RA

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.

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