SWING TO THE RIGHT

Utopia: Todd Rundgren, Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton, John "Willie" Wilcox.
1982's SWING TO THE RIGHT--with a classic cover based on a famous newspaper photo of a church-led Beatles bonfire that was spurred by John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" remarks--is sort of a concept album about Reagan-era conservatism in America. Musically, the album combines the angularity and jitters of 1979's ADVENTURES OF UTOPIA with the pure pop bounce of 1981's UTOPIA, creating a refreshing sort of new-wave pop where Roger Powell's synths and Todd Rundgren's guitars held equal weight. Lyrically, though, things are much more grim than before. "Junk Rock (Million Monkeys)" castigates the state of the contemporary music scene to snidely robotic settings, and drummer Willie Wilcox's "Last Dollar on Earth" is nearly as bleak. In the midst of all this, Rundgren's gorgeous, Brian Wilson-inspired acoustic pop tune "Lysistrata" is a beautiful gem, one of his finest songs.

• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 09/18/2012
• Genre: Rock