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Utopia | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1982 | |||
Recorded | August 1982 at Utopia Sound Studios | |||
Genre | New wave | |||
Length | 48:18 | |||
Label | Network Epic | |||
Producer | Todd Rundgren and Utopia | |||
Utopia chronology | ||||
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Singles from Utopia | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
Utopia is the second of two self-titled albums by the rock group Utopia (the other being Todd Rundgren's Utopia ). It was released in 1982 (see 1982 in music). It was also their only album for Network Records.
During the composing phase of this album, Kasim Sulton had left to pursue a solo career, and Doug Howard from the band Touch was brought in on bass. Howard co-wrote two songs on the album, "Feet Don’t Fail Me Now" and "I’m Looking at You But I’m Talking to Myself". These songs are credited to "Utopia and Doug Howard" on the finished album. Howard stepped aside when Sulton decided to return, had no further involvement with the group, and was not featured in the album's cover photo.
Videos and singles were released for "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" and "Hammer in My Heart". Footage for "Hammer in My Heart" was recorded live on August 18, 1982, at MTV's official first-birthday celebration hosted by VeeJay Nina Blackwood. The song peaked at #31 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Both were featured on the VHS video release "The Utopia Sampler" nominated in 1983 for a Grammy for Best Short Form Video.
The original vinyl LP was released as a three-sided set of two 12" discs - the third side including five additional songs, repeated on both sides of the second disc. It was then released as a single LP with the five additional songs on the included two-sided EP, then as a single LP with an included five-song 45. The later CD releases simply include the five side three tracks on the same disc as the rest of the album. In Europe, the EP was pressed as a 7" with the five songs split between the two sides; elsewhere, the EP was pressed as a 12" with all five songs repeated on both sides of the EP.
BMI credits all songs to Powell/Rundgren/Sulton/Wilcox except:
These tracks are unlisted on the album sleeve.
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard) | 84 |
Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.
Nearly Human is a 1989 album by the rock musician Todd Rundgren, released by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with loss, self-doubt, jealousy and spiritual recovery. It was also the first collaboration between Rundgren and Michele Gray, a singer and ex-model who helped to organize the sessions. Gray sang backing vocals, both on the record and on subsequent tours, and the pair later married.
Swing to the Right is the sixth studio album by Utopia. It followed the Beatles parody-homage Deface the Music. Swing to the Right moves into hard-edged commentary on corporate raiders, warmongers, political villains, and despicable music industry moguls. There is little in the way of progressive rock on this album, which is limited to its title track.
Roger Powell is an American musician, programmer, and magazine columnist best known for his membership with the rock band Utopia.
Kasim Sulton is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton hit the Canadian top 40 in 1982 with "Don't Break My Heart".
Back to the Bars is a live album by rock musician Todd Rundgren, which was released as a double LP in 1978.
Another Live is a live album by the progressive rock band Utopia. It was recorded in August 1975 and released in 1975 on Bearsville.
"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is a power ballad performed by the American musician Meat Loaf. It is a track off his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman. It spent 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #11, and earned a million-selling Gold single from the RIAA, eventually being certified platinum. It remains his second-highest charting hit in the US, behind "I'd Do Anything for Love " (1993), and stands as one of his career signature tunes.
Ra is the second studio album and third release by Utopia on Bearsville Records, released in 1977. Band leader Todd Rundgren planned on releasing the LP in 1976 on his own label, Ethereal Records, as the new four-piece line up was not signed to Bearsville. Replete with an elaborate $250,000 stage show featuring a 22-foot-tall (6.7 m) pyramid and golden sphinx which took 18 months of prep, Ra was Rundgren's most ambitious live undertaking.
Adventures in Utopia is the fourth studio album by Utopia.
Oops! Wrong Planet is the third studio album by American rock band Utopia. It delivers a markedly trimmed down, pop-oriented direction for the band following the progressively influenced previous album, Ra.
Oblivion is an album by the rock group Utopia, released in January 1984.
POV is the ninth and final studio album by the rock group Utopia, released in 1985. It peaked at #161 on the Billboard 200 charts. Except for a live 1992 reunion album, this was the last album released by Utopia, and Rundgren's final studio work under the Utopia banner.
Wasp is the fifth and final studio album by teen idol Shaun Cassidy, released in 1980. In an attempt to salvage a sinking pop career, Cassidy recruited Todd Rundgren to help "reinvent" his music career. Members of Rundgren's group Utopia also played on the record, and the work had a decidedly "new wave" feel.
Trivia is a compilation album by the rock group Utopia, released in 1986. It consists of tracks from their albums Utopia, Oblivion and POV, as well as two new tracks, "Fix Your Gaze" and "Monument".
Redux '92: Live in Japan is an album by the rock band Utopia recorded live on May 10, 1992 at Gotanda Kani Hoken Hall, Tokyo, Japan and released in early 1993. It captures the band's reunion six years after it had disbanded in 1986. The album ostensibly consists of the "best of" as selected by the members Todd Rundgren, Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton, and John "Willie" Wilcox. A companion video of the same performance was released on DVD and VHS tape.
Oblivion, POV & Some Trivia is a Rhino Records compilation album by Utopia that includes all of the tracks from the original Utopia albums Oblivion and P.O.V., and the song "Man of Action," which was originally the b-side to the U.K. single "Mated" and a bonus track on the cassette and CD versions of P.O.V.. It also includes the non-regular-album tracks, "Fix Your Gaze" and "Monument" from the compilation album Trivia.
Doug Howard is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known for his work as a performing/recording musician and occasional co-writer with groups, and artists such as Touch, Stun Leer, Todd Rundgren, Utopia and The Edgar Winter Group. He also played the role as the singing narrator "Songster" in the 1987 live production of the Masters of the Universe Power Tour based upon the Mattel He-Man series action figures. Howard is also the managing partner of Lodestar Entertainment, LLC, a music and video licensing, and publishing company based in New York. He is the paternal grandson of American songwriter Joseph E. Howard.
Party of Two was the 1983 EP by American power pop band the Rubinoos released by Beserkley Records and re-released by Wounded Bird Records, March 13, 2007, with bonus tracks.
Disco Jets is a tongue in cheek project organized and recorded by Todd Rundgren and Utopia shortly after recording Rundgren's Faithful LP and including most of the musicians from those sessions. It's an instrumental recording humorously parodying 1976's US Bicentennial celebrations, disco music, science fiction films and the CB radio fads. It was released in 2001, 25 years after its recording, as part of the Todd Archive Series Vol. 4 – "Todd Rundgren Demos and Lost Albums" 2-CD set on Rhino Entertainment/Crown Japan. It was reissued in 2012 as a standalone CD import on Esoteric Recordings and in 2015 on Cherry Red. It was also released as a limited edition vinyl that was manufactured exclusively by Cherry Red for Record Store Day, only appearing in record shops from Saturday 16 April.