Utopia - Oblivion (1983). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly remastered edition of the classic 1983 album 'Oblivion' by Utopia. The album saw Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox strike out on their own, funding the recording themselves and in the process producing an album of startling originality. Featuring such classic tracks as 'Itch In My Brain', 'Cry Baby' ,'Lovewith a Thinker' and 'Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw', 'Oblivion' was one of Utopia's finest later albums…

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever official release of Todd Rundgren At The BBC.
This collection comprises three CDs featuring all of the surviving radio and television broadcasts in the BBC archive transmitted on radio and television in the UK between 1972 and 1982. The set features on CD Todd’s solo 1972 BBC Radio One “In Concert” performance, recorded soon after the release of his seminal album “Something Anything”, the classic 1975 performance by Todd Rundgren and Utopia at Hammersmith Odeon, London, (including a previously unreleased track ‘Something’s Coming’) - on the first ever UK concert tour of Todd Rundgren and Utopia, a 1977 performance at the Oxford Polytechnic by Todd Rundgren and Utopia (promoting the “Ra”) album…

Easily, 1980 could have gone down as the year that Utopia broke through to the mainstream. With the commercial success achieved with the album Adventures in Utopia and its single, "Set Me Free," it appeared as though Rundgren and company were well on their way with their next release. But instead of issuing another album of new wave-esque pop, the group completely switched gears and released a twisted Beatles parody, Deface the Music. While longtime fans loved it, the release obviously confused and alienated their newfound mainstream following, as it failed to follow its predecessor's strong chart showing (and with John Lennon's death just two months after its release, a Beatles parody wasn't exactly what many rock fans wanted to hear at that point in time). As a result, the group only performed selections from the Deface album during its short supporting tour. Now fans can finally hear what the songs sounded like on the concert stage, with Vol. 6 of Rundgren's bootleg series, Deface the Music Tour.

Despite his efforts to democratize the group, Utopia still feels very much like Rundgren's baby, mainly because the only songs that really work are ones that he writes and sings. And since Utopia is now merely a hard rock band, Rundgren reserves his more ambitious ideas and complex songs for his solo records. The end result of all this is that Oops! Wrong Planet is more consistent than earlier Utopia records, but is not as sporadically brilliant or rewarding as Rundgren's solo albums. Even the bad moments, such as the very silly "Gangrene," aren't particularly unlistenable, yet there are simply too many average, undistinguished songs for the record to actually soar. Nevertheless, Rundgren turns in some fine moments – "Love in Action" is a terrific hard rocker, as is "Trapped," and "Love Is the Answer" is an ideal stadium anthem – that make the record worthwhile for the cult, even if it will sound like little more than a period piece to most listeners.

It's hard to say exactly why Another Live works better than either Todd Rundgren's Utopia or Initiation, Rundgren's two previous excursions into synth-heavy prog-rock. It's not that the music is more energetic or focused, since it isn't. Neither is the music more challenging or ambitious - it's simply better. It's true that the second half is devoted to covers (West Side Story's "Something's Coming," the Move's "Do Ya") or Rundgren classics ("Heavy Metal Kids," "Just One Victory"), all of which are more song-oriented than anything on the first half, or anything on either TR's Utopia or Initiation. That said, the prog-rock epics that comprise the first half of the album cut deeper than before, possibly because the band has worked out the kinks in its style, developing a unified, provocative sound. It still tends to be a little excessive and impenetrable, but intriguing moments float to the surface alarmingly often.

Recorded at the same time (July 1972) at the same studio (Bavaria Studios, Munich) as Amon Düül II`s well known and of their best efforts 'Wolf City', Utopia was a common project by Amon Düül II producer and musician Olaf Kübler (saxophone, moog) and Düül bass player Lothar Meid. Using the synergy of the parallel sessions with the Wolf City recordings, Olaf Kübler appreciated Düüls singer Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz as singer of 2 of the album tracks and Düül heads Weinzierl and Karrer on guitar and violin. There is also a different version of Deutsch-Nepal on the album. As Olaf Kübler reminds Deutsch-Nepal was originally planned to record only for the Utopia album. Musically Utopia has a lot in common with the Düül records 'Wolf City' and 'Viva la Trance' and slightly early Passport and Embryo influences…

"Utopia" is a studio project by Olaf Kübler and Lothar Meid. Because it featured several regular members of AMON DÜÜL II (including Chris Karrer and John Weinzierl), it has usually been regarded as part of the DÜÜL discography, and, indeed, the CD reissue credits the album to AMON DÜÜL II…

For much of the double-album Todd, Todd Rundgren was exploring weird instrumental avenues, creating a warped, synth-fueled variation of prog rock. This wasn't the culmination of the weirdness A Wizard, A True Star initiated – it was merely the beginning. Not long after completing Todd, Rundgren assembled Utopia, a prog rock group with no less than three synth players, plus guitar, bass and drums…

RA found Utopia moving away from the long, experimental instrumental jams that distinguished their first two albums, but what's surprising about it is how the group changed. Sure, the lineup was different but their approach changed on RA, as they moved away from prog rock and toward hard rock. In that regard, it makes sense that Rundgren's possessive has been stripped from Utopia's name, since the band no longer sounds like an indulgent spin-off of his own albums…

Utopia wandered into the wilderness with Deface the Music, losing much of the audience they won with Adventures in Utopia. If its follow-up Swing to the Right is any indication, the band didn't really care, since they doggedly pursue a weird fusion of new wave pop, arena rock, and soul, all spiked with social commentary…

Utopia followed Swing to the Right, their first album for Elektra subsidiary Network, a mere six months after, dubbing the new album Utopia. Presumably, an eponymous release signaled a new beginning for the group, which is true to a certain extent. Utopia finally became a true collective here, with each member's contributions sounding remarkably similar, in performance and composition…

For all their many attributes, Utopia was notoriously uneven on record. They were just as capable of turning out great pop tunes as they were to wander into meandering jams or directionless hard rock – and this applies not only to their earliest art rock records, but also to their mainstream pop/rock albums. That's what makes Rhino's Anthology (1974-1985) such a welcome addition to their catalog…

Recorded live in 1980, this live set from Todd Rundgren and Utopia is largely culled from the albums "Adventures in Utopia," "Oops! Wrong Planet," "Hermit of Mink Hollow," "Back to the Bars," "Something/Anything," "A Wizard, A True Star," and "RA." In total 29 songs are featured, displaying the band's awesome power…

This live performance by Todd Rundgren and his group Utopia was recorded in 1981 at the Royal Oak Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. It includes "Couldn't I Just Tell You," "Just One Victory," "Love Is the Answer," "Caravan" and more.

Featuring what many consider to be the classic Utopia line-up and over 23 classic cuts, "Live in Boston" 1982 is a decent DVD concert. It highlights a prolific and powerful rock band at the height of their creative energies.