Initiation (Todd Rundgren album)


Initiation is the sixth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released May 23, 1975 on Bearsville Records. With this album, Rundgren fully embraced the synthesized prog sound he had begun exploring in more depth in his work with his band Utopia. However, unlike Utopia, in which Rundgren had limited himself to playing guitar, most of the synthesizers on Initiation were played and programmed by Rundgren himself.
The album's original inner sleeve included a note which stated: "Technical note: Due to the amount of music on this disc, two points must be emphasized. Firstly, if your needle is worn or damaged, it will ruin the disc immediately. Secondly, if the sound does seem not loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape. By the way, thanks for buying the album.".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Todd Rundgren.
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
Side two
  1. "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" – 35:22
  2. * "Intro - Prana" – 4:21
  3. * "I. The Fire of Mind - or: Solar Fire" – 3:50
  4. * "II. The Fire of Spirit - or: Electric Fire" – 7:33
  5. * "III. The Internal Fire - or: Fire by Friction" – 19:38
  6. *# "Mûlâdhâra: The Dance of Kundalini"
  7. *# "Svâdhishthâna: Bam, Bham, Mam, Yam, Ram, Lam, Thank You, Mahm"
  8. *# "Manipûra: Seat of Fire"
  9. *# "Anâhata: The Halls of Air"
  10. *# "Vishudda: Sounds Beyond Ears"
  11. *# "Ajnâ: Sights Beyond Eyes"
  12. *# "Brahmarandhra: Nirvana Shakri"
  13. * "Outro - Prana"

    Personnel

"Real Man”
"Born to Synthesize”
"The Death of Rock and Roll"
"Eastern Intrigue”
"Initiation”
"Fair Warning”
"A Treatise on Cosmic Fire"
Production
Album
Chart Position
Billboard Pop Albums86

"Real Man"
Chart Position
Billboard Hot 10083