well "smarty-pants" is pretty much the best descriptor I can come up with for Rundgren as a person
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2017 16:33 (seven years ago) link
There's a few gossipy anecdotes about Todd & RA in Barney Hoskin's book on Woodstock NY, SmallTown Talk. Bassist Kasim Sultsn joined Utopia just before the album and describes driving from Manhattan to Woodstock w/Todd as the most uncomfortable 2 hour ride ever, his new boss refused to speak to him the entire way. Bearsville Records wasn't too happy about the prog/concept direction while Kasim was absolutely mortified by the Egyptian tunic or toga or whatever it is he had to wear on tour. I knew Todd had the reputation of being difficult to work with but overall this book makes him sound like an all-around dick. You come to understand why artists have ONE album produced by Rundgren.
― kanye twitty (m coleman), Thursday, 19 January 2017 17:28 (seven years ago) link
you all are gonna make me listen to this and i hate todd r. :/
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 19 January 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link
I've seen Kasim speak highly of Rundgren in other interviews, but yeah it seems everyone who's worked with Todd has at least one horror story about the guy. The 4-piece Utopia were an excellent band but they had some pretty clear identity issues. The Egyptian shtick lasted exactly one album after which they became New Wave space cadets, then Beatles parodists, then Cars-style microwave pop shortly after. All the while receiving practically no radio play, despite gunning hard for it and having a bona fide star in their ranks.
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2017 17:48 (seven years ago) link
anyway I played Ra today in honor of this thread and yeah...it's pretty good, maybe because I find its weirdness endearing instead of cloying
"Hiroshima" still a weird fuckin tune
"Singring" is really great though, one of the few prog epics with a concept I can actually grasp (as dumb as it is), but it's a neat excuse to get some kickin' rad solos in
still don't know if anything beats "Communion of the Sun" which gives me serious flashbacks to "International Feel"
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:08 (seven years ago) link
For the record I like the '74 s/t more than this, cuz "The Ikon" rules all― frogbs^ This, though I like 'Ra' just fine too.
Anyone else remember the first issues of the LP which came with a cardboard insert with directions of how to cut it out to form a pyramid under which you could put your razor blades and wait to see if they became sharp again? I think the headline for the NME review of this was 'Rundgren reveals secret of keeping sandwiches fresh' or something.
― Bloody Snail, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:29 (seven years ago) link
I knew Todd had the reputation of being difficult to work with but overall this book makes him sound like an all-around dick. You come to understand why artists have ONE album produced by Rundgren.
the stories about Rundgren's assholism abound among his collaborators, but tbh I have a hard time squaring that image with the guy who was by all accounts a doting dad to Liv Tyler. Todd seems... complex. I've only recently started digging into his 70s stuff
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:32 (seven years ago) link
ok i'm listening to this
y'all should check out styx
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:37 (seven years ago) link
m coleman -- some people may have one record produced by Todd, but Kasim Sulton has played with Todd for 40 years. He was in the band I saw Todd play with Tuesday night in NYC. I think it's more likely that Todd is just super intense and impulsive -- and that you either *get* him or you don't.
Josh, you should absolutely listen to this album. It's not wimpy, but it's not macho either, IMO. Macho Todd is usually Piss Taking Todd (i.e., "Heavy Metal Kids"). It usually kicks a little bit of ass, too.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:56 (seven years ago) link
this thread got me to check rym's prog charts for '77 and _movin' on_ by circus is also a really good prog record
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Thursday, 19 January 2017 21:22 (seven years ago) link
I didn't really mean to dis Todd or throw shade above - I'm a big fan. He was accommodating & funny when I interviewed him in the 80s, maybe sarcastic at times but hey I asked some dumb questions. The stuff Kasim said in that book about Todd being so cold was surprising because they've worked together so long and - getting back to RA - so well together. Of course the author could have left out some positive comments in the interest of stirring up controversy. Anyway that quartet lineup of Utopia was a tight, flexible unit. RA kinda sounds like Nazz doing a prog album at times.
― kanye twitty (m coleman), Thursday, 19 January 2017 21:39 (seven years ago) link
Anyone else remember the first issues of the LP which came with a cardboard insert with directions of how to cut it out to form a pyramid under which you could put your razor blades and wait to see if they became sharp again? I think the headline for the NME review of this was 'Rundgren reveals secret of keeping sandwiches fresh' or something.― Bloody Snail, Thursday, January 19, 2017 3:29 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Bloody Snail, Thursday, January 19, 2017 3:29 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yeah I listened to my mom's copy of this album lots as a kid, and it had that insert. I was tempted to cut it out per the directions, but I thought the record was worth a ton of money (ha) and didn't want it to lose any value. "Pyramid Power" was apparently the big pseudoscience of the day, and a few prog dudes rode the wave--see also the Alan Parsons Project's Pyramid album from the following year.
― J. Sam, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:00 (seven years ago) link
Earth Wind & Fire also had some (funky!) pyramid prog tendencies.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:01 (seven years ago) link
1977!https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/Earth%2C_Wind_%26_Fire_-_All%27N_All1.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:02 (seven years ago) link
https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.Mcfd81734e4f3195e4f1acb473976044eo0%26pid%3D15.1&f=1
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:04 (seven years ago) link
Haha niiiice.
― J. Sam, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:05 (seven years ago) link
Waited until 1984:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Iron_Maiden_-_Powerslave.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link
I imagine "Album Covers Featuring Pyramids" could probably be an extensive thread of its own
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 19 January 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link
Also, Jealousy is a fucking jam.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 20 January 2017 06:25 (seven years ago) link
Yes it is, also love the contrast between hard-rocking Jealousy and Eternal Love where Todd's Phill Soul roots show. The guy contains multitudes, ya know?
― kanye twitty (m coleman), Friday, 20 January 2017 16:42 (seven years ago) link
"Pyramid Power" was apparently the big pseudoscience of the day, and a few prog dudes rode the wave
Ambrosia's Somewhere I've Never Travelled
http://www.hackettstownlife.com/images/forum/2012/04/0a727d7d73d63de39d4cff5bb29566e5c2d291e8.jpg
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Friday, 20 January 2017 17:10 (seven years ago) link
glastonbury fayre's build your own pyramid
― no lime tangier, Friday, 20 January 2017 17:26 (seven years ago) link
On one listen, I am not buying that this is better than A Farewell to Kings, as much as I love the Todd.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 20 January 2017 19:05 (seven years ago) link