![]() In other words, it’s the perfect show for lockdown rediscovery. Utopia is dark, weird, unique and densely plotted. With any luck it will renew interest in the original, because it’s just as enthralling now as it when it first aired. We’ll probably find out soon enough, as Amazon Prime’s US remake, penned by Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn, has just hit the platform. Perhaps what Utopia really needed was today’s deranged political climate and a terrifying real-life virus in order to thrive because themes of global extinction, shadowy corporate overlords and conspiracy theories feel perfectly suited to 2020. Darkness aside, perhaps it was ahead of its time. Quite why Utopia was so overlooked is a bit of mystery. ![]() Combined with Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s strange, discombobulating soundtrack, and a colour palette taking in blue skies and golden fields and weird green interrogation rooms, the whole series presents itself as slightly off-kilter, and this unique aesthetic buffs away some of the show’s sharper edges. This ever-present gallows humour lightens Utopia’s emotional load. Their methods are abhorrent but perhaps some of their thinking is sound? Our protagonists must decide on which side of the fence they stand, and we find ourselves in their shoes, asking the same questions. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid. As details of the conspiracy unfold, we start to wonder if the bad guys actually have a point. Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. A global conspiracy, with reality-fracturing consequences, playing out against mundane British suburbia – it’s a striking juxtaposition, making Utopia both outlandish and believable at the same time.Īnother intriguing facet to Utopia is the ethical dilemma it presents to its characters – and to the viewer. ![]() It’s like a paranoid conspiracy thriller from the 1970s transported to middle England. Their only hope of survival is to go on the run with an infamous terrorist named Jessica Hyde (Fiona O’Shaughnessy).įrom top to bottom, Utopia challenges you. Loyalties are divided, morals compromised and there’s a good old fashioned double cross or two. They become embroiled in a global conspiracy centred around a vaccine in a pandemic they are framed for crimes they did not commit they are hunted by everyone. The closer the group gets to the truth, the more their lives begin to unravel. Esoteric.Utopia’s motley crew of graphic novel enthusiasts. Despite a seven year hiatus, Utopia were in fine form. Seven years later, the group were coaxed out of mothballs to undertake a tour of Japan, during which the band recorded a live album at a concert in Tokyo on May 10th, 1992. Following the release of the album POV in 1985, Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and Willie Wilcox disbanded Utopia. ![]() Deluxe two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) edition of Todd Rundgren and Utopia's 1993 live album including a bonus DVD of the same concert featured on the CD. Various musicians came and went, but the main stays of the band were Roger POWELL (keyboards), Kasim SULTON (bass), and John 'Willie' WILCOX (drums), and of course TODD himself handling the guitar work, all four members supplied both lead and harmony. Despite a seven year hiatus, Utopia were in fine form. UTOPIA was initially an ensemble, formed by Todd RUNDGREN as a counter-point to his solo work. ![]()
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