Fantasy – Vivariatum Rock , Psychedelic Rock

Fantasy was an English progressive rock band, formed around 1970 in Gravesend, northwest Kent, UK. They started out as Chapel Farm with members Dave Metcalfe (keyboards), Paul Lawrence (guitar/vocals) and Dave Read (bass), together with drummer Brian Chatham and guitarist Bob Vann. They began by performing cover versions before focusing their attentions on their own material. With a support slot to Argent just three weeks away, tragedy struck the band when, turning up for a Melody Maker competition held at a hotel in Cliftonville, Bob Vann fell off the cliffs outside their hotel. Paul Lawrence recalls that "The rest of us had gone back inside the hotel, but we became worried because, as it was Bob's 18th birthday, he'd been drinking a lot." Bob lay on the beach below, and died in the ambulance on the way to a hospital. In spite of this awful blow to the them and the band, the group eventually decided to stick together, for Bob's sake if nothing else. With Brian Chatham also having left the line-up, Chapel Farm recruited guitarist Pete James and drummer Jon Webster from local band Joy, changed their name to Firequeen, and began supporting progressive heavyweights like The Edgar Broughton Band and Pink Fairies.

After they sent out demos of their homegrown material (as heard on the Russian bootleg Fantasy (15) - Beyond The Beyond), Polydor signed a three-year contract in spring 1973, on the condition that they changed ther name. "They didn't like Firequeen", recalls Dave Metcalfe, "as it was too close to Queen, and they said that Chapel Farm suggested that we were a country band." The name Fantasy was suggested. "We had no choice in the matter," remembers Paul Lawrence, "and we hated it right the way through our whole career. But in a way, they were right, because the name is quite representative of the sound of the music."

Having signed a three-year contract in spring 1973, the group entered Chipping Norton Studios in May with producer Peter Sames, emerging with a ten-song album that would have delighted Genesis and Caravan fans had they heard it. Metcalfe remembers, "We just couldn't get through that barrier of recognition. I don't think Polydor understood our music, and our management appeared not to take us seriously enough." The label, then riding high with Slade, may have also detected a slight lack of commitment in the fact that the group members still maintained their day jobs.

1 Fire-Fire 6:41
2 Vacuum 4:03
3 In My Life 3:56
4 Low Love 4:26
5 Stardrifting 4:32
6 I Was Once Aware 3:30
7 Could It Be Forever 3:55
8 Fantasy Moods 4:11
9 Angel 3:24
10 Alone 4:31
11 Afterthought (Original Version) 7:26