Sunday, November 26, 2023

Let's pretend that we could never reach the end...

When this dropped a few Black Friday's ago (2017 to be exact) it seemed kind of, well, random.  Why demos for the P.O.V. album, and why only three selections from that particular title?  In the '80s Todd Rundgren and Utopia reliably toured and dropped a new album roughly every year until they ceased around 1985.  P.O.V. was the finale for Runt and Co., and while it didn't quite reach the infectious Beatlesque plateaus of Deface the Music (1980) and the even better self-titled Utopia two years later, P.O.V. did bear copious fruit.  If you're an aficionado of this era of the man and his band in question, from album to album you by and large knew what you were in for with each succeeding release - tight production, a predictable mix of ballads and taut rockers, perhaps a little prog seasoning, and of course Utopia's trademark, heavy-handed harmonies. Thankfully it was an era when the major labels still peddled some integrity amidst an ever-accumulating quotient of commercial gloss and overbearance.  It seemed like such a simpler and more gratifying time but I digress.  Once again, the ep I'm presenting here is only three songs deep with prototypes that were quite hashed out already and would differ little with the finished versions. Slight as they may be the discrepancies are present, and the tunes are thoroughly rewarding. Enjoy.

A1. Secret Society
A2. Mated
B. Play This Game

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