Initiation (album)

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Initiation
Initiation cover
Studio album by Todd Rundgren
Released June 14, 1975
Genre Pop rock
Progressive rock
Rock
Length 67:34
Label Bearsville, Rhino
Producer Todd Rundgren
Professional reviews
Todd Rundgren chronology
Todd
(1974)		 Initiation
(1975)		 Faithful
(1976)

Initiation is the sixth album by Todd Rundgren, released in the summer of 1975.

With this album, Rundgren fully embraced the synth prog sound he began exploring more in depth with Utopia. Like the album before, Todd, Rundgren seemed more interested in experimenting with the capabilities of the synthesizer than in crafting pop songs.

This interest culminated in the side-long, multipart "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," which is a springboard for synth experimentation. This ambitious piece is credited as a solo effort with Rundgren playing all instruments, unlike the first side which also credits other musicians. On vinyl and in the iTunes Store, "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" was indexed into four tracks, each consisting of one of the four movements of the piece (with "Outro - Prana" appended to the fourth track); track times for the individual movements are given below. Both the CD and vinyl erroneously list the song as being 36 minutes exactly (due to the length of the song, the master tape was sped up to fit the entire song onto one side of the vinyl; the original length was 36:44.)[citation needed]

The album is one of the longest single LPs of all time, totaling almost 68 minutes of playing time. This fact was noted on the album's original inner sleeve with a note describing how the sound needed to be condensed in order to fit the songs on the album and as a result, it could easily be damaged if played with a worn needle and the sound quality might be low. It was recommended that a person record the album to tape to improve the sound. The CD version avoids this issue.

The musical composition title "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" is from the title of a book of the same name by Alice A. Bailey.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Todd Rundgren.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Real Man" – 4:27
  2. "Born to Synthesize" – 3:41
  3. "The Death of Rock and Roll" – 3:48
  4. "Eastern Intrigue" – 5:05
  5. "Initiation" – 7:03
  6. "Fair Warning" – 8:08

[edit] Side two

  1. "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" – 35:22
    • "Intro - Prana" – 4:21
    • "II. The Fire of Mind - Or Solar Fire" – 3:50
    • "III. The Fire of Spirit - Or Electric Fire" – 7:33
    • "I. The Internal Fire - Or Fire by Friction" – 19:38
      1. "Mûlâdhâra: The Dance of Kundalini"
      2. "Svâdhishthâna: Bam, Bham, Mam, Yam, Ram, Lam, Thank You, Mahm"
      3. "Manipûra: Seat of Fire"
      4. "Anâhata: The Halls of Air"
      5. "Vishudda: Sounds Beyond Ears"
      6. "Ajnâ: Sights Beyond Eyes"
      7. "Brahmarandhra: Nirvana Shakri"
    • "Outro - Prana"

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard

Year Chart Position
1975 Pop Albums 86

Singles - Billboard

Year Single Chart Position
1975 "Real Man" Pop Singles 83