Fantasies (album)

Fantasies
Studio album by Metric
Released April 7, 2009[1]
Recorded Electric Lady Studios, New York
Genre Indie rock, New Wave
Length 42:30
Label Metric Music International
Producer Gavin Brown & Jimmy Shaw
Metric chronology
Grow Up and Blow Away
(2007)		 Fantasies
(2009)		 Plug In Plug Out
(2009)
Singles from Fantasies
  1. "Help I'm Alive"
    Released: December 23, 2008
  2. "Gimme Sympathy"
    Released: March 12, 2009
  3. "Sick Muse"
    Released: June 1, 2009
  4. "Gold Guns Girls"
    Released: April 25, 2010

Fantasies is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Metric. It was released on April 7, 2009. In the U.S. it debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers, and peaked at #76 on the Billboard 200. In Canada it debuted at #13 on the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #6. In Australia, the album debuted at #48.

Contents

Background

The first single release from the album, "Help, I'm Alive", was added to the iTunes Store on December 23, 2008 in Canada. The single is also available on 7" vinyl from their website, and was available on their "Jingle Bell Rock" tour in December 2008. On February 13, 2009, the album cover's image was added to the song "Help, I'm Alive" on their MySpace playlist. On February 28, 2009, the band added the song "Gimme Sympathy" to their MySpace playlist.

The album is available through their website, in vinyl, deluxe hardcover, digital, or deluxe bundle packages. There was a Limited Edition Package available at first that was limited to 500 copies, which has now sold out.

Metric opted to self-release the album. The subsequent mainstream success of the album led The New York Times to use Metric as the central band in an article regarding the shrinking role of major labels in the music industry.[2]

The song "Front Row" was featured on an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and released as a single on iTunes the same day. Frontwoman Emily Haines told Drowned in Sound that "Front Row" was inspired by the novel Great Jones Street by Don DeLillo.[3] "Gold Guns Girls" was featured in the movie Zombieland as well as in an episode of the TV show Entourage, in the EA Sports game FIFA 10, and as the intro and credits of Totally Spies: The Movie. "Help I'm Alive" was featured in an episode of The Vampire Diaries, and during the end credits of the 2009 movie Defendor.

The album was leaked, causing Metric to push the release date of the album forward one week to April 7.[1]

The album was released on iTunes on March 31, 2009.

The song "Black Sheep" was recorded for the album, but was ultimately left off because they felt that it 'too obviously reflected the band's sound'. It has since been released on the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [5]
Blender [6]
The Guardian [7]
No Ripcord [8]
Now [9]
Pitchfork Media (6.4/10)[10]
Planet Sound [11]
PopMatters [12]
Rolling Stone [13]
Spin [14]
Slant [15]

Reception to the album has been generally positive. It currently holds a 77 rating on Metacritic, from 28 reviews. Amazon.com listed Fantasies at eleventh in its "Best Albums of 2009" list.[16] The single "Gimme Sympathy" has been extremely popular among alternative rock radio stations. The album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize,[17] and also won two Casby Awards on October 22, 2009; the NXNE favourite new indie release award and favourite new album award.[18] The album also reached platinum status in Canada selling over 80,000 copies.[19] On 18 April 2010, the album won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Awards, as well as the band winning Group of the Year.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Metric. 

No. Title Length
1. "Help I'm Alive"   4:45
2. "Sick Muse"   4:17
3. "Satellite Mind"   3:42
4. "Twilight Galaxy"   4:53
5. "Gold Guns Girls"   4:05
6. "Gimme Sympathy"   3:54
7. "Collect Call"   4:46
8. "Front Row"   3:34
9. "Blindness"   4:26
10. "Stadium Love"   4:13

Singles

Personnel

The album was produced by Gavin Brown and James Shaw and mixed by John O'Mahony.

Chart positions

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart 6
U.S. Billboard 200 76
U.S. Billboard Tastemakers 11
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers 1
U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums 6
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 22
Australian Albums Chart 48

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=130&csid2=844&fid1=37096
  2. ^ Stone, Brad (July 22, 2009). "Artists Find Backers as Labels Wane". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/technology/internet/22music.html. Retrieved May 2, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Front Row". Songfacts.com. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15454. Retrieved 2009-05-04. 
  4. ^ Martens, Todd (August 14, 2010). "Track-by-track: Beck, Nigel Godrich, Emily Haines, Bryan Lee O'Malley & Edgar Wright dissect the 'Scott Pilgrim' music". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/beck-nigel-godrich-emily-haines-bryan-lee-omalley-edgar-wright-dissect-the-scott-pilgrim-soundtrack.html. Retrieved August 16, 2010. 
  5. ^ Allmusic review
  6. ^ Blender review
  7. ^ The Guardian review
  8. ^ No Ripcord review
  9. ^ Now review
  10. ^ Pitchfork Media review
  11. ^ Planet Sound review
  12. ^ PopMatters review
  13. ^ Rolling Stone review
  14. ^ Spin review
  15. ^ review
  16. ^ http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/11/05/amazon-best-albums-of-2009-list/.
  17. ^ "Fucked Up Win Polaris Prize". Clickmusic. 2009-09-23. http://www.clickmusic.com/news/article/fucked-up-win-polaris-prize. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  18. ^ http://www.chartattack.com/news/75965/metrics-fantasies-finally-wins-something
  19. ^ http://www.cria.ca/goldplat.php#album
  20. ^ http://www.rivmixx.com/guest/index/news_id/1296#event
Metric
Emily Haines · Joules Scott-Key · James Shaw · Josh Winstead
Studio albums
EPs
Singles