excellent value for the Todd fan. The first CD (and the only single CD set) is 'Oblivion Tour', which was recorded surprisingly enough on the Oblivion Tour. This is the CD that has no details (but probably has the best sound), but would have probably been recorded in 1984. Utopia knew what was expected of them by now and Todd obviously relished being in a band, although he still played the rock god to the hilt. With harmony vocals in abundance Utopia do manage to come across sometimes as if they have been listening to too much Styx but that band never had the depth of musical ideas as these guys. Only "Trapped" and "Love Is The Answer" are sole Todd compositions, as Utopia were very much a band and to my ears it is the song that gives title to this boxed set that is the stand out ? a great song packed full of melodies and styles.

The second set is 'Deface The Music Tour' which was recorded in 1980, and this does suffer from some quite iffy sound levels, particularly at the beginning where on "I Just Want To Touch You" Utopia show that they can combine The Beatles with The Beach Boys to produce a sound that is fresh yet also belongs very firmly in the Sixties. But after all the discs are all marked as being bootlegs so the sound shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Twenty- five songs on this set, which obviously have never been touched up as Todd manages to slip in a few bum chords into "Where Does The World Go To Hide" but yet again the band seem to be enjoying themselves. The crowd are also having a blast, particularly when "Love Of The Common Man" makes an appearance. This album is probably one just for the fan due to the sound quality but is damn fine just the same.

The third set is the 'Oops! Wrong Planet Tour' from 1977 and opens with the complete intro tape as the band took the stage of "Mars, Bringer of War" from the Planets Suite (although here called "Intro" and strangely credited to the band?). Then it is straight into "Trapped", and the crowd going nuts. This is probably the rockiest album, and the one that I enjoyed playing most with songs such "When The Shit Hits The Fane ? International Feel" deserving a name check for the title alone, although Todd certainly gives his guitar some serious workout during this. Yet again Utopia show that there were few to live with them when they were on song, as they were this night in Chicago.

Lastly we come to 'Live In Tokyo '79' which features another lengthy workout of "The Seven Rays" (also on the third set) ? the guys have chance to stretch their musical wings and take off, but here they then slow down for Todd's ballad "Can We Still Be Friends". "Gangrene" means that the band don't slow down too much and show that this is a rock band that have so much pop melody and harmonies within all that they do that others pale into insignificance. With good sound, this is a great set to close with and with "Hello It's Me" also making an appearance this set is one that many fans will love.

Yet again a well-crafted collection of bootlegs that any fan of Todd Rundgren or Utopia will just have to have. Superb from start to finish.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004

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