Todd Rundgren – Initiation

s, please add to notes or credits "Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman mastering.
This title FINALLY breathes when spread across two LP's. I am amazed that Todd wasn't forced to have it out this way originally same as the previous title "Todd". I never had an acceptable copy of this title on vinyl until now. The original CD was a breath of fresh air when it came out! Yes it has a folded liner note/lyric insert opening up like a gatefold jacket. Dead quiet pressing. I am curious as to where this was pressed. Since it is a Rhino re-issue it may have been RTI but there is no confirmation anywhere of this. I didn't notice the glitch mentioned here but perhaps checking an original issue might confirm further. I will have to re-listen.

Can someone confirm if this includes liner notes as mentioned on the RSD sticker? The copy I received is just the 2 LP's in poly-lined sleeves. There are no liner notes or anything else included. A full set of photos added to this submission is needed.

Not sure if there’s quality control issues here or a mistake with the pressing but my copy seems to skip at the last chorus of born to synthesize (the long extended loud “born” wail) - a real shame as apart from that the pressing and cut are excellent. Does anyone else have the same issue? (I’ve tried my copy with 2 different turntables with the same result and it sounds to me like an error in the pressing)

Now that 68 minutes isn’t crammed on 1 disc, this album can be heard with nice full bass and clean highs. Another Chris Bellman masterpiece IMO. The only thing missed here was slowing it down to the original speed since the room was available. This sounds excellent all around and the translucent blue vinyl is both pretty and quiet.

For all of us hoping this album would be reissued on 2 LP's, it looks like we get our wish on RSD 2025. Unsure yet if it will be speed corrected.

This record is way to long and thus sounds like crap. I mean 36 minutes on an LP-side? This is madness

One of top pioneering and majestically arranged albums of the latter 20th century

Slightly transparent vinyl. Shines orange when held up to a light.

Just found out that I have one of these winchester ones. Is there a reason why they are going for so much?

For ages, I had the first 30 seconds or so of 'Real Man' on a tape that I recorded off of late-night NYC radio in the early 90s (WNEW or K-Rock). It gets to the middle of the first verse before it abruptly cuts off - too pretentious and wimpy for my teenage ears. Little did I know.

Initiation is a weird album among weird albums made by a strange man who bucked all convention. This is the height of Todd's synth era. There's nothing that sounds like it until much later in the 70's and 80's. It prefigures Synth-pop down to the gated-reverb sounding snare drum and overall production. There's prog moves galore, as evidenced by Side 2, which is a 36 minute long suite.

The sound is very strange and thin, which is due to over an hour of info being crammed onto one LP. 'Treatise' was actually sped up so that it would fit on one side, giving it an 'Uncle Meat'-era Mothers and video game music, cartoonish feel. You gotta love the note on the back of the record that tells buyers to "record it to tape" for better sound. We couldn't get it to sound right, may be you can!!

Hopefully we'll get a double LP reissue for the 50th that includes a pitch/speed corrected version of 'Treatise'

Did Todd get into Scientology? It sounds like it here.