Oblivion
Review by The Dragonfly Sean M. (Switch to
)
02/02/2007
Oblivion was Utopia's first record without label support.
Using in-house promotion and a distribution deal with
Passport records, Oblivion was a fairly successful release
with a billboard hit for the song "Too Much Water" and a
mini sci-fi themed video of the song "Crybaby" was filmed.
The album was produced in the current style of the early
80s, new wave, with synths and electronics taking a more
pivotal roll than on previous albums and was mixed
accordingly with a trebly compressed sound. Of the later era
Utopia albums, this one flows the best, nicely from song to
song, with a perfect balance of fast, medium and ballad
tempos keeping the album riveting and enjoyable from the
first note to the final end cap ballad. All four members
sing lead vocals and the album has many beautiful harmony
vocal passages. "Itch in My Brain," sung by Rundgren, starts
the album off on a strong punk-pop note, a driving beat,
catchy hook and hard hitting finger popping bass work from
bassist Kasim Sulton. "Love With a Thinker" is a keyboard
driven mid-tempo pop song about the hang-ups a man has with
loving a smarter woman: "What does she think of me?" "If I
Didn't Try" and "Maybe I Could Change" are enjoyable ballads
of the classic Rundgren variety, short enough that they
don't get ponderous or portentous. "Too Much Water" is an
engineered certifiable hit with its new wave beat, synth
bass lines, electronic drum breaks and repetitive sing-along
fragment lyrics: "Too much water, too much water, too much
water under the bridge." Side two of the album flies by
almost too fast, with one strong composition following
another. "Crybaby," "Welcome to my Revolution," "Winston
Smith Takes it On The Jaw" and "I Will Wait" all flow
effortlessly together. "Crybaby" is simple brilliance and,
in my opinion, should have been the big hit from the album.
Starting with a simple two chord riff of the Stevie Nicks
"Dreams" variety, it develops into a plaintive pop song with
a clever vocal delivery and climatic refrain hook. The
accompanying video of a post-apocalyptic Utopia dome's
citizens deciding the fate of the ex-US president who waits
his fate, slowly dying on the other side of the glass, is
fascinating and an unexpected interpretation of the lyrical
context of the song. "Welcome to My Revolution" is sung by
drummer Willie Wilcox and is a dark look at the
schizophrenia and violence of modern society. Wilcox gives
his best vocal performance here, screaming powerfully as he
never has on any previous Utopia album. The song is fast and
urgent, reflecting the lyrics. "Winston Smith" is a literal
song translation of Orwell's anti-Utopian world of "1984."
It is a nice poppy tune, though the lyrics really aren't
much else other than a list of phrases lifted from Orwell's
book. "I Will Wait" caps the album, bringing the energy
level back to Earth with a short but beautiful ballad that,
discounting the new wave production, would fit perfectly
along side any of the "Something/Anything" ballads. With
beautiful inverted chord progressions and a logical
structure leading to the final refrain of "I will wait
forever..." this song ends the album perfectly.
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