Side one offered me adventures into the (an)OTHER LIFE we all long for sometimes, jumping on and off THE WHEEL of life any time I wanted to, and getting looser with the father figure getting wiser in THE SEVEN RAYS, or so 1 supposed. What was happening? Where was I? My mind was expanding. Big things were happening!! Expecting side two.
This one opened with the instrumental INTRO/MR. TRISCUITS pushing me up through the guitar/synths- talk, so natural, so easy and harmoniously I'd hardly believe it possible. This amazing gig was followed by SOMETHING' S COMING, being an evergreen too much to sound original, still claiming attention however through the virtuous guitar & synth interpretations. Getting back on my feet by this slight disappointment Utopia directly got me off again with HEAVY METAL KIDS, this live version, as I discovered later on, being at least as best as the original studio-version on "Todd", considering the up-tempo & really heavy band performance. Followed by DO YA, a Move-song played so strong it always tended me to think Rundgren was it' s composer.
After 40 minutes of almost pure satisfaction the album closed off much too early with JUST ONE VICTORY, this live version again as perfect as or mayby even better than the studio-version on "AWATS". There was no escape. I had to listen to Another live again... and again.
Repeatedly I found I wasn't only struck by the sound, but heavily impressed by the richness of the songs aswell. More on, I believed the members really deserved their pretentious name "Utopia", because they played in such a united way they made a musical dream come true.
Another Live brought me into Rundgren's musical world and it never took me out no more. I slipped away from his music time to time, but I always got back and loved it even more. Whatever he did through his solo works or with Utopia, for better or for worse, his efforts always thrill me in some essential way. Although not being representational of his work, the Another Live album crystallises all of his capacities in a perfect manner. After 25 years of listening to Another Live I consider it to be the best live album of the 20th century. Yep!
René Bosman, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
