#176
July 1 1984
Utopia
Oblivion
3 out of 5
Highlights:
Itch in My Brain
From the top it appears that Todd Rundgren was affected by the success the Tubes had with David Foster that he decided to ape the sound and write his own Tubes meets Foster record. I can see Fee and the boys covering Itch in My Brain.
The only Utopia/Rundgren music I’ve dug in this project is Deface the Music and that was an inverted reworking of The Beatles. This is the halfway point between Rundgren’s 70s Something/Anything (“If I Didn’t Try”) sound and his A Capella inclinations. With an eye fixed on chart success, it’s neither rock (But “Crybaby” wants to be) nor R&B (though “Too Much Water” wishes it was) nor New Wave. It’s all of it and none of it.
“Bring Me My Longbow” tries to bring the rhythm but, in the end, leaves me wanting…wanting “Bang on the Drum All Day”, not this faux-afro-pop.
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