MR. FANTASY

The album cover ensures that this would be a mind-bending trip through psychedelia, in which it is, to some extent. It's also soulful and and quite bluesy at times, thanks to variations of influences and divided opinions among members as to what style of music this band should be aiming for. It's an entertaining first listen, as I remember anticipating each following track as Mr. Fantasy possesses an eclectic mix of tunes that bounce between the serious, pretentious and just plain goofy fun.

The album starts off with a strong number in Heaven Is In Your Mind, which perfectly balances its trippy vibe and lyrics with Steve Winwood's impressive R&B-ish delivery at times. Quality stuff, and certainly has some good "space proggy funk" thing goin' on that gives it a unique flavour. Things then get silly for a bit, with filler-like material and Dave Mason's acid drenched happy-pop. Then the seriousness kicks back in and so forth...the album is all over the map in certain ways yet somehow cohesive in that there's actually some sort of flow to these songs; it never gets too "left field", even when you're hit with a barrage of sitar & tabla music (Utterly Simple).

Other great tracks besides Heaven Is In Your Mind include the classic title track with it's superb vocals and kickin' guitar solo, and Dealer, showcasing great acoustic guitar picking and flute soloing over a fast rhythm. I kinda like the jazzy instrumental Giving To You as well, again showing the diversity the band was capable of at this time. There is some filler, but the killer stuff really is killer.