Rare glimpse of fully developed Utopia
Joseph | Cleveland, Ohio | 03/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a Utopia fan from way back, this CD was at first intriguing to me simply on the basis of when in their career it's from. I've found that most of the live audio recordings of Utopia out there revolve around 1977-79 largely due to the attention Todd was attracting with 'Back to the Bars' and 'Hermit of Mink Hollow'. A time when the democratic concept band of Utopia was only in it's infancy and Roger, Kasim and Willie were very much still in Todd's shadow still even playing much of Todd's solo material. Beside that most of what's left is the entertaining (and out of print) 'Evening with Utopia' DVD which is emphasizing heavily the new material of the time and 'Live at the Royal Oak' DVD, which never sounded real inspired and still captured Utopia in a formulative stage. With the 'REDUX' CD-we are given a great, but, past their time Utopia not really representing what they were in their prime and what they played. The 'Oblivion Tour' CD may well be that one recording that shows Utopia as a fully democratic unit as intended with ALL four guys leading the way, playing a set list representing their own catalog serious and lighter and as slick as a band in the 8th of what would be 10 year existence. Just about everything is hear-from little live sound imperfections, typical in Utopia, to a rousing set list building as it goes along!"
A Great Performance, Crappy Sonics
Todd and In Charge | Miami, FL | 03/05/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"By 1984, Utopia was suffering from Spinal Tappish missteps, such as their great Utopia (Network) record being marred in distribution problems, so much so their state of mind was revealed by the title of their next record, "Oblivion." They would only release one more record, POV, before Todd moved on to create the epic, amazing A Cappella.
So while our silly boys might have been having problems with their labels, and with distribution, this tour document reveals they had no problems at all onstage. This is an interesting record, in that the live performances open up some of the sterile tracks from Oblivion. In fact, these versions are much better.
Do I love the heavy reliance on electronic drums, or Roger's sometimes-cheesy synth lines with that strap-on? No, but the overall performances do seem to work. This is a curious record, capturing Utopia touring on a substandard album, near the end, yet they manage to find fresh energy and inspired performances nonetheless.
I know this is a bootleg, but I do wish the audio pickup was a bit better. Still, it's a record for Todd fanatics like myself to enjoy, and I hope the Archive series continues to crank out great shows like this one."
Captures the immediacy and the talent...
Amazon.com-lover | California | 04/08/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"but it loses a point due to the weird recording! Some songs and sometimes even a part of a song, seem to have been recorded in a tunnel, or an echo chamber, or some vocal parts are louder then softer... BUT as far as the live "experience" and hearing the great singing and musicianship and the fantastic Utopia songs... that is all there. Very worthwhile, but I was extremely puzzled by the somewhat strange final mix. Maybe this was the best that could be done with that particular recording..."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
