Customer Reviews

Mr Fantasy (UK Mono Version)

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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!!!

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!

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!

Traffic had one of the most original (and interesting) sounds in British rock, and not only because of their eclectic musical influences, which embraced psychedelia, folk, jazz, soul, R&B, and even classical. Their unique sound was also the result of their unusual instrumentation. While the group went through a number of personnel changes, its constant core members were Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, guitars), Chris Wood (sax, flute, and organ), and Jim Capaldi (drums & percussion). With no regular bass player, Winwood often filled in with the bass pedals on his organ. And, while there is no lack of guitars on most Traffic recordings, the guitar is not emphasized or particularly important to the group's sound. Dave Mason came and went in their early years and, on other recordings, Steve Winwood would switch to guitar, with Chris Wood taking over organ duties. In short, Traffic was anything but your typical guitar-bass-drums rock outfit. And, with "white Ray Charles" prodigy Winwood at the helm, and with their willingness to experiment with virtually any sound or musical style, they cut some of the most distinctive and important records in British rock.

"Mr. Fantasy" was their full-length debut, and (as it was 1967) their most psychedelic release. (Linda Eastman-McCartney once recounted the story of visiting the group at their Berkshire cottage and playing the Beatles' new "Sgt. Pepper" LP for them to hear, upon which Winwood & Co. were reportedly dismayed that the Beatles had already used many of their ideas for "Mr. Fantasy.") While the album has many similarities with "Sgt. Pepper" (vaudville brass, '60s silliness, not to mention drug influences), it is by no means an imitator of the Beatles' masterpiece. "Mr. Fantasy" is darker ("Dealer" and "No Face...") and more blues-oriented (especially the title track). If anything, it is a successful (though not demonic) version of what the Stones tried and failed to do with their laughable "Satanic Majesty's Request."

The obvious weakness of this album is the songwriting contributions of Dave Mason. While Mason would soon perfect his George Harrison-style British folk-rock, his work on "Mr. Fantasy" ("House for Everyone," "Utterly Simple," etc.) simply sounds like that of a [poor] Beatle-wannabe. In 1967, United Artists remedied this problem by replacing a few of his songs with Traffic's early non-LP singles for the American version of the album.

There were, therefore, orginally two different versions of "Mr. Fantasy" (as was the case with most early Beatle LPs). However, most recent CD reissues of the album include all the tracks from both versions (a quick tip: if "Paper Sun" is on the CD, you've got all the tracks) - so with some creative use of your CD programmer, you can listen to either version - or both.

And listen you should, because "Mr. Fantasy" is an underappreciated classic.

Mr. Fantasy was an exception to the marketing ploy used by US record companies during the 60's. Most companies would repackage albums (a la the original US releases of both The Beatles and the Stones back catalog)and try to get more from less by loping off songs to create "new albums" (which is how the famous butcher cover came to be on The Beatles' Yesterday and Today). When Mr. Fantasy was finally released in the US (a month or so after its UK appearence)most of the weaker tunes by Dave Mason were cut in favor of the band's strong selection of singles. The net result was an album with 12 tracks instead of 10 and a rearranged running order that markedly improved the album.

The Mr. Fantasy CD shares the same basic flaws as the original album. Bill Levenson opted to release both the mono UK original and stereo US original albums separately. His decision makes sense as both albums sound remarkable different after their "plastic" surgery. Heaven Is In Your Mind (the US version of Mr. Fantasy) is the stronger of the two. The running order evens out the tone of the original album. The inclusion of Paper Sun and Smiling Phases only improves the album as both songs were catchy material. They probably would have made the original album if they hadn't been released as singles.

The sound quality on both these albums is spectacular and a surprising improvement on the the UK CD (which combined both the stereo Mr. Fantasy and mono release for Heaven is in Your Mind). While that CD benefited from 24 bit sound, the use of Sonic Solutions No Noise process homogenized the album. The result was an album that sacrificed the original album's sound for a technological sheen. Reissue Producer Levenson wisely chose to have this remastered and resequenced.

So you do get more for less although in this case it's an improvement unless you're on a budget. Levenson has added the mono tracks from the film soundtrack Here We Go Round The Mulbury Bush and the mono single mixes for both Paper Sun and Smiling Phases. The two albums have minor differences for example some of the mono tracks run a bit longer and feature slightly different mixes from the stereo ones (similiar to the Beatles' catalog up to and including the White Album). In fact, Mr. Fantasy runs longer than Heaven even though it has one less song on it.

I'd recommend picking up both for hardcore Traffic fans and those not on a budget. The only complain I have is with the liner notes; they are still full of mistakes (some of them unintentionally hilarous). I'm surprised they weren't corrected from the UK notes. They are still pretty informative without resulting to overkill but it would have been nicer to have an explanation as to why the UK and US versions of this album ended up so remarkably different (aside from the fact that Dave Mason had left the band by the time this was released).

Levenson made the wise choice of splitting these distinctive albums up and adding the bonus tracks. Levenson has also done an outstanding job on the band's second album (Traffic). The UK edition had some important bonus tracks (kept for the US release although they are the US mono single mixes)but the producers saw fit to include the Mulberry Bush tracks as bonus selections. While that was a nice extra (especially since they weren't on the Mr. Fantasy UK CD)they were out of context (as they were recorded prior to the first album)and don't quite fit. Levenson and his staff have done a terrific job in a very difficult field.

I'd still recommend HIIYM over MF as it is the stronger of the two albums.

Of all the bands and albums of late that have been given the re-mastering treatment no band has deserved this more than Traffic regardless of the incarnation that you care for(1st incarnation w/D.Mason constantly acting as the revolving door, or 2nd incarnation wherein Winwood/Capaldi/Wood were the remaining core). Of all of the catalog, either Mr. Fantasy, which is a true masterpiece of the period or the "Traffic" self-titled second album, are highly recommended over the current American label offerings.

The Remastering of the first two albums was done with such care as to not sound to bright or harsh as digital processing has a tendency to do. "Heaven is in your mind", "Dear Mr. Fantasy", "We're a fade you missed this", "Smiling phases" and "Coloured rain" all open up aurally as never before heard. The sharpness of the guitar passage in 'Mr. Fantasy' especially are worth the price of the listen. Jim Capaldis' drum kit also sounds more forward in the mix than previous offerings, but the nicest suprise is the general ambience or nuances that were originally recorded into the mix but which were lost to the original vinyl releases not to mention the waste of time straight transfer disc offerings that record companies always seem to offer first.

The contributions of four musicians can be clearly heard throughout instead of mush with Steve Winwood clearly crying to be heard over the mix.

Buy this and the other import remasters to hear what was really a step ahead in modern music for the times.

As an added bonus this particular disc offers both the original English version which was in stereo and the original American version of the album which was in Mono. Rock On.

This review refers to the 180g vinyl edition , released on the Vinyl Lovers label .

I bought this album on vinyl because the remastered cd has a terribly compressed digital sound , only to discover that this album has been mastered directly from the cd and also has that awful digitally compressed sound , which defeats the object of buying the vinyl to hear this record in it's original glorious analogue sound .
Vinyl Lovers might be the name of the record label , but do they really love the sound of vinyl , as all of their releases on vinyl have been directly mastered from the digital cd releases ( including the bonus tracks ) , and all sound terrible .
It makes buying vinyl from this record label pointless !

I own "Heaven Is In Your Mind" which is the U.S. release of this album and it's excellent, but as far as I'm concerned the U.K. mono CD titled "Mr. Fantasy" is VASTLY SUPERIOR to the stereo version!!! I suppose it's a matter of taste, but the mono presented here has a drastically different, slicker psychedelic sound to it. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one solution here...buy both and listen for yourself. Some of you will like one more than the other, and I believe most Traffic fans will ultimately want both versions of this masterpiece. But for my money, if I had to choose only one the U.K. mono version wins HANDS DOWN!!! Hope this helps. Happy listening :-)

This album was one of a few records that opened my mind up to what a record album could do to take you beyond the dingy little place you happened to be in, in my case, Cedar Rapids, IA. Along with "Sgt. Pepper, Blonde on Blonde and Cricklewood Green" it transported me to the really cool places you would like to be but would never get to. What ties all these together, besides the genius of the artists, the quality of the production. "Mr. Fantasy" was recorded at Olympic Studios and was produced by Jimmy Miller. I think you can safely assume that any recording with either of these on the credits are memorable. The time period this record sprang from marked a revolution in record production. So while you may or may not like every song on the disc, please listen to and appreciate the craft displayed within. They don't make them like this anymore.

This is the one album that is bound to become a classic of the psychedelic era. This remarkable record not only contains some fabulous songs, it also represents the archetipal english psych-rock album, with all the not-so-subtle drug allusions, cockney accent, awfully dated sound effects and dubious cover. I mean, look at that cover! Do these guys look healthy? But don't misunderstand me, this hasn't dated as much as most of its contemporaries, and many of these songs actually sound refreshing. The playing is quite tight, and the new remastered cd is really an improvement over the original lp. What you need to buy just after Mr Fantasy is Frank Zappa's "we're only in it for the money", the perfect antidote if you start growing your hair long and endlessly listen to "paper sun". After "Surrealistic Pillow" by the Jefferson Airplane, this is the best contact-high on the market.