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Utopia - Ra CD (album) cover

RA

Utopia

Eclectic Prog


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lewisoutrider
2 stars 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.
Report this review (#26488)
Posted Saturday, January 10, 2004 | Review Permalink
corbet
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Todd is a "funny" guy. Whether this means that you actually think he is funny, or just believe that he thinks he is funny, depends on how straight-faced you demand your prog heroes to be. This album has some "funny" voices and stuff, to be sure, and unfortunately for some people this will immediately blind them to everything else to be found here. For me, it's always the music that comes first, and in that regard I hold Ra amongst my top tier of favorites. Todd was always his own island in prog rock, unlike anyone else at all, and along with Utopia's first album this is some truly exceptional music: burning guitar, fat drums, perfect harmonies, 70's synth antics... I always thank goodness for drugs, or he may have remained content as a pop singer!
Report this review (#26492)
Posted Saturday, January 17, 2004 | Review Permalink
daveconn
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars RUNDGREN re-thought the whole UTOPIA thing, trimming it down to a quartet (adding bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton in the process) and divining from the band's edited essence a mix of bombastic rock and Todd's familiar songcraft. In doing so, UTOPIA stumbled upon a signature sound in "Ra" that would be fine-tuned over the years but never really abandoned. Some have suggested that "Ra" is a concept album, but it's rather a recurring theme of the sun that gives the impression of a unifying concept; after all, what could a magic theatre, a nuclear bomb and a muse trapped in a glass guitar really have in common? The album starts off with an "Overture" borrowed from BERNARD HERRMANN (never heard of him, by the way), which is really just a way to get listeners' ears wet before launching into "Communion With The Sun." It's here that we're introduced to the new UTOPIAn ideal: cosmic chaos compressed into more confining quarters that keeps things moving briskly. The same approach is adopted for "Jealousy" (with its classic claustrophobic sound), "Sunburst Finish" and the overwrought "Hiroshima." On these tracks, UTOPIA's aggressive arrangements and lyrical naivety invite comparison to BLUE OYSTER CULT (whose "Godzilla" is oddly complementary to "Hiroshima"). These songs tend to define the album, although "Magic Dragon Theatre" points to Todd's longstanding affection for musicals and the ballad "Eternal Love" likewise looks to the leader's oeuvre. The only apparent holdover from UTOPIA's earlier excesses is the 18-minute "Singring and The Glass Guitar", which might have been subtitled "The hare who lost his spectacles (and couldn't see how silly he looked)." Although there are sections of "Singring" that work remarkably well, taken in toto it's a toppled-over wedding cake.

Even with a few flaws, "Ra" shines brightly in the UTOPIAn landscape as an example of Todd bringing his genius to bear on more ambitious music. As a halfway point between the sometimes sprawling arrangements of earlier UTOPIA albums and the streamlined pomp of subsequent works, UTOPIA moves from failed ideal to a workable blueprint.

Report this review (#26491)
Posted Tuesday, May 4, 2004 | Review Permalink
Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars "An electrified fairytale"

Todd Rundgren used to like to cram as much music as possible onto LPs. "Ra" was no exception, with five lengthy tracks on the first side, and two on the second. These days, he appears to rather struggle to come up with enough output worthy of a single disk.

The opening track, "Communion with the Sun", is a majestic, powerful piece, with swirling synthesisers, and a superb vocal performance by Rundgren. "Magic dragon theatre" is a wonderful piece of amateur dramatics ("I'm sure we were followed, Dr Clang") with a clanking piano beat.

At over 18 minutes, the last track, "Singring and the Glass Guitar", is the longest track on the album. Subtitled "An electrified fairytale" it initially comes across as a rather lightweight, slightly comical track. In fact, it is a well constructed piece of light prog, telling the tale of our heroes' search for four keys which will combine to release a glass guitar containing the spirit of harmony from a chest(!). The search and discovery for the four keys affords each band member the opportunity to slip in a brief solo. The story is narrated by what sounds like a dwarf on helium. The forgoing description probably makes the whole thing sound a bit silly, but trust me, it's well worth hearing.

The remaining tracks are all of a high quality, especially "Hiroshima" where the message is frighteningly clear.

An excellent album from Todd and his mates, diverse yet melodic, and well performed throughout.

Report this review (#26493)
Posted Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | Review Permalink
loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Todd Rundgren wrote and released a ton of music over his career with the pinnacle album represented here with UTOPIA's 1977 Masterpiece "RA". This album has it all, with pop, rock and progressive leanings featuring UTOPIA's signature four-part vocal harmonies throughout. Without a question I hear musical allusions to STYX, 10CC, Adrian Belew, The ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and YES on this album. Todd and Roger Powell create some truly hypnotic synth and guitar interplay on this album. often trading licks back and forth (aka the track "Sunburst Finish") Although I love all tracks on this album, the standout piece is the Tolkienesk classic epic prog-rock piece "Singring And The Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairytale)" which tracks in at 18 Mins and makes we really wish they had written and recorded more of this kind of music. From an approach perspective this song plays out very reminiscent of TULL's "The hare who lost his spectacles" with its quirky narration. A fun little album with some very memorable numbers and inspirational pieces.
Report this review (#26494)
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2004 | Review Permalink
agrathwohl@gm
4 stars This album should be bought for Side 2 alone! "Hiroshima" and "The Glass Guitar" are both progressive/art rock classics, with immensely poetic, creative lyrics, and incredible vocal and instrumental works. Sure, it's not as symphonic as Todd Rundgen's Utopia, the premire album of Utopia, since they only have one keyboardist, but it is incredibly entertaining nonetheless. The concept of this album is quite clear - every song has something to do with the sun. Whether it be Japan or a communion to the sun - Ra has it all connected with the essential theme being the Sun.

Some may not appreciate Todd Rundgren as much as me -- he was quite a odd fellow, and many saw him as just being "silly" as another reviewer put it. On Drugs or not, with Utopia or not, Todd Rundgren was always a wierd, "out there" kind of guy. I actually like this characteristic, and it shows strongly in his music - he has a more playful side to all of his music, which is a nice change with all of the cliched seriousness surrounding most of the other Prog/Art groups of Utopia's time, such as Yes, Jethro Tull, and Emerson Lake and Palmer (even though ELP has now aged so poorly in some cases that people find it funny).

I have been a huge fan of Todd Rundgren's from the beginning - and he has done everything from Pop to Prog, from Rock to Rap - he's done an album with everything in it - and very few of them are short of masterpieces. Todd Rundgren, whether he be solo or with his group directing the band members, is comparative to Frank Zappa in his ability to compose, innovate, and change the world of music with each work of art he produces, and this album does not fail to live up to this fact. This album is HIGHLY recommended for fans of progressive or fans of Todd Rundgren in general.

Report this review (#26496)
Posted Thursday, April 28, 2005 | Review Permalink
Trotsky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars By the time Utopia's third album was cut, the band had settled on a stable line-up of main man Todd Rundgren (guitar/vocals), ever-present keyboardist Roger Powell, teenage bassist Kasim Sultan and drummer John Wilcox. Unlike the first two Utopia albums (which were actually credited to Todd Rundgren's Utopia) the band tries to be more democractic here, sharing songwriting and even lead vocals. Sadly that is one of the elements that contributes to this being a really inconsistent album that dishes out fine musicianship and uninspired writing in almost equal measure.

This album really is startling uneven. On the positive side we have the fiery Communion With The Sun which has some nice moments, and Sunburnt Finish, a splendid rocker with a great riff, an excellent verse melody (which is sung by Powell, Rundgren and Sultan in turn!), a fusion inspired mid-section and some awesome exchanges by Powell on Moog and Rundgren himself! Then we have Hiroshima, one of Rundgren's most powerful songs ever. With strong anti-war lyrics, heavy riffs, and a gripping arty mid-section (with voiceovers and other sound effects) this piece is also graced by some vicious solos from Powell and Rundgren.

On the downside there are totally un-prog songs which are inferior takes on sounds already covered ad nauseam by Rundgren. Magic Dragon Theatre is one of those quintessential Rundgren pop/soul mini-operas that belongs on his classic 1972-1974 phase. Jealousy is a dull hard rock number sung by Wilcox and even the ballsy Rundgren solo that would have done Richie Blackmore proud doesn't save it. Likewise Eternal Love, despite an interesting psychedelic acapella section and some nice keyboard fills, is basically a draggy piano ballad sung by Sultan.

The uneven nature of the album is probably best summed-up by its 18 minute centrepiece Singring And The Glass Guitar, an excellent tune almost marred by some intermittent and highly ridiculous vocal additions from an "old fairie" John Holbrook. Despite that silliness (which reminds me in a strange way of the awful Hare Who Lost His Spectacles story that interferes with Jethro Tull's excellent A Passion Play album), this song is generally great. An epic fantastical tale, with wonderful melodies, and potent instrumental fireworks ... each band member represents an element within the tale (Rundgren is Earth, Wilcox is Water, Sultan is Wind and Powell is Fire) and each turns in an excellent solo accordingly. I really enjoyed Wilcox's drum solo and Sultan's melodic bass excursions, which is great considering these guys generally were outshone by Rundgren and Powell. That's not to say that Powell doesn't put in another stunning turn on Moog and I must say I really love the epic feel of the Rundgren-led conclusion.

Nonetheless, like its two predecessors, Ra is a flawed prog-rock album. I really wish there was some way to take all the best bits from the first album, the first half of the second and chunks of this one too, and re-edit the whole affair into a prog masterpiece. There is a fair amount of rambling that goes on even within the really good songs, and I can well imagine that hard-core proggers will find albums like Ra to be a big disappointment. ... 61% on the MPV scale

Report this review (#35300)
Posted Sunday, June 5, 2005 | Review Permalink
5 stars This album has maybe the greatest and most entertaining song ever: Singring and the glass guitar. Also Hiroshima is a wonderful great song. and great guitairing guaranteed! This album deserves 4.5stars so ->5 =)

Todd Rundgren used to fill the lp:s so song quality may vary but this is a great musical experience to everyone who likes popprog.

Report this review (#57004)
Posted Saturday, November 19, 2005 | Review Permalink
ClemofNazareth
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk Researcher
4 stars I saw RA listed on a thread a few days back. The thread was a poll asking for a list of the top 10 progressive albums of 1977. Several people listed this one. Other than some of the Italian listings, I recognized pretty much all the albums, except this one. Curious, I decided to troll through my vinyl collection and dig out some old Rundgren music, maybe A Wizard/A True Star or Deface the Music. Imagine my surprise to discover that, not only do I own the RA album, but I have a pristine original pressing, complete with the calligraphy-laden inner sleeve (ornately hand- lettered by artist Hal Fiedler - Hal went on the do the same for the Kinks on their Give the People What They Want LP). The album also features an insert with a pyramid cut-out covered with photos of the "band" on each face of the pyramid, along with these instructions:

"Pyramid assembly instructions:

Cut along the outside edge of the pyramid (do not cut off tab 'a'). Gently fold the edges of each panel into a pyramid shape. Tape or glue tab 'a' under the edge of 'b'.

Experiments have been done with pyramids that have the same proportions as the one you are now holding in your hand. The findings of these experiments suggest that the energy within the pyramid is transformed in such a way that it slows down the rate at which organic matter deteriorates and decomposes. The flavor of foods confined in the pyramid's center was noticeably enhanced, and the freshness of the food itself was preserved for a surprisingly long time. If you would like to try an experiment of your own, find an area free of electromagnetic interference (away from t.v. set, etc.) ~ outside is real good. Using a compass, align one of the faces to magnetic north, place some object inside the pyramid for a while, and observe. Let us know what happens."

So if there were any doubt that Rundgren spent the majority of the 1970's stoned, this answered the question for me at least.

Still, I must admit about all I can clearly remember of Rundgren and of Utopia from my teenage years are "Hello, It's Me", "Bang the Drum all Day", and the uncharacteristic Motown medley from A Wizard. The rest of his music has faded with the dense smoke many years ago. I certainly don't remember purchasing this album some 28 years ago, but there it was. So I played it - three times, as often is suggested on this site.

Turns out it's actually a pretty decent album, although it probably came out about five years too late for the progressive heyday of the early 70's (not that Rundgren was ever much of a slave to fashion anyway). It must have been quite funny to see this on the record shelves next to some of the early Fear, Black Flag, and X recordings.

The quality of the record on the whole is a bit uneven, with "Hiroshima" being the one song I think could easily have been left off the album. Unlike most Rundgren tunes, this one doesn't seem to flow all that well. The guitar work is basically an uneven power-chord progression, punctuated occasionally with Oriental percussion and keyboard-type sounds. Rundgren and the young bassist Kasim Sulton alternate on vocals, which only serves to exacerbate the uneven delivery. The abrupt "nuclear explosion" at the end sounds more like a firecracker going off in a toilet.

The rest of the recording is quite interesting, even listening to it for (apparently) the first time nearly three decades after I paid $6 US for it (the price tag is still on the cover too).

The opening track, "Communion with the Sun", is prefaced by a short overture ("Mountain Top" and "Sunrise") by the late Bernard Hermann, composer of memorable film scores for Vertigo, Psycho, and Citizen Kane. The delivery is spirited and precise, with the harmonizing vocals of the four band members setting a solid tone for the rest of the album. Like several other songs on the album, the subject matter is the Sun ("Ra"), in this case a hippy-like ditty about communing with said Sun .

"Magic Dragon Theatre" is a typical Rundgren composition, with a circus-like delivery and lyrics that surely made more sense to him than they do to anyone else, then or now. I gather the song is about the spectacle of a stage show, complete with dancing girls, monkeys in top hats, and a freak parade. Sounds like Todd is reminiscing about getting wasted and going to the carnival (lol!). The intermittent wailing saxophone is an interesting touch.

"Jealousy" features drummer John "Willie" Wilcox on vocals and harmony guitar, but lack of harmony is basically what this song is about. Apparently someone's significant other grew green eyes, and the bloom is off the rose of that relationship.

"Eternal Love" finds Sulton again on vocals, and apparently Rundgren and the green- eyed monster made up.

"Sunburst Finish" has some really interesting vocals, as keyboardist Roger Powell, Sulton, and Rundgren alternate on the lyrics throughout. The lyrics themselves are pure bong-water - "traveling down the sandy track, compass in hand guitar on my back, trying to find the secret truth inside the pyramid", but the drums are crisp, Rundgren's guitar work is actually pretty upbeat and strong, and the song as a whole is a solid close to the first side of the album.

The final cut on Side B is the 18:24 tome "Singring and the Glass Guitar", the most ambitious effort on the album. Sound engineer John Holbrook gets all hopped up on helium and delivers some kind of Tolkienish spoken-word tale about a guy who's frolicking around in a Land called Honalee and.wait, wrong story. Anyway, the guy is wandering around looking for these golden keys that will unlock a glass guitar so he can smash it and release the "spirit of harmony". If it hadn't been written in 1977 I'd have sworn this was a half-decent plot for a cutout-bin Playstation game. The music itself is very good though, with intermittent solos and extended play by each instrument, along with some fairly strident but aggressive vocals by all four band members. It's a very well-constructed song which, if not taken too seriously, is well worth 18-plus minutes of your life.

All told, this has to be a four star album simply because it represents the only true attempt the venerable Todd Rundgren makes at employing an actual band, as opposed to a group of backing musicians. This in itself makes it an excellent addition to any prog music collection. The overall quality of the music suffers somewhat as a result of Rundgren's democratic approach perhaps, but the variety of sounds is something he would never subsequently achieve on his own. Worth a listen, and who knows - you may already have it and were too busy living in the 70's to remember!

peace

Report this review (#61974)
Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2005 | Review Permalink
5 stars One of the last, finest prog albums from -70's. Lovely hippiestyle with poppish influence from TR. Very pleasant and i find it a masterpiece.

First song is very strong, masterful guitarwork from Todd Rundgren, amazing keyboards, and stunning drums. Oh. its instrumental (mostly) . 10/10

Magic Dragon Theatre is funny, very "happylike". It's Pop-Prog song. This song shows that almost everyone in the band can sing so goddamn good 9/10.

Jealousy is heavy rock song with some prog elements on it. Maybe the weakest song here, sound very much like Ian Hunter's solo career work. 8.5/10

Eternal Love, well because I love Rundgrens solo career, I couldn't have liked this song. Pure 70's great pop. Lovely song 9/10

Sunburst Finish, again heavy rock with pure prog elements. Very strong and entertaining song. The guitar riff is very very nice. Love it. Every band member sings here also. Wonderful song. 10/10

Hiroshima, many consider this as the second "worth hearing songs" here, well it is good but I cannot agree with some, I find it kinda boring. But in the end it gets very good. 8½/10

Singring and the glass guitar. This is imo, one of the few big masterpiece epics in prog-scene, ever. It is a funny, very entertaining and great work from everyone in the band. It is a little fairytale, which I find very good, though it is childish. But the best here is the teamplay, vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keys, all are almost perfect. YOU MUST HEAR THIS SONG. It is GREAT. 20/10. :)

Report this review (#62678)
Posted Sunday, January 1, 2006 | Review Permalink
4 stars Just listening to this, so i looked up the reviews to see what others thought. This has always been one of my favourite Todd/Utopia albums and although patchy in parts features some his great guitar work. The opener is a lift from soundtrack composer Bernard Hermann. I believe it's from the ST of Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This leads into a guitar/synth workout, Communion with the Sun, which used to be the backing music for the Radio 1 chart show back in the 70s, fact fans. Magic Dragon Theatre - well I did say the album was patchy. Jealousy- straight up rock. Eternal Love - nice ballad that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a solo album. Sunburst finish - good group showcase. Especially like the final, long fade instrumental section. I can hear echoes of this in some of Spock's Beard's stuff. Hiroshima - nice music, right on sentiment, cringe lyrics. Singring can come on a bit twee, but is well structured and there is some great individual instrumental work, especially TR on guitar. Usually found for under a tenner in the UK, definitely worth a listen.
Report this review (#63330)
Posted Thursday, January 5, 2006 | Review Permalink
4 stars A true ProG concept album, produced by Todd Rundgren, based on the supreme powers of the sun. Cool right? Along with solid performances by the band, the album RA, features plenty of unique guitar solos performed by none other but the "Runt" himself. All the songs on this 1977 release are strong. The tune 'Hiroshima' with it's chanting warnings is my favorite track on the album. 'Singring and the Glass Guitar' is another stand out clocking-in in at (18:24) minutes it is a beautiful epic. I even enjoy the album cover with it's simple design of the sun on the horizon.
Report this review (#126483)
Posted Thursday, June 21, 2007 | Review Permalink
Atavachron
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
2 stars Todd Rundgren had in fact been an important pioneer in stateside progressive rock at a time when such a thing didn't really exist outside of Zappa and a few scattered bands, and his musical collective Utopia provided a platform for a wider prog palette. Unfortunately their third, 'RA', tends to disappoint save a few good moments here and there. Indulgent, over-produced and somewhat clumsy, the album is filled with layers of operatic vocals, mid-70s pomp-rock and American absurdities and sounds like an ill-prepared meeting of Queen, BOC and the Beatles jamming at Frank Zappa's birthday party, waddling along with college hijinks and enthusiasm. Rundgren's stable of Roger Powell (synths), Kasim Sulton (bass), and John Wilcox (drums) is a decent bunch and the first four tracks are strung together with big vocals and good energy, closing the first half with some old-fashioned riff rock in 'Sunburst Finish'. The eyebrow-raising 'Hiroshima' attempts politics but only embarrasses with naivite and ethnic slurs. Finishing is the 18-minute fable 'Singring and the Glass Guitar-An Electrified Fairy Tale', a failed attempt at epic theater and though vain and unimportant, this release may have some mild interest for prog enthusiasts.

Report this review (#136303)
Posted Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | Review Permalink
Evolver
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams
4 stars On Utopia's second studio album (third overall), they settled in with their permanent lineup, somewhat stripped down from the keyboard heavy band of the first two. Todd Rungren is there, of course, along with John Wilcox on drums and Roger Powell on keys. And here they have added singer/bassist Kasim Sultan.

While the album does have a hefty helping of good prog, there is also a hint of the pop direction they would veer towards in the very near future. Jealousy is a straight ahead rocker, with a single prog sounding riff at the start of each verse and chorus. Eternal Love is a fairly straight love ballad, that sounds a bit like a Queen arrangement (after they had forsaken their progressive roots).

The two purely prog songs are just great. Communion With The Sun opens with a short Bernard Hermann overture before breaking into the speldor of the song itself. Sunburst Finish (a guitar reference), closes the album with an equally proggy piece.

Magic Dragon Theater is a bit silly, but not bad, sort of a crossover prog song. Hiroshima, a heavy handed song about the use of the atomic bomb, features some wonderful screaming solos from Rundgren and Powell.

The album closes with the eighteen minute Singring And The Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairytale). While this prog epic is very well done, the simplistic tale makes it difficult to listen to repeatedly.

On the next album, Oops, Wrong Planet, Utopia took another step away from progressive music (other than to play the older songs in concert). Too bad.

Report this review (#383289)
Posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011 | Review Permalink
Slartibartfast
COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
4 stars There are two Todd Rundgren albums that I find essential to my collection and would have no hesitation recommending to any prog rock fan. The first being of course Utopia and the second RA with Initiation coming in a close third.

You may know Todd from his hits, but when he decided to dabble in progressive rock music, he jumped in whole heartedly.

As you might guess from the cover art and album title, there is a bit of a sun theme going on here. It gets off to dramatic start with Mountaintop And Sunrise / Communion With The Sun. "love is one" dedicated to Ra, of course. Has all of the blazing guitar and synthesizers that endeared the first Utopia album to me.

Magic Dragon Theater breaks off from the sun theme and introduces a little humor. Reasonably complex short tune.

The next two have more commercial potential and are sort of polar opposites: Jealously and Eternal Love. I don't know if the former charted, but if not it should have.

Side one of the original album returns to the Egyptian/sun theme fininishing it up with a Sunburst Finish. Back into solid prog territory with this one.

Side two kicks off with a different type of sun: Hiroshima. A remeberance of an event that wasn't the U.S.'s best moments. "God God is on our side, he placed the power in our hands to teach the yellow peril how to make an oven."

Singring And The Glass Guitar wraps up the album clocking in at whopping 18 plus minutes (hey look, it's a fairytale.) Sort of a tongue in cheek fun epic.

Report this review (#445530)
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | Review Permalink
BrufordFreak
COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Todd's Utopia is down to a quartet but he's still trying to make a contribution to the prog world (as opposed to any and all future releases under the Utopia guise). When this came out, my roommate and I played this one to death, and we had the privilege of seeing the band on the following album (Oops! Wrong Planet") tour when they recreated the opening and final songs of this album in the full color splendor of Pyramid. The progression of Todd on display with this album is all in the engineering effects he's experimenting with at this time.

1. "Overture: Mountain Top And Sunrise/Communion With The Sun" (7:15) (8.5/10) 2. "Magic Dragon Theatre" (3:28) sounds like a more-earthly follow up to "Initiation"'s "Treatise on Cosmic Fire" with some interesting radio theatricity. Not bad; not great. (8/10) 3. "Jealousy" (4:43) an attempt at some snarky metallic music a la "Todd"'s "Heavy Metal Kids." (6/10) 4. "Eternal Love (4:51) a piano-based love song from the pop-tune master. Unfortunately this one has no great hooks or dynamic shifts to suck the listener in (as well as some flawed vocals). (7/10) 5. "Sunburst Finish (7:38) another attempt at Zappa? Todd lets the others have share the vocal leads. Unfotunately, the chorus is horrendous. (5/10) 6. "Hiroshima (7:16) a favorite Utopia song for to this day--though the chorus lyric can't help but bring smiles due to the opportunities for wordplay. Still, the song had some power to it. Unfortunately, it does not stand up very well over time. The best part is the theatric radioplay interlude after the second chorus followed by some awesome synthesizer and guitar soli. (8/10) 7. "Singring And The Glass Guitar (an Electrified Fairy Tale) (18:24) the true epic as it tries to tell a fabulous story, the music stands up okay (though it could well have been an inspiration for SPINAL TAP), but the story doesn't (never really did). (8/10)

More than a lot of Todd's albums, this one suffers terribly from age. Three stars; maybe two.

Report this review (#459510)
Posted Sunday, June 12, 2011 | Review Permalink
4 stars Their first full album of all studio tracks, Utopia's RA is very eclectic in mood and style, with the nice ballad "Eternal Love", the angry "Jealousy", the Beatles-like psychedelia of "Magic Dragon Theatre", the serious band workouts "Communion With the Sun" and "Sunburst Finish", the not-so-serious yet trippy band workout "Singring and the Glass Guitar", and the brooding "Hiroshima" all sitting along side each other, but it's also very consistant in quality. There's some very good playing on the album, namely in the excellent "Sunburst Finish", and "Magic Dragon Theatre" shows that Rundgren still had the ability to find melodies and chord sequences that sound like they've never been used before but always should have been. To round up or down? I gave Utopia's RA 4.5 stars with a 4 star "checked" rating mainly because I think it's nicer to see the lower rating up there first, then to read in the review that it's actually higher, rather than bring it down later. I would not, however recommend listening to RA while sitting inside the actual sun, though, as that could bring your rating down a bit.
Report this review (#580215)
Posted Friday, December 2, 2011 | Review Permalink
stefro
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Coming three years after the release of the 1974's 'Todd Rundgren's Utopia', 'Ra' was the final full-blown progressive rock record from the singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer's cult side project. After the release of the concert album 'Another Live', Utopia would begin to mine a streamlined, radio-friendly pop sound, partly because of the advent of punk-rock but also as a result of Rundgren's seemingly never-ending quest to explore as many styles and genre's as possible. As a result, Utopia's prog-rock phase was brief, yet it was also, at times, singularly brilliant. Whilst 'Todd Rundgren's Utopia' featured a mixture of live and studio tracks that culminated with the extraordinary thirty-minute epic 'The Ikon', 'Ra' feature's all studio recordings and a collection of shorter tracks that sport a slight pop edge yet remain deeply symphonic in their construction. The key piece here, however, is the album's centrepiece, the eighteen-minute multi-part suite 'Singring & The Glass Guitar', a gleaming concoction of slinky synths, soaring guitars and expertly-delivered CSNY-style harmonies that doesn't quite match the incredible heights of 'The Ikon' but still comes pretty damn close. Rundgren(guitar, vocals) is here augmented by Roger Powell(keyboards), Kasim Sulton(bass) and John Wilcox(drums), each of whom are given scope to flex their considerable talents, placing 'Ra' in that indulgent category of prog-rock albums that delight fans of the genre yet frustrate and annoy non-believers. The style has a futuristic edge, as neon-tinged keyboards shimmer under a haze of intricate instrumentation, Rundgren giving the album a rich and deeply-layered sound quality that leaps from the speakers, making for an almost cinematic musical experience. As an overall album, 'Ra' is a complex and colourful affair, full of both catchy melodies and dazzling technical displays and a worthy successor to the group's excellent debut. Its a pity that only two studio albums were made under the Utopia moniker, though with such a restless and inventive spirit as Todd Rundgren at the helm it's no real surprise. Fortunately for us, both albums feature a dynamic and highly inventive array of progressive rock textures, with fans of the genre's 1970's output in for a real feast for the ears. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012
Report this review (#862638)
Posted Tuesday, November 20, 2012 | Review Permalink
2 stars Wasted Potential. Epic Ruined.

This album should have been great. It begins with a great opening track "Mountaintop and Sunrise: Communion with the Sun", a classic late-1970s progressive rock song. It ends with an 18-minute epic. There are some great guitar solos, and some excellent musical sections. However, the album falls flat, badly. First of all, the ruined epic: On top of what would have been a good-to-excellent composition, Rundgren adds a narrator telling the tale of the main character in a FAKE Scottish accent (on "Singring and the Glass Guitar"). It is unlistenable (except perhaps once, or for a good laugh at a party!). Only about seven minutes of music from this 18-minute epic are NOT ruined by this narration. This was totally unnecessary, as the listener can easily get enough of the story from the regular lyrics (and/or Rundgren could have simply typed the story on the album). AND, it is a really unintelligent story in the first place. Between the opener and the closer are a collection of tunes that border on cheesy for different reasons. Some are just sappy ("Eternal Love"), others are over the top silly ("Hiroshima") while the rest are just not that musical. It is almost as if Rundgren decided to sabotage this album out of spite or something. At the very least, the result is that there is only about 15 minutes of decent music on this 45-minute album (the opener, and parts of the other tunes). Really disappointing waste of great potential. I give this album 3.3 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates as low 2 PA stars.

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Posted Friday, March 3, 2017 | Review Permalink
Dapper~Blueberries
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars I am fairly familiar with American Progressive Rock with bands like The Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria, and Kansas. However I never fully invested my time to that sort of thing. I love a few bands but I never fully formed a true relationship with it. But there I was, in the Great Plains of a Spotify playlist with a bunch of 20 minute Prog rock songs. Some well known bands like Rush and Genesis was in there, but also some bands I never heard before. I was trying to find something new there, what band or album should I check out? Randomly I decided to hit shuffle, and what popped up was interesting. A 18 minute track where it starts off with some fairy tale. I was intrigued, and I decided to just listen to the full album to not ruin any surprise whatever that song was gonna be throughout, and what I found was something I could never anticipated for on this sort of album.

I think the best thing about this album is how much stuff that is one it. A lot of lengthy tracks on this one, with the smallest being only a little over 3 minutes long. It is also fairly accessible for a Prog record, however that is not counting the last song, but we'll get there when we get there. I feel like each track is pretty pop rock like, which is not a bad thing. In fact I do really like this style, especially on tracks like Magic Dragon Theatre and Eternal Love where they do still feel like Prog tracks, but with a pop edge to them so you groove out. Some of the tracks also are pretty hard hitting to. For example, the song Hiroshima feels like a hard rock song, and definitely would go well in a hard rock pub if it was played on the radio. I should also mention the vocal work is not half bad. It definitely feels right with the songs and their instrumentals. However while I do like the vocals, I feel like I've heard these same sort of vocal performances in bands like Kansas, Styx, and Blue Öyster Cult. It sort of makes it feel less original, and brings it down a bit for me.

I guess I should also talk about the last track on the album, Singring And The Glass Guitar. Now before I say my piece, I want to let you know that I do really like this track. It is epic and catchy when it needs to be and it does a good deal making a very nice Prog suite, albeit a little silly in a few moments, but I don't mind it. However, I have some problems with this track. I feel like the weakest parts of this track is the middle parts with the keys. When the hero is collecting the keys, they start to play a solo. For the river, it plays a drum solo, for the dragon it plays a guitar solo, etc and etc. Now I do love my fair share of solos, I think they are a fun way to flex the skills of a musician of the band, however I feel like done to much and you'll gain some problems, since I think it'll make the song feel a little clumped up with nonsensical sounds. The appeal of progressive rock suites that they are big and have a great layer of substance, this song feels like it has rarely any substance to be heard of, aside from the start and that very magnificent ending. While the track isn't bad, it is a very weak Prog suite, maybe the weakest one I have heard.

Ra by Utopia is a pretty good album. It has it's shining moments and has some great work to be found on it. However sometimes it feels a little nonsensical and maybe weak at times, maybe more than I'd like to admit. Overall, good album, but not the best.

Report this review (#2691162)
Posted Thursday, February 10, 2022 | Review Permalink
5 stars As I read through the reviews I didn't notice a great deal of 5's. I am cautious about that last star as it can be too easy to personally like something and not be objective for what the review is supposed to be. That is what was wrong with media reviewers addicted to 3 minute pop songs giving us their grand opinion on prog; their most hated genre. If they all hate it, it must be great! Utopia's first just Utopia album (minus the TR) is their 3rd entry but it the first from this line up and this group would go onto be the lineup for the rest of their career for the most part.

As has been mentioned, Todd is odd as in Odd Todd. He has always been off the wall and never followed the usual dots everyone else did. He was rising to become the "male Carole King" and decided to run away and his next entry, his solo Wizard, A True Star goes down in history as one of the most incredible pro albums of all time. Sadly, his venture into prog would not last all that long. This album marks the end of the prog for the band. I bought this album when it was released in 77 and it was a blow away. To this day when I drop on a mediocre pair of headphones and close me eyes to listen I am taken away into a sonic disaster that somehow all syncs together. I could do without the filler track Eternal Love and maybe even Jealousy, but that track has some solid mean bites in it.

I just listened to this the other day using my Phillips Fedilio headphones and it brought back a flood of audio melodies and newness. I fell in love with the album the first time I heard it and that has never grown cold. So I disagree it has not held up well over time. The beginning instrumental Overture is one of the best prog intros ever recorded. I am not as much of a fan of his production methods though I have to admit it works on this one. I prefer a mix and sound that is crisp, clean and punchy with solid bass. That aside this album is sensational. Apart from the first track, my favs are Sunburst Finish, Hiroshima and of course, Singring. Keeping in mind I was on many of the (ahem) same "medications" he took, that last track was hilarious as well as a sonic collision of sounds in that mood if you will but today long after my haze daze it still is great.

Utopia would go onto depress me with their future releases where aside from an occasional song, they are just another pop new wave entry. The album Deface The music was a good album as a parody of Beatles type tunes (I would recommend for Beatles fans). As prog rockers they were truly unique. This album is a 5 star!

Report this review (#2786800)
Posted Saturday, August 27, 2022 | Review Permalink

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