FANTASY SHIFT

Only 3000 copies ever pressed, I bought my copy of Fantasy Shift at a brilliant Here and Now gig at Oxford Poly in 1983, just after they made the album, and where they played it to an audience of around 500 students.

This was the second time I'd seen them - the first was in a field ! - and there was a real feeling (wrong as it happened) that they were going to break into the big time.

Fantasy Shift was a departure from previous recordings - much less punky and with stronger reggae influences. You could - if you were so minded - call it more commercial and lighter weight, almost frivolous. It still sounds fresh and quite simply put together compared to the much more processed music of today. Keith da missile Bass, Gavin da Blitz, and Dino Ferrari all feature and there are guest appearances from the inimitable Steffi Sharpstrings - and they are pretty good musicians, even despite the clown names.

What saves Fantasy Shift from being the failed commercial album are some brilliantly subversive lyrics, and some first rates tunes and beats. The Mega Number and Ways to be Free are simply fantastic, there is a surprising cover of The Man who Sold the World and not a single bad track.

24 years on, it has become an old friend and makes for happy evenings with happy memories. I've not rated it 5 simply because there's no point - you wont find it so it cant be an Essential for any collection and also because it's not quite serious enough in a genre (prog) where taking yourself too seriously is essential !! But it is an easy 4.5 and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.

Stuart