Mr Fantasy

Traffic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001FV3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,076 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Heaven Is In Your Mind

2. Berkshire Poppies

3. House For Everyone

4. No Face, No Name And No Number

5. Dear Mr. Fantasy

6. Dealer

7. Utterly Simple

8. Coloured Rain

9. Hope I Never Find Me There

10. Giving To You

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In 1967, when still teenaged keyboardist Steve Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group (for whom he'd sung lead on hits like "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man") to start a new band with guitarist Dave Mason, few observers thought their idea of blending pop, rock, and jazz would work. Immediately, though, Traffic scored giant UK hits with Winwood's east-meets-west "Paper Sun" and Mason's acid-jazzy "Hole in My Shoe." Between those songs, the smoking-guitar driven title track, the swinging instrumental "Giving to You" and the haunting ballad, "No Face, No Name, No Number," Traffic's debut established both players as elite members of the new guard of late 60s British rock. --Billy Altman

Product Description

24 bit remastered reissue of the 1967 debut by this legen dary British psych/ prog rock group that featured Steve Winwood, Dave Mason & Jim Capaldi as members. As a bonus, it includes all 12 tracks from the original U.S. mono album, 'Paper Sun', 'Dealer', 'Coloured Rain', 'Hole In My Shoe', 'No Face, No Name, No Number', 'Heaven Is In Your Mind', 'House For Everyone', 'Berkshire Poppies', 'Giving To You', 'Smiling Phases', 'Dear Mr. Fantasy' and 'We're A Fade You Missed This'. 22 tracks total. Also features the original cover art. 1999 releas --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Psychedelic masterpiece, but get the US version!!, May 27, 2005

By 

Coleen "frankie-machine" (Down in the alley) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mr Fantasy (UK Mono Version) (Audio CD)

The British version of this CD is called "Mr Fantasy" - it has a superior CD sleeve to the US version, but a lot of it is in badly mixed mono and sounds very flat. The same album is available in the US version under the title "Heaven is In Your Mind" - it is all in stereo, and sequenced much better - makes a BIG difference - and is far superior to the U.K. version. Both versions are great - whichever one you end up with, you're gonna love if you like psychedelic music! Because this album is a psych CLASSIC! I have both versions and I ALWAYS listen to the US version ("Heaven is In Your Mind") because it sounds better and makes more sense the way it is sequenced. I had never even heard of the album until 1 year ago. I investigated this year, and I am SURE GLAD I did!!!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trippy Traffic, March 13, 2004

By 

Alan Caylow (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr Fantasy (UK Mono Version) (Audio CD)

Led by the immensely talented Steve Winwood & Dave Mason, the magnificent rock band Traffic said hello to the world with their 1967 debut album, "Mr. Fantasy," a delicious psychedelic supper of flower-power pop/rock (the weird cover photo pretty much says it all about the feel of this album). The organ is prominent throughout, the sitar makes an appearance on a few songs, and there's also a few spoken passages as well. In other words, this is a totally far out record, man! Many Traffic classics populate this disc: the 60's pop of "Heaven Is In Your Mind," the gorgeous ballad "No Face, No Name, No Number," the Traffic signature rockers "Dear Mr. Fantasy," "Dealer," and "Colored Rain," and the groovy instrumental "Giving To You." The drunken ragtime piano number "Berkshire Poppies" is a real hoot, as are the psychedelic pop of "House For Everyone" (complete with wind-up clock intro) and the trippy "Utterly Simple." Also, this new re-issue of "Mr. Fantasy" includes six bonus tracks of songs the band originally released purely as non-album singles, including more Traffic favorites like "Paper Sun" and "Hole In My Shoe." Steve Winwood's voice, guitar & keyboards are outstanding, Dave Mason's voice & guitar are equally strong, Chris Wood plays a mean flute & saxophone, and Jim Capaldi's drumming is superb. Traffic remain one of rock's greatest groups, and they couldn't have had a better intro than "Mr. Fantasy." Great stuff!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Avoid this...get the US version, "Heaven Is in Your Mind", August 27, 2004

By 

Mike (Youngstown, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr Fantasy (UK Mono Version) (Audio CD)

I don't care about "the artist's intent" in this instance...the UK version of this album is vastly inferior to the U.S. release. I pined for years and years to get the U.S. "Mr. Fantasy" on CD, and my wait was finally rewarded a few years back with the reissue entitled "Heaven Is in Your Mind" (which was the original title of the U.S. release of this album...I've actually seen a copy so-titled on LP, though "Mr. Fantasy" was the more common release).

Never mind that this one has "Paper Sun" as a bonus track...the U.S. version leads off with it and has a much more sensible sequence overall, and the reissue puts the duff tracks from the UK version (e.g. "Utterly Simple") at the end where they can be avoided.

The only virtue this release would have would be the mono mixes, which are probably quite different from the stereo ones as was so often the case in those days.

This has always been one of my favorite albums of all time, but as Stevie says in "Smiling Phases," "Do yourself a favor"...get the U.S. one!