TODD RUNDGREN UTOPIA COMMUNION WITH THE SUN DEMO

[vulcan866]

never grew up i guess cause i still love this music



[Marco33185]

TODD n'est même pas dans la liste des 100 meilleurs guitariste de tous les temps éditée par le magazine Rolling Stone.

Mais quand on voit dans cette liste Zappa à la 45ème place ou Steve Howe à la 69ème et dans le même temps Kurt Cobain à la 12ème place (il ne devrait même pas être là) on se dit qu'ils n'avaient pas fumer que du tabac le jour où ils l'ont faites.

Des incompétents point barre !!

[PaHillLL]

awesome!!!!!!!

[celticbro28]

Does have that Yes-like sound quality to it. Could almost be on Tales of Topographic Oceans or Relayer.

[wolfgirlie52]

thanx for digging this one out!!!!

[ColonelPablo]

They talk about the Eddie Offord sessions in the barn in my book, A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio. Just sayin'

[dannytows]

A monolith through the ages...

[mojorisen74]

Found out that this is the version engineered by Eddie Offord. The band didn't care for the first recording they did themselves and wanted to try Eddie's approach. Eddie recorded with Yes and ELP. He liked recording the band in one take, then he would add vocals and solo's as overdubs later. Not sure why they used the take they didn't like?.........

[JonP1961]

@mojorisen74

Are you ready Eddie?

[tigrenera59]

Thank you very much! An Excellent version!

[MERCURHILLMANIAC]

RA RA RA RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­!!!

[brickbizarre]

Great song. I remember Utopia opening with this one way back. What a first impression! I was thinking that even if this was the only song they performed, I would have still felt like I got my money's worth! But little did I know how proficient this band, and Todd, were. They were taking intermission when most bands would have been finishing! Over four hours later, we had moved all the way up to the front row because most people just wouldn't hang in there all night. Amazing.

[Snotra]

Genesis + yes = Utopia

[TheArbiter74]

I do remember thinking there was completely unique & interesting about them. Perhaps, it was a contact high from the sweet smells in the audience! L.O.L.

[tg1106]

Thanks for putting this up. These guys ROCKED!

[Jpbass2001]

Being a cross between Mahivishnu Orchestra & The Beatles...Still the Best Band in The Land-Utopia!

[imharpo]

Great sound. Just beautiful. Ahh, Those were the days.... 5*****

[Dougout2424]

Thanks Mojo. Nothing better than this from a TR fan and HS class of 74!

[fudstack]

Love it !!!

[interestingXmonster]

The keys have a more Genesis type sound...and I like how raw it is! The cheap flanger on the lead vocal is a really nice touch as well...

[Ybbodeus5982]

A neighbor "dragged" me to see Utopia's RA show in April of '77, my senior year in high school, and I have flat out never forgotten how seriously Todd and Company should be taken as musicians and showmen. Something/Anything might be greatness, but RA et al was flat out marvelous. The Runt proved he could collaborate, as well. I'm drunk and just turned 50 about two hours ago, so sue me for being simplistic......and stuff.

[rdanlord]

I saw RA at the Fox in Atlanta March 25th...and I just turned 50 too! Don't ever recall seeing a better concert.

[korttihakemus]

Singring and the Glass Guitar is definitely one of the great fairytalesongs of all time. And this "RA" album as a whole is fantastic.

[yodenman]

Agree 100%

Singring is one of my all time favourites. 18 minutes of musical genius.

Like you, I also love the whole album. I bought the CD, but still kept the vinyl album because of the artwork and pyramid insert etc.

[PhilistineTheArtLuvr]

This is the best Utopia has ever done, along with the rest of the album.

How sweet it is to be able to listen to it again.

[utopianmindset]

whoa, sounds pretty cool I Like both versions...this one is more raw (obvs cause its a demo) but cool all the same

[decapitatespammers]

This is great stuff

[431516020205]

i used to hear them playing while i was at my buddys house in bearsville, bearsville sound studios years ago! love utopia

[hiptrip99]

They were popular in Japan then !!

I remember the day I bought " RA " album.

[tripmender]

Thanks for this. I once listened to this on ipod, watching the sun come up over the mountains behind the Mekong river. An all-time favourite, and a rare "compact epic" - other dodgy prog bands have taken three times as long to say far less than this! Truly inspirational.

[neorunt]

Yeah tripmender, and who writes lyrics like this?

The images that play through my mind are incredible.

Sunlight flashing down valleys...

Perhaps running up to the top of a pyramid to see the Sun rise...

I used to play this so loud that I got in trouble with neighbours.

[default99telecom]

Kaz looks like the karate kid in this photo!

[SugarGhandi]

I saw Utopia's Ra tour in Chicago at a theatre on Broadway and Lawrence and it was great set. I remember Todd climbing the side of the pyramid for the electrified fairy tale and when he stood at the top with his legs spread to align with the top of the pyramid, he played the guitar to dig into the mountain and find the last ring to free the princess. As the sounds of the mountain openning filled the theatre, Todd reached down to grab a cable and dropped to the floor to thunderous applause.

[lordmjh]

Utopia was so underrated.Wish I could have seen them live.

[WomackPhotoKCMO]

This mix has a ton of PUNCH!

[TAFKA0]

Saw Utopia do this song at the Masonic Temple in Detroit on the "Ra" tour. The pyramid stage was cool and the band sounded great.One of the best concerts I've been to. Thanks for posting this.

[YouTupeea]

Excellent !

[fnlost]

TR & UTOPIA = BRILLIANT

[Dethancooper]

Wow.  Nice!!!

[NewRiff]

Actually, it's much LESS produced than the one that ended up on the record. I'd say for Todd, this (demo) was somewhat of a rough mix. LOL And for me, his solo on the record was better. But, man, listen to that guitar tone - Todd always has the best lead guitar tone.

This was extra fun for me because with less production, the vocals aren't as blended and you can really hear what each is doing - as well as all the instrumentation - Thank you SO much for posting, Mojo - TR is my hero:)

[fperdomo]

wow... love this version.. Timpani drums!!! and a better solo from todd....

its more produced than the version on RA

bass gets funkier during the solo tooo..

[laineycrusoe]

Thanks! Never knew this existed until now! Ra is my favourite Utopia album

[santyrush]

tan jovenes en la foto, y ya eran unos grandes musicos,con una gran trayectoria por delante....

[neorunt]

Thanks so much mojorisen74. This song will always be one of my Utopia favourites. It simply takes off and soars. Takes me away.

[marci147]

Thank you, mojorisen74, awesome stuff you've

got, thanks for sharing with us. Todd is Godd

[cantsingbutgotsoul]

Ah Ra all is 1!!!!

Excellent post thank you!!!!

Utopia,Todd all so sweet!!!

[sbax4090]

Thanks Mojorisin74

[db0956]

Utopia at its finest!

[rayconklin]

Definitely an interesting demo, and it's great to have rarities like this available to listen to; still, I think Utopia picked the correct take and/or mix to release.

If you've got any more of these gems, PLEASE keep 'em coming! Very cool stuff!

[mojorisen74]

They are nearly impossible to find as they were only issued to mastering engineers, artist's and label exect's. only a handful, maybe 50 copies were pressed. Someone got lucky finding this one and was smart enough to record a copy of it.

[manchestercity5]

Brilliant, great intro where did you get the test pressing

[manchestercity5]

Brilliant any idea where I could get a copy of the test pressings material

[zoe3490]

Huge fan of Todd since '74, loved early Utopia (got bored of later) this was for me the last great concept Utopia movement.

Thanks for posting, worthwhile stuff however not readily played. Must dust down that vinyl box!

[daltronica]

Excellent stuff. Brilliant band. Where did you find these cool photos by the way?

[mojorisen74]

It's a screen capture from the Utopia retrospective DVD

[StephanieRegan]

Thank you sooo much for posting this Jon! I have never heard this before! It's a little slower version. I love it! :)

[mojorisen74]

Both demos are from a rejected test pressing of the RA album. Todd accidently spliced those mixes into the master tape.