Customer Reviews

Fantasy

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1973's "Fantasy" is certainly one of Carole King's greatest musical achievements and one of the most innovative albums of the early 1970s. The entire album works as a "sound suite" or "medley" as each song bleeds seamlessly into the next without any pause or interruption. King, of course, wrote, arranged and orchestrated all of the music, taking charge of conducting the string sections as well.

Musically, it is simply brillant. Observe the transitions from "You've Been Around Too Long" into "Being at War With Each Other" or how "Corazon" emerges with its bright Latin beat from the final strings of "You Light Up My Life." Likewise, it is a marvel to hear King launch from "Corazon" into the funky, "Soul Train" strains of "Believe In Humanity". She is positively joyous.

Lyrically, "Fantasy" has been attacked by critics throughout the years for being superficial and shallow. I find the lyrics adequate and sometimes even thought provoking, but at the same time very straightforward and uncomplicated in their phrasing, but I have always felt the best ideas are stated simply without pretention and complication. With that said... "Fantasy" becomes more magical and exciting with each and every listen.

Lay back, close your eyes, and listen to the words, phrasing, and music of one of the best albums ever recorded. To Carol King, this may be fantasy, to millions of us, these are songs about everyday life. From the listener being urged to look around... at whats going on around them in "You've Been Around Too Long" to closing with the need to "Believe In Humanity", this album has it all. In between those songs, you will find a non-stop succession of songs about life, hopes and dreams, all beautifully performed. For many listeners, it will seem as if Carol King reached inside your mind and wrote the words you have tried to express for so many years. While written from a female point of view, the songs will have meaning to all. This is a must have album for those times when you want to lay back, enjoy the music, but keep on thinking.

...the concept album "Fantasy", where the singer/ composer "steps outside herself" and "becomes someone else". It grabs you at "You've Been Around Too Long" and by the time it gets to the jam "That's How Things Go Down"--ie, being pregnant by a no-goodnik--and the ain't no love in the heart of the city cut, "Heywood", you are totally mesmerised by King's vocals, her storytelling, her piano playing and the orchestrations. In fact, with a little tweaking here and there, "Welfare Symphony" and "Believe In Humanity" could have easily fit in Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" era repertoire..and I know the purists are gonna grill me for that last statement. King's "Tapestry" is her magnum opus, but the earth mother always has put out great, great music. This, I believe, is one of her best...

1973's "Fantasy" is certainly one of Carole King's greatest musical achievements and one of the most innovative albums of the early 1970s. The entire album works as a "sound suite" or "medley" as each song bleeds seamlessly into the next without any pause or interruption. King, of course, wrote, arranged and orchestrated all of the music, taking charge of conducting the string sections as well.

Musically, it is simply brillant. Observe the transitions from "You've Been Around Too Long" into "Being at War With Each Other" or how "Corazon" emerges with its bright Latin beat from the final strings of "You Light Up My Life." Likewise, it is a marvel to hear King launch from "Corazon" into the funky, "soul-train" strains of "Believe In Humanity". She is positively joyous.

Lyrically, "Fantasy" has been attacked by critics throughout the years for being superficial and shallow. I find the lyrics adequate and sometimes even thought-provoking...at the same time very straightforward and uncomplicated in their phrasing (but I have always felt the best ideas are stated simply without pretension and complication.) With that said... "Fantasy" becomes more magical and exciting with each and every listen.

Back in the 70's I had the opportunity to be at a concert at The Music Box in Boston for a Carole King concert. It was not the first time I had seen her - and being a musician myself, I covered some of her music with my band. The Carole King I saw that night was not what I expected. The concept of this album - the musicianship displayed at that concert still stays with me after all of these years. I remember the bass player grooving as he played - Carole - hair flying, totally into the music as she played and sang. This album changed my world. "You light up my life" is so pure - the words bring me back to a time when boyfriends went away to college, class rings and senior proms - when the world was not crazy. Yes - I know it still was - but while listening to that album's music you could accept it and go on. I remember a good friend - pregnant by a guy who was in the service - crying through "That's how things go down" - at that time woman were often left alone to bear a child - not because the guy was a creep, but because it was too easy to be in that situation.
If you lived through the 70's - this album will take you back through space and time. You will smile.

After the radio-friendly pop of her previous four albums (which included the world wide hit 'Tapestry'), 1973's 'Fantasy' marked a radical change of direction for Carole King. Instead of being a collection of relatively unrelated songs, 'Fantasy' is a concept album from start to finish, addressing the social problems of urban America. As such, it bears favourable comparison with Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic 'What's going on'.

The concept of the album holds together successfully throughout, with a unity in musical style and at times quite a 'soulful' feel. Carole's musical involvement in the album was even greater than in its predecessors, as she was the sole composer, arranged the strings and horns, and played all keyboards. Many of the tracks link into one another, and the acoustic piano is so much the dominant instrument that it even forms the basis of the album cover design. However, the requirements of the 'concept' do not cause the quality of the songs to suffer, and many of the tracks stand up well in their own right, such as the r&b styled 'Believe in humanity', the latin-flavored 'Corazon', and the ballads 'Being at war with each other' and 'You light up my life'.

Issued at a time when concept albums were all the rage, 'Fantasy' might well have been considered risky or even pretentious for an artist not previously associated with 'social conscience' music. However, Carole made a very creditable effort here, and proved that she amounted to much more than just a writer of three minute love songs. This must be one of Carole King's most neglected albums, and it compares very well to 'Tapestry' and 'Music'.

"Fantasy" is quite simply one of Carole King's greatest achievements and one of the most musically innovative albums of the early 1970s. The entire album works as a "sound suite" as each song bleeds seamlessly into the next without any pause or interruption. King, of course, wrote and orchestrated all of the music, taking charge of arranging and conducting the string sections as well. Musically, it is simply brilliant. Lyrically it is often thought provoking, but at the same time very straightforward and uncomplicated in its phrasing. "Fantasy" becomes more magical and exciting with every listen.

"Fantasy" was the Carole King album after "Tapestry" that most broke the mold. Of course, the fact that in 1973 "Tapestry" was till high on the Billboard charts when this album came out. The productions are more polished that before and the tone is more soulful than warm and cozy, which is rather surprising since Lou Alder is still the producer. There is even a touch of the Latin with "Corazon." The two best tracks are "You've Been Around Too Long," which has nice guitar work by David T. Walker, and "Believe in Humanity," which is as overt of a message song as King ever wrote or recorded. Ultimately, because this is the King album least like "Tapestry," it is my second favorite because the comparison is no longer inevitable (and therefore not automatically fatal).

"In Fantasy, I can be black or white, a woman or a man ..."

So sings Carole King in the introduction to her "Fantasy" album, one of this prodigious singer and songwriter's greatest creative achievements. Released two years after her acclaimed, best-selling "Tapestry" album, "Fantasy" showcases both King's versatility and her virtuosity; many fans (including myself) consider it the high point of her storied career. In it, she sings a splendid variety of original compositions that encompass a wide range of musical styles and traditions, and she proves herself to be adept at them all.

The album's concept is brilliant. As each song blends seamlessly into the next, Ms. King takes on the voice of a new character: in "That's How Things Go Down", she is a young pregnant woman yearning for her baby's absent father; that leads into "Weekdays" in which she is an older housewife reflecting on her youthful dreams; and that yields to "Haywood", a poignant lament in which she is a young woman anguished about her brother's descent into substance abuse and crime. By the end of the album, King has assumed 11 different voices, each of them a thoughtful and passionate reflection on one aspect of the human condition.

If you're already familiar with this album, chances are good that you treasure it as much as I do. If you've never availed yourself of its pleasures, you have an undiscovered masterpiece just waiting to be discovered.

Hey, now she's branching out! "Directions" sounds like Curtis Mayfield! And "You've Been Around Too Long" and "Haywood" could be Isaac Hayes tunes! And "Being at War with Each Other" sounds like Carole King, but that's okay since it's very well-written. The focus of the lyrics is not on love here, but rather on social statements about the state of the world, including a sympathetic portrait of a young single mother ("That's How Things Go Down", with amazing keyboards; "Weekdays", a jazz-pop sketch of suburban life and love; the dramatic, sax-packed "Welfare Symphony" suite is about exactly what you'd expect). Even song fragments like "A Quiet Place to Live". Believe it or not, the weakest track is the hit ballad, the country-folk love song "You Light up My Life". I could do without it, but it's not a bad song by any means. Just nothing she didn't do better on Tapestry, that's all. Much better is the driving Latin-funk number "Corazon". And the jazzy optimism of "Believe in Humanity". I think this is slightly better than Tapestry (and way better than Jackson Browne, unless Lawyers in Love turns out to be the best album ever made by anybody, which I doubt), because there's no "Smackwater Jack" gumming up the works.