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Other frankly more knowledgeable fans (than I) may favor other tracks, but I feel these are the classics here. Another factor is that this is very poorly transferred to digital and --if anything-- is likely to sound worse than decent vinyl. There are several tracks from this release that must be considered essential for Rundgren fans. I also have little use for the highly derivative 36 minute tune because though it has merit, I have much more refined and creative music of the genre in my collection. This is a shame since the overall quality of music deserves better treatment (perhaps there is a better transfer available). In my opinion these are "Fair Warning" which is a yearning ballad; "Initiation" which is a danceable extravaganza. almost a show tune complete with the classic flanged alto solo by Sanborn; and "Real Man" which though I personally have no use for it is still a classic vamp.
I was disappointed that "Fair Warning" and "Eastern Intrigue" didn't appear on the 2CD best of Todd that came out in the mid-eighties, and it made me wonder what other delicious progressive rock moments of Todd's were overlooked in favor of more pop material. I remember owning this on vinyl back in the stone age when music was produced by scraping the tip of a rock across a glossy black platter. Don't get me wrong, I love "Bang the Drum All Day", "Real Man", "Hello It's Me", "Can We Still Be Friends" and other pop gems of Todd's catalog, but his ability to make musical discovery accessible equals or supercedes his ability to create top notch pop classics. Like the Beach Boys, I'm sure that Todd has his critics who think he should stay close to the "I Get Around" moments in his catalog. "Initiation" included my all-time favorites by Todd, "Fair Warning", "Eastern Intrigue", and "Real Man". If I were assembling a playlist for my portable mp3 player these songs would dovetail nicely with the Beach Boys' "Surf's Up".
I've searched high and low for his "Works" and finally found it without bidding against other fans on ebay. I'm glad I finnaly found this piece of Todd's work on CD. It brought back memories of days well gone by.
I'm fine with that--the bizarre album is virtually unlistenable except for the first track. I'm not going to experiment with what Todd used to come up with this album, but perhaps that means that I won't ever appreciate this album. Todd has dozens of classic songs, so even devoted Todd-ees can skip purchasing Initiation and have a real complete disography of his work. If there ever was a reason to stay drug-free, Initiation proves it. Todd, easily one of the most gifted songwriters in pop rock history, completely falls off the deep end with Initiation.
I should add that all the songs on here have meaning.Side two is given to an instrumental piece called Cosmic Fire. Fair Warning is a cool ballad with great lyrics about an individual's choice in the way things are(I don't like to call it fate as it releaves the person's responsibility for their actions like the song suggests). The most known song on here is Real Man which beings the album in fine fashion followed by Born To Synthisize(think of the Grateful Dead's What's Become Of The Baby).Eastern Intrigue is fun which runs into the title track which smokes with some help from early midi stuff.
There isn't a bad song on here and it's unfortunate that at it's release was widely panned. In fact, it was during these sessions that Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox were "asked" to join the band. This is one of my all time favorite Todd albums.
Side two is made up of the Cosmic Fire segment running 36 minutes. The best sounding version is again the Japan import The album also lasts 67 and 1/2 minutes which in the days of lps was quite long.
Side one features six songs played mostly with Utopia which was going thru a lineup change at the time.
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