(RockAndMetal.com) (08/11/04)

By Michael Bennett

NEW YORK, NY, USA - TODD RUNDGREN has just released "Utopia: Live In Boston 1982," the second DVD from his successful archival series that was launched in association with Sanctuary Records two years ago.

Culled from Rundgren's personal library of footage he amassed during his nearly 40 year career, the DVD not only includes a 90-minute concert which has been remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, but also an additional 90 minutes of completely new interview footage with all four Utopia band members.

"Utopia: Live In Boston 1982" was taped during the band's concert to promote their album, "Utopia."

Songs from "Utopia" were rarely performed after that tour, which should make this concert footage highly coveted among Todd Rundgren fans.

Although 'Hammer In My Heart' and 'Princess Of The Universe' became staples of later tours, many of the other fine songs were performed infrequently, if at all, after 1982.

Rarities from the "Utopia: Live In Boston 1982" DVD include, 'Libertine,' 'I'm Looking At You,' 'Say Yeah,' and 'Infrared & Ultraviolet.'

Todd Rundgren, a prodigiously talented singer, songwriter and producer started his career as a musician in 1967, when he formed The Nazz and released the prototypical psychedelic pop hit 'Open My Eyes.'

Rundgren recorded three albums with The Nazz before disbanding the group.

After two self-defining solo albums in both 1970 and 1971 (the first of which spawned 'We Gotta Get You A Woman,' the original version of that song issued previously under the "Runt" moniker as a single on Ampex Records), Todd Rundgren released the seminal "Something/Anything."

The 1972 double album reached the American Top 30 and spawned the smash hits 'Hello It's Me' (originally recorded with The Nazz) and 'I Saw The Light.'

Producing, engineering, mixing and playing every instrument himself, it encompassed almost every style in the Pop/Rock pantheon.

Throughout the past 30 years, Todd Rundgren has released a number of technologically advanced solo albums and -- because he was so prolific that he needed an additional outlet for his music -- many albums with Utopia as well.

Rundgren is also one of the world's most successful and sought-after music producers, working with such diverse artists in the past such as The New York Dolls ("The New York Dolls"), Grand Funk Railroad ("We're An American Band"), Meat Loaf ("Bat Out Of Hell"), Hall & Oates ("War Babies"), XTC ("Skylarking"), Patti Smith ("Wave"), and many more.

Todd Rundgren's has released four CD packages from his personal reissue/bootleg series thus far, including "Live At The Forum '94," which was recorded in England in 1994, in North London's famous venue The Forum.

On that release, Rundgren runs through a set list that includes his 1988 hit 'Bang The Drum All Day,' 'Love Of The Common Man,' and selections from his groundbreaking 1994 album "No World Order," the world's first audio-only interactive CD-ROM.

The "Nearly Human Tour, Japan '90" release was recorded with an 11-piece band in January 1990 at the Sun Plaza in Tokyo.

At the time, Rundgren was promoting his most recent album, "Nearly Human," which dominates the live performance, as well as such classic hits as 'Hello It's Me' and 'Can We Still Be Friends.'

"The Nazz' Open Our Eyes: The Anthology" was a 35-track retrospective of that group's short but highly influential career.

Utopia's live broadcast for legendary San Francisco radio station KSAN in the Spring of 1979 is immortalized on "KSAN 95FM Live '79."

The "Live In Columbus: 1980" concert DVD was released in July of 2003, highlighting songs from the best selling album of their career, "Adventures In Utopia."

Earlier this year, Todd Rundgren released "Liars," his first all-new studio album in nearly a decade, to worldwide critical acclaim.

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