Todd Rundgren-Initiation (1975)

 



Artist: Todd Rundgren

Title: Initiation

Label: Bearsville

Format: 8-Track

Catalog Number: M8 6957

Year of Release: 1975

Country and Year of Edition: US 1975

Sell Price: $3.52

Sell Date: 7/4/26

Condition: VG/F untested

Discogs Last Sold: 3/17/26 NM/VG+ $1.99

Low: $1.99

Median: $3.50

Average: $3.52

High: $5.00

Current low price: n/a

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 0

Have/Want: 11/14

Where Sold: Fort Worth, TX

Time It Took To Sell:  2 years

Where and When Bought: ebay 8-track lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+

Sad To See It Go: No 

Todd's 4th solo album, around when Utopia began running concurrently, I somehow never heard.  It is famous for being one of the most singularly long releases on two sided vinyl, clocking in well over an hour.  Last year a Record Store Day version expanded it over 4 sides.  The 8-track stuck to the track listing order.  The Prana intro of A Treatise of Open Fire which encompasses the second half of the record starts here at the end of the second track and lasts all the way til the end.  My initial reaction from hear that alone (and sent off to someone in a text) is "Todd can be hit and miss, but this is a total prog space jam!"

I've been acclimating myself to this album online after the final portion of the Treatise made my ears perk up, after bringing the sold tape safely to the leader.  With two tape breaks I didn't want to further push my luck with a large 8-track order, so online streaming the title to review it is what I've got to do since somehow I don't have another copy in any format.  While it didn't matter on the 17 minute per track 8-track, Todd left this on the inner sleeve: "Technical Note: Due to the amount of music on this disc (over one hour), two points must be emphasized. Firstly, if your needle is worn or damaged, it will ruin this disc immediately. Secondly, if the sound does not seem loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape. By the way, thanks for buying the album"

As with any Todd album, to use the corporate cliche phrase of 2026, "there's a lot to unpack here."  The critical cliche of yore might have used the phrase "sprawling" despite the length of a short double album.  Ever the environmentalist, Todd insisted only one record be used for it's 68 minutes to save vinyl during the mid 70's gas crunch vinyl shortage.  He dutifully cut the bass and even sped up the music.  Listening to this record multiple times in any format is big enough a project, but I'm sure there is a Todd fanatic somewhere to A/B the original single album, cassette, 8-track, 1988 CD, remastered 1998 and 2014 CD's or the 2025 translucent blue double vinyl that came out on Record Store Day that year.

So let's get to brass tacks: the first half is a group of songs, the biggest being the minor hit (#83 Billboard) "Real Man."  The second half is what makes this interesting.  The 7" included the opening intro "Prana" on the B-side and it has been noticed that version sounds slow because it didn't have the mastering constraints.  After listening start to finish a few times, my conclusion is the same as my initial reaction.

Hit and miss with a total space jam.

FOR FURTHER REVIEW:

Something/Anything? (1972)

Bette Midler-Songs For The New Depression (1976)

Meat Loaf-Bat Out Of Hell (1977)

Soundtrack-Rock 'N' Roll High School (1979)

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band-With A Little Help From My Friends (The Anthology...So Far) (2000)

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