CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 'FANTASIA'

'Fantasia' Album Review Page

(Compiled by Karen)

Rolling Stone
*** ½ stars

On her second disc, 2004 American Idol winner Fantasia expands her range, adds some attitude and comes up with some genuine R&B gems. "Hood Boy," featuring OutKast's Big Boi, opens the album with a thrilling burst of Motown built on a sample from the Supremes' "The Happening," to which Fantasia adds an amped-up ode to around-the-way boys. "Not the Way That I Do" echoes the chirpy ferocity of Beyonce's "Ring the Alarm," and "Bore Me (Yawn)" is a brutal takedown of underperforming men. But the ferocious "Baby Makin' Hips" is Fantasia's best song to date, a potential shout-along classic on par with Mary J.'s "No More Drama" and Kelis' "Caught Out There."
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/fantasia


Los Angeles Times
*** stars

Fantasia Barrino has a voice that harks back to R&B's supper club beginning — earthy and theatrical, her baby-doll yelp deserves comparison to late greats Esther Phillips and Ruth Brown. . . . Barrino's main asset is still old-fashioned authenticity. She doesn't come across as a product; her inflections have the energy of speech, not Pro Tools, and the curl in her voice when she reaches for a high note keeps reasserting her sassy charm. This cultivated regular-girl style allows Fantasia to retain her wholesomeness even when she's in the hands of hit makers such as Missy Elliott, Swizz Beats and the powerhouse team of Diane Warren and Babyface. With the stern quality that afflicts much of today's seductive R&B tempered by her good-natured, spontaneous vibe, Fantasia shows that she can play adult without losing her girlish appeal.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...a-promo-entnews


Atlanta Journal Constitution
A-

The pop market has limited room for scratchy-voiced R&B divas, and with her excellent new self-titled album, Fantasia has made a strong case as the most perfect of the imperfect. She has the confidence to sing over hot hip-hop tracks and the good sense to borrow a bit of grit from old soul music, plus she's got the commercial wherewithal to throw in a few contemporary ballads. For someone so young (she's 22), she seems awfully complete. She has a soft side, and that's nice, but she also knows how to get raw.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/music/content...12fantasia.html


Dayton Daily News:
A-

Gwen, Fergie, Christina, grab a chair and start taking some notes. 2004 American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino would like to show you how it's done. Her bold self-titled, much better follow up to 2004's Free Yourself asserts itself from the very beginning with the steller thumping opener, Hood Boy, featuring Outkast's Big Boi. Sporting a hot sample from the Supremes' The Happening, the track sizzles.

Fantasia has a strong, powerful voice and this album does an excellent job of showcasing just what she's capable of. She's a fantastic singer who has managed to step out on her own into music that feels more like the real her, into an album that will help create some space between her and her American Idol roots. . . . She has an incredible, impressive voice. With production help from the likes of Missy Elliott, Babyface, Swizz Beatz and others, she's assembled a strong collection. Say what you like about American Idol, but we owe it thanks for putting Fantasia into the limelight.
iPod picks: Hood Boy, When I See You, Uneligible, Surround U, Bore Me (Yawn)


Cleveland Plains-Dealer
A-

Now this is how an "American Idol" should bring it. Fantasia blossoms into a major R&B/hip-hop belter on her eponymous second album. It features three songs co-written and produced by Missy Elliott, including the techno-funky "I'm Not That Type." More goose bumps are forthcoming to the tune of "Uneligible," the self-explanatory "Baby Makin' Hips" and "Hood Boy," a slamming, Supremes-sampling collaboration with OutKast's Big Boi.
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/pla...&thispage=2


St. Petersburg Times
A

Dear Kelly Clarkson: We had a good time together, you singing hits in my car, me daydreaming about the two of us scampering across Caribbean sands. But alas, our time is through. I have a new Idol crush now. Her name is Fantasia, and her new album is like a suckerpunch to my senses -- but in a good way. She's everything Beyonce could be if Jay-Z let her. To KC, I bid you adieu. To 'Tasia I say: Call me, superstar.

With Tina Turner’s strength, Patti LaBelle’s holler and legit songwriting skills, the Season 3 champ from High Point, N.C., is everything an R&B diva should be: bold, brash and unafraid to take chances. Such wickedly thumping jams as Baby Makin’ Hips ("See that wobble-wobble? Shaped just like a cola bottle") and Not the Way That I Do are the best tunes Beyonce never had the guts or independence to make. Forget about being an American idol: Fantasia is the American dream, a hard-scrabble teen-mom turned star who is both accessibly real and deliciously fantastic.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic/2006/12...sia_sean_t.html


Hip Hop Soul Magazine
Number 1 on cover story listing 10 important albums of 2007

Only 22, with the soul of a woman almost double her years, Fantasia’s ready to act her age. On the follow-up to her platinum-plus debut, Free Yourself, North Carolina’s favorite idol chooses to use that powerful Southern belle voice we’ve always loved to express that down-bottom chick she’s always been. . . .

This young Aretha-in-the-making leaves her peers behind with soul-baring songs over live instrumentation, like on “Two Weeks Notice”–only a vocalist with life experiences belying her age could pull off this much believable passion effortlessly. . . .

The most tantalizing offering on Fantasia is the hot-buttered “I Nominate U.” Think of your all-time best lover. Now imagine someone topping them. ‘Tasia sensuously sangs about a side of her we didn’t know existed.


San Francisco Chronicle

Fantasia Barrino has more vocal chops than any other female soul singer of her generation, and her upbringing on the gospel circuit taught her how to pump a song for every drop of passion.


PopMatters
7 Stars

With the release of her self-titled second album, there should be no doubt that Fantasia Barrino is one of the best R&B vocalists of her generation. While most soul-singin’ chicks in their early-mid 20s offer a modern take on the Janet-esque sensual coo, Fantasia’s voice is already a full-bodied shout that has drawn comparisons to legends like Mary J. and Queen Aretha. And unlike current R&B princess Beyoncé, hard-living, single mom Fantasia has the life experience needed to give her hoarse belting a personal touch. When she cuts loose, unlike the somewhat affected Beyoncé, you can always feel the grit and soul, even when the music and/or lyrics aren’t up to snuff. She’s thoroughly modern and a throwback to soul singers like Ike-era Tina Turner. One listen to this album and you can tell that ‘Tasia doesn’t ever do nothin’ nice and easy.

. . . . Many tracks here have a vintage quality to them, with elements of both Southern soul and Motown. While most folks look back on the golden era of soul as a time when live instruments and “real singing” reigned supreme, Fantasia harkens back to the days when singers like Otis Redding and James Brown (R.I.P.) had an untamable edge to their records.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews...tasia-fantasia/


South Florida Sun-Sentinel

At the risk of typecasting, Fantasia's hardscrabble background has imprinted both sadness and determination on her voice, and when Fantasia allows those qualities free play the album shines. In the gently stubborn Bump What Ya Friends Say and the determined ballad I Feel Beautiful, Fantasia is the teacher, preacher, role model and honest-to-goodness human being that made her such an inspired choice of Idol watchers.
http://www.topix.net/content/trb/333278741...889331389758336


New York Times

she’s an excellent shouter and can achieve nearly instant liftoff in her singing. (If it takes one of her models, like Shirley Caesar, at least two bars of crescendo to explode, Fantasia can do it in one.)


All Music Guide
*** ½ stars/Album Pick

Fantasia is a more consistent album than her debut; it has a sense of purpose and it takes greater risks in the production, two things with makes Fantasia a bolder, better album than Free Yourself. . . . “Hood Boy” sounds not unlike an updated version of Ike & Tina, as Fantasia desperately pledges her devotion to strong men. It's inspired in concept and delivery, as Barrino pours her all into it and it works: with this one track, she's sheds her AmIdol past and remakes herself into a vibrant, vital diva. Even when things slow down for the ballads Fantasia never sounds schlocky, it sounds made for DJs and clubs, which is why the album is at its best when it sticks close to that updated '70s soul feel, as on “Baby Makin' Hips” which doesn't hit as hard as “Hood Boy” but it's equally alluring in its cool reserve. So, the sound is right on Fantasia, as is Barrino's performance: she delivers on the promise she displayed on the show, sounding like a full-throttle powerhouse on the faster songs and smoldering on the slower ones.
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3mkxu3qranxk


US Weekly
*** ½ stars

A perfectly executed dance/R&B album that is sure to cross over into pop territory and challenge bigger stars like Beyonce Knowles.


People Magazine
*** stars

"Fantasia", the follow-up to Barrino's platinum 2004 debut "Free Yourself", finds the raspy-voiced belter striking a nice balance between classic and contemporary sounds. The disc's first single, the ghetto anthem "Hood Boy", takes a great sample of the Supremes' "The Happening", a guest rap by Outkast's Big Boi and an Aretha-esque vocal by Fantasia and turns it into a hip -hop version of Motown. Elsewhere she enlists Missy Elliott to produce the sassy slow jam "Two Weeks Notice", while sampling Al Green on the booty-shaking "Baby Making Hips".


USA Today
*** stars

On this self-titled follow-up, the 2004 American Idol queen is out to please herself. Anyone else who listens in will reap the benefits, because peeling away the commercial wrapper exposes a bold and brassy soul diva who gives these R&B thumpers and revved-up Motown cookers real sizzle.
Download: the seductive I Nominate You, the saucy Baby Makin’ Hips and Hood Boy featuring Outkast’s Big Boi), brash, old-school soul grafted to a sample of The Supremes’ The Happening
http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/2006/12/post_1.html


Stylus Magazine
B+

Fantasia’s sophomore effort is aimed squarely at the R&B market, and it’s all the better for it. Yes, that means in all likelihood she’s destined to be somewhat of a niche artist for the rest of her career—but that didn’t exactly hurt, say, Zapp, or Frankie Beverly and Maze, did it? Fantasia wasn’t designed to be America’s pop star, anyway. She’s too black. Start with her name, and then move on to her rather astounding, multi-octave (but-not-in-an-annoying-Mariah-Carey-way) voice, capable of the smoothest singing but also heavy on the grit. Perhaps the best comparison for Fantasia’s voice isn’t LaBelle but K-Ci Hailey—he can croon until you don’t even know where your panties have gone, but he can also nearly out-Womack Bobby Womack, as evidenced by his cover of “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.” Check the way Fantasia wails on “Baby Makin’ Hips,” a ridiculously sexy ode to women who’ve, ahem, got it goin’ on (it’s at least more artful than “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”): girl’s got lungs that can’t be reigned in by no David Foster, know what I mean? She’s not just black, she’s Southern black (like Hailey, actually, from North Carolina).

. . . . “I Nominate U” is likely this album’s “Free Yourself”—i.e. a colossal ballad-esque hit—and should be joined by “Only One U,” and don’t sleep on “Two Weeks Notice,” a brilliant break-up/movin’ on song. Fantasia is straight R&B, uncut. No pop here, no nothin’ except good-to-great commercial R&B circa 2006. The likes of Sean Garrett and Missy Elliott have helped Fantasia craft an album that’s admirably consistent in tone and content and sold entirely on the personality and voice of the woman whose name is on its cover (as opposed to its producers or songwriters).
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/fantasia/fantasia.htm


Newsday
B+

On her hit-and-miss debut, "Free Yourself" (J), Fantasia seemed like she was searching for the right R&B style for her voice. On her new album, "Fantasia," she simply builds her own.

Fantasia takes a bit of Beyoncé flash, a bit of Mary J. Blige soul and her own keeping-it-real growl, laying the foundation for a leap from singer to budding superstar diva.

"Hood Boy," her current single, bridges old and new - with shimmering snippets from a Supremes sample and a remarkable entrance from OutKast's Big Boi. Missy Elliott contributes an Eastern-influenced dance number, "I'm Not That Type," and a pair of memorable ballads, the throwback soul of "Two Weeks Notice," which recalls Patti LaBelle circa 1982, and the thrilling, gospel-meets-street-savvy ballad "Bump What Ya Friends Say" that lets Fantasia show off her vocals a bit.

Fantasia knows when to step aside, letting the "Baby Makin' Hips" groove play out like the cousin to Beyoncé's "Freakum Dress," but she also knows when to rev up the drama, as she does on the slow-burning ballad "I Nominate You" and the grand Diane Warren-penned self-empowerment ballad "I Feel Beautiful." Add it all up and "Fantasia" becomes a bold statement of an artist who knows exactly where she is going and has the talent to get there.

It's a support system that every "American Idol" champ should get - and one they usually do, if they somehow make it to a second album.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music...news-columnists


The Boston Herald

Kelly, Ruben, Carrie and Taylor may never outgrow their ties to “American Idol.” But Fantasia already has. Thanks to her distinctive new CD, it’s likely the smoky-voiced singer will eventually be associated with Missy Elliott, not Simon Cowell. Big Boi guests on the hot single “Hood Boy,” writer Diane Warren and producer Babyface team for the big ballad “I Feel Beautiful” and Missy contributes three songs (the thumping “I’m Not That Type,” the breakup anthem “Two Weeks Notice” and the closing, emotional “Bump What Ya Friends Say”). But it’s Fantasia’s voice that pulls everything together. She’s a classic gospel/soul star remade for a modern era.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/discReview...rticleid=171371


Dallas Morning News:
B+

There's no pandering to the pop charts here; thanks to the talents of Swizz Beatz, Dre & Vidal and Missy Elliott, Ms. Barrino brings soul in abundance to her self-titled disc, starting with its Supremes-sampling opener, "Hood Boy," which expresses love for her "ruffneck" man with a cameo from OutKast's Big Boi. "Baby Makin' Hips" is the new generation's "Brick House," praising a sister's "cola bottle" shape and "mean walk" for wreaking havoc in the club. Missy Elliott's '80s-flavored ballad "Two Weeks Notice" finds Fantasia putting in applications for a new love since the ex left her.
http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws...n1.2f81922.html


About.com R&B
*** ½ stars
Fantasia's new album is strong, saucy, sassy, bold and brassy, just like her. . . . “American Idol" season three winner Fantasia Barrino took a greater role in crafting her self-titled second album, and it definitely shows. Where her debut album, 2004's Free Yourself, was relatively safe and commercial, Fantasia is more free and in-your-face, and better reflects her personality and vocal style.
The first single, "Hood Boy," is a perfect example. On the song, which features OutKast's Big Boi, she talks about her love for rugged men. Although the same theme has been utilized - and re-utilized in R&B and Hip-Hop for years (going back to MC Lyte's 1993 hit "Roughneck," and beyond), 'Tasia still breathes new life into the concept.

She also keeps it real on numerous other songs, and tackles subject matter that may shock some of the older folks in Middle America whose hearts she won on "American Idol." . . . on the uptempo "Baby Makin' Hips," she gives props to real women with curves. The song, which Fantasia herself has compared to music by Tina Turner and a young Aretha Franklin, is the same sort of anthemic, empowering jam that made "Baby Mama" from Fantasia's first album so popular. The song, produced by the duo Dre & Vidal, is not only the best song on the album, but also one of the better R&B songs of the year. . . . .

All-in-all, there are no weak songs on the album, just some that are stronger than others. In addition to "Baby Makin' Hips," other outstanding songs include the fun "Uneligible," which is about a lack of good, eligible men; "I Feel Beautiful," a wedding song written for Fantasia's mother; and "Bore Me (Yawn)," an upbeat old-school-Soul-type jam about a trifling man that features a brief but outstanding vocal performance by one of 'Tasia's brothers. On each of the album's 14 songs, Fantasia puts her heart and soul into her vocals, which goes a long way, especially when some of the subject matter is stale.
http://randb.about.com/od/reviews/fr/FantasiaReview.htm


Entertainment Weekly
B+

The album's subtle appeal isn't evident on the first listen — Fantasia doesn't break into the gritty vocal gymnastics that defined her run on Idol. (It's curious that collaborators like Missy Elliott and Dre & Vidal penned songs with such narrow ranges.) But of all the new Idol-connected entries (see Taylor Hicks, Kellie Pickler's Small Town Girl, and Daughtry), this one comes closest to showcasing an artist who has something original to contribute to the industry. Many of the midtempo ballads (like ''When I See U'' and ''Only One U'') are poppy blasts, and ''Hood Boy,'' with its opening salvo of horns and a vocal assist from Big Boi, is one of the best R&B numbers of the year.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1569563,00.html

New Haven Register

On "Fantasia," the artist returns with a more consistent and cohesive effort, one that focuses totally on R&B, and, man, does it work. If you grew up loving dance music from the '70s, "Fantasia" is for you. The record barely slows down, only pausing momentarily for a couple of ballads that still could make you dance. This is an album that clubs will love, one that can get the party started and never pull its foot off the gas. Pop in the disc and notice the horn-fueled "Hood Boy," which could have come from a Supremes record.

HiphopRnbsoul.com
**** stars

Former American Idol Fantasia (Barrino) seemingly took her own advice from her smash hit "Free Yourself." The singer completely unleashes the wild woman we all knew was within her for a very un-Idol type set that sees her talking about curvaceous women, rough neck men and (oh my) sex.

The self-titled set is aptly named as it truly reflects the gutsy "sanger" (this lady can blow) with excellent cuts like round-the-way-boy ode "Hood Boy" feat. Big Boi, and "real women have curves" anthem "Babymaking Hips." The saucy attitude continues with the soulful get-to-work-in-the-bedroom track "I Nominate You," and the sneak-up-on-you strength of "Bore Me (Yawn)" where she tells her man that his games are trifling.

A superb mix of mellow, mid-tempo, bangers and anthem material makes Fantasia one of the best album bets for the year.

Download: the whole album
http://hiphoprnbsoul.com/content/blogcategory/13/87/


The Orange County Register
B+

Finally the streetwise diva lurking inside this "American Idol" champ emerges. Gone are tamer overtures to people who don't dig urban-soul, too many of which made her debut an incoherent jumble. Here, Ms. Barrino enlists first-rate producers and guest stars (including OutKast's Big Boi, who enlivens the superb Supremes-sampling kickoff "Hood Boy"), rarely stops shakin' her "Baby Makin' Hips" to one delectable groove after another – and nearly beats Beyoncé and Mariah at their own game. Plus, she belts everything (ballads and club jams) with such expertly controlled power and infectious grit that her slew of lyrical clichés get buried.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/enter...cle_1383514.php


The News and Observer
*** stars

"Fantasia" sets her up as a worthy contender for Mary J. Blige's queen-of-hip-hop-soul crown
. . . . when she gets a song worthy of her voice, she's nothing less than great. Missy Elliott reprises her writing/producing role from Fantasia's debut, and her contributions are among the new album's best -- especially the sinuous Eurobeat-driven "I'm Not That Type" and the Patti LaBelle-styled "Two Weeks."
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/521142.html

Duane Wells, 365Gay.com

If you’ve heard Fantasia, which you no doubt have, you already know that she has a voice that drips with the kind of country gospel flavored soul that you just don’t hear much in R&B or Pop music these days. She grunts, she growls, she shouts and at points she wails with such ferociousness that one almost wonders if she is wounded. No matter what you think of Fantasia, one thing is for sure – there’s not another person on the charts today who sounds like her, which is a true testament to her talent.

On the follow-up to her platinum selling debut album, Free Yourself, Fantasia continues to plumb her R&B roots as she brings her innate old school soul to contemporary tracks with timely urban themes, that have been written and produced by some of new school R&B’s biggest hitmakers. However despite all the high-profile production, Fantasia is an album that works not because of its production but in spite of it.
http://www.365gay.com/entertainment/MusicC...010307top10.htm

Vancouver 24 Hours
***1/2 stars

The second album is the real test of an "AmIdol" winner -- and Fantasia Barrino passes it with flying colours. With this aptly self-titled follow-up, she's coming into her own. . . . She's got a solid, well-balanced slate to work with: Club bangers with big bouncing beats, candlelit boudoir ballads, and funky old-schoolers reminiscent of classic LaBelle. The catchiest is the sassy "Hood Boy," but "Uneligible," "Bore Me (Yawn)," "Not the Way That I Do" and the Missy cut "I'm Not That Type" aren't far behind.
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Entertainment/20...858480-sun.html


Boston Globe
B+

Sounds like: A new and improved version of her debut, "Free Yourself," with better, sassier, catchier songs and a more confident Fantasia getting bold on club bangers and getting down on slow jams.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/ar...will_they_sing/

Canada National Post

Standout track: Baby Makin' Hips, a slinky celebration of curvaceousness that finds Fantasia expertly riding a boisterous track anchored by a sly Al Green sample. Street-cred enhancing guests Missy Elliott and Outkast's Big Boi drop by to provide just the right dose of ruggedness.

The judges say: Savvy production, her gorgeously raw pipes and songwriting that largely skirts modern- soul cliches could elicit the same kind of grudging respect for Fantasia that Breakaway did for fellow Idol alum Kelly Clarkson.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/ar...06-14bc9b733e84

The Sun Journal

The difference between two American Idols on their simultaneously released eponymous CDs is glaring. Taylor Hicks, he of the "Soul Patrol" sloganeering, tells listeners about soul - it's no accident he's titled his song "Soul Thing." Fantasia is of the more valuable show-me school. She has soul so she doesn't have to brand herself until people start buying in. . . . As far as contemporary R&B albums go, "Fantasia" tops recent high profile offerings from Beyonce or Janet. Pod Picks: "Baby Makin' Hips," "Not the Way That I Do"
http://www.sunjournal.com/story/1918683/En...a_Gwen_Stefani/

 

Copyright 2007 Fan-Tasia.Net

(Fan-Tasia.NET would like to thank Karen for taking the time to compile this information.