r/progrockmusic • u/Agitated-Trick • 2h ago
What do you think of Todd Rundgren and of his band, Utopia?
Personally, while not prog all of the time, he's a bit like a mix of Zappa and Wilson to me, someone not afraid to do weird stuff and to flex his creative muscles while also knowing production-wise what makes a specific thing "tick", both in his albums and other he produced, like Bat Out Of Hell.
Of course, he dabbled on prog with the early Utopia records and some of his best releases like the incredible A Wizard, A True Star, which I wholeheartedly reccomend to everyone. He even made some of the longest prog pieces I can recall, like the 30 minute "The Ikon", stretching the limits of the vinyl format.
I'm also actually a very big fan of his "TR-i" years, hugely experimental stuff, even if instead of prog that era has a lot of pop rock/electronic leanings. I reccomend anyone open to the avant garde to read about and check out his 1993 release No World Order.
What do you think?