INITIATION

Arguably Rundgren's most progressive solo release, Initation represents him standing athwart a mountain and telling the critics who wanted him to lay off the Eastern spirituality, synthesizer motifs, and progressive rock flourishes to deal with it, a subject he directly addresses in "The Death of Rock and Roll". The critics naturally didn't like it, but Rundgren likely didn't care.

The album is divided into two halves, one a thirty-two minute song suite bookended by "Real Man", the album's only concession to pop music, and the other devoted to the synthesizer experiment "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire", with movements named after the seven chakras and prana, the breath of life. The quality of the music is high throughout, with the too-long a cappella workout "Born to Synthesize" being the album's only arguable misstep, and while Rundgren never completely abandons the melodicism of his pop roots, the album nonetheless represents a bold leap into the unknown and stands as one of his most underrated efforts. Strongly recommended for progressive rock fans, and easily worthy of at least a 9/10 rating.