Phantasia - Phantasia (Reissue) (1971/2002)

It is great to see how the label 'World In Sound' found some bands that left few traces of their careers after launching. Like Dragonwyck, who failed to release their records in their time, or likewise with Phantasia, who did not lack the originality or musical qualities, but a range of circumstances. First of all, they lived in a really small and rather conservative village, within reach of Kansas. Most members did not have such an uplifting childhood, so Phantasia became a band with which to imagine a different world. When they tried to reach the real world through Kansas, they found that city was not exactly the place to be. After having heard their studio recording, recorded in only four hours (played live mostly, except for the drums with some parts that had overdubs in a second session), 3 of four guys were so unsure of themselves, they left the album as 25 coverless copies. They continued writing songs. John DePugh (now called Cavanaugh, to forget his lineage) in cooperation with Bob Walkenhorst planned a second album. All the time there was, was spent in re-recording only the earlier songs. This recording was pressed on a one-sided promo album under the name of Walkenhorst-DePugh (a project they wanted to call ‘Seasonchange’), to present it to labels before recording the other tracks, hoping that with the help of a label they could still add orchestrations and other production ideas, in a kind of 'Love' vein, but a chance to do so unfortunately never came. One record company, ABC records, liked what they were doing and was going to provide a chance for them, if they could provide them a full album. Lots of personal events did not gthem ive that chance, and after some more gigs the band disbanded. The three remaining members regrouped in a band called Trizo-50,with another after-story that the label also planned to document in CD formats. On this CD the one-sided LP is also added to the Phantasia album reissue.
I understand the idea of how the group expected to sound best if they could get arrangements like and sound more like Love. The music of Phantasia has its own delicacy, also because of the soft drum and percussion and dreaming-away-in-a-fantasy-of-a-better-world vocals. It is colourful and charming music, with various acoustic parts with guitar, melancholic flute and simple piano and several of other touches, and surely has something romantic in it. On the 6th track, “Genena” there’s a beautiful larger, rather calm psychedelic improvisation in it, with beautiful additional dreaming-away electric fuzz guitar and almost exotic handpercussion rhythms. The last track concludes with a bit more freaking out guitar. For me this sounds like a definite classic, even when it is a little belated for music lovers to discover.
The bonus tracks are the reworked tracks for ‘Seasonchange’. The first two tracks of them sound slightly cleaner and more folkpop-catchy, somewhat less romantic, but with their own kind of attractiveness. But like I said, they were meant to be finished with extra arrangements, which in the end never happened. The last two surely stand on their own like they are, and all of them are surely worth hearing. Only the last song of that 4-track session was a new one. A great release with booklet, containing the rather personal biographical notes, rare pictures and song texts.