Drastic Fantastic

Drastic Fantastic
Studio album by KT Tunstall
Released 10 September 2007
(see Release history
Recorded 2006-2007
Rockfield Studios, Wales
Eastcote Studios, London
Eden Studios, London
Length 39:50
Label Relentless
Producer Steve Osborne
KT Tunstall chronology

KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza
(2006)
Drastic Fantastic
(2007)
Tiger Suit
(2010)
Alternative cover
Special CD/DVD Edition Cover.
Singles from Drastic Fantastic
  1. "Hold On"
    Released: 16 July 2007
  2. "Saving My Face"
    Released: 12 November 2007
  3. "If Only"
    Released: 3 March 2008
  4. "Little Favours[1]"
    Released: January 2009 (Brazil only)

Drastic Fantastic is the second studio album by Scottish Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. It features some unreleased tracks she wrote before Eye To The Telescope such as new tracks she wrote in 2003. The record was released by Relentless Records on 10 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, on 15 September in Australia, and 18 September 2007 in the United States and Canada. However, the album was leaked on P2P networks on 3 September 2007.

Some additional tracks features other unreleased songs such as Mothgirl, Bad Day and Journey, and during the Drastic Fantastic Tour, Tunstall covered La Vie En Rose, which is on the U.K Bonus tracks, My Sharona, The Bangles' Walk Like An Egyptian and Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody which features on the DVD. Also, three singles were taken from Drastic Fantastic : "Hold On", the lead single, Saving My Face and If Only, which all charted in the UK Top 100.

On the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, Drastic Fantastic debuted at number nine, selling about 50,000 copies in its first week, and sold around 225,000 copies in 2007.[2]

Artwork, packaging

According to Tunstall, the album cover is based on Suzi Quatro.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 68/100[4]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [5]
Robert Christgau [6]
Entertainment.ie [7]
The Guardian [8]
The Observer [9]
Rolling Stone [10]
The Times [11]
Uncut [12]

The album received warm, though conservative, praise by most critics. Music critics from The Observer gave Drastic Fantastic five stars, stating the album was "bursting with so many hits that Tunstall's comic-book life is about to go stratospheric".[9] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, and said that the album's sound was a "flashback" to 1997 by noting similarities between the songs on Drastic Fantastic and songs written 10 years earlier.[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album four out of five, calling Drastic Fantastic "a rare beast: a pop album with a songwriter's heart".[5]

However, some critics were less impressed, stating that the album was overproduced and lacked the "folksy" touch of her previous album Eye to the Telescope. The Guardian gave it three stars, stating "Tunstall could do better".[8]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Little Favours"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:09
2. "If Only"  KT Tunstall, Jimmy HogarthSteve Osborne 3:46
3. "White Bird"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:13
4. "Funnyman"  KT Tunstall, Martin TerefeSteve Osborne 2:56
5. "Hold On"  KT Tunstall, Ed CaseSteve Osborne 2:57
6. "Hopeless"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:41
7. "I Don't Want You Now"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:48
8. "Saving My Face"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:38
9. "The Beauty Of Uncertainty"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 5:01
10. "Someday Soon"  KT Tunstall, Jimmy HogarthSteve Osborne 3:53
11. "Paper Aeroplane"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:16
Total length:
39:50
Digital bonus tracks[13]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
12. "Journey"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 4:39
13. "La Vie En Rose (Edith Piaf cover)"  Louis Guglielmi, Edith PiafSteve Osborne 2:29
UK iTunes bonus tracks[14]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
12. "Bad Day"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 4:09
13. "Suddenly I See" (Live)KT TunstallSteve Osborne 6:03
Australian bonus track[15]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
12. "Suddenly I See"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 3:21
Japanese bonus track[16]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
12. "Suddenly I See" (Live)KT TunstallSteve Osborne 6:03
UK Amazon MP3 bonus tracks[17]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
12. "Mothgirl"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 5:01
13. "Bad Day"  KT TunstallSteve Osborne 4:09
14. "Suddenly I See" (Live)KT TunstallSteve Osborne 6:03

In addition with the Deluxe edition, a documentary DVD with the album.

Most songs on Drastic Fantastic are not new songs. An acoustic version of "Little Favours" and "Paper Aeroplane" appeared on the 2000 demo album 'Tracks In July'. "Little Favours" also appeared as the B-side to "Under the Weather". "If Only", "Funnyman", and "Saving My Face" appeared on the demo album 'Toons March '03'. Finally, Tunstall mentioned writing two new songs, "Hopeless" and "White Bird", in a blog entry from 2003.

Singles

The song is featured on the Brazilian Soap Opera Três Irmãs .[1]

"Someday Soon" is available as a single on Internet music stores such as iTunes and Rhapsody. It was featured in the film The Women in a montage featuring Annette Bening and Meg Ryan.

Personnel

Release history

Region Date
Europe 10 September 2007
Australia 15 September 2007
Canada 18 September 2007
United States

Chart positions

Chart (2007) Peak
position
U.S Billboard 200 Albums 9[20]
U.S Billboard Alternative Albums 1[20]
U.S Billboard Rock Albums 1[20]
U.S Billboard Digital Albums 9[20]
UK Albums Chart 3[20]
Scottish Albums Chart 1[20]
Irish Albums Chart 10[21]
European Top Albums 7[20]
Canadian Top 100 Albums 10[22]
Netherlands Albums Chart 21[23]
French Albums Chart 30[24]
German Albums Chart 35[25]
Austrian Albums Chart 43[26]
Italian Albums Chart 35[27]
Japanese Albums Chart 37 [28]
New Zealand Albums Chart 22[29]
Australian Albums Chart 48[30]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[32] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

|}

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Som Livre". Som Livre. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  2. Katie Hasty, "Reba Outmuscles Kanye, 50 To Score First No. 1", Billboard.com, 26 September 2007.
  3. "andPOP Interviews KT Tunstall - ANDPOP.com". www.andpop.com. Thornhill, Ontario, Canada: andPOP. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. "Album Review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Drastic Fantastic". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  6. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=5913&name=KT+Tunstall
  7. http://entertainment.ie/reviews/review.asp?ID=5163&subcat=CD
  8. 8.0 8.1 Clarke, Betty (7 September 2007). "CD: KT Tunstall, Drastic Fantastic". The Guardian (London).
  9. 9.0 9.1 Raphael, Amy (12 August 2007). "CD: K T Tunstall, Drastic Fantastic". The Guardian (London).
  10. 10.0 10.1 Drastic Fantastic : KT Tunstall : Review : Rolling Stone
  11. Asthana, Anushka. The Times (London) http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article2401793.ece. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/kt_tunstall/reviews/10222
  13. "Drastic Fantastic - AllMusic". Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  14. "iTunes - Music - Drastic Fantastic by KT Tunstall". Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  15. "KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic (CD, Album) at Discogs". Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  16. "Music: Amazon.com: Drastic Fantastic". Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  17. "Drastic Fantastic: KT Tunstall: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  18.  . "Little Favours - KT Tunstall (Letra e Vídeo) no Kboing". Letras.kboing.com.br. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  19. "KT Tunstall - Little Favours - The Tunstallator". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Billboard Top 200 Albums - Accessed 27 September 2007
  21. KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic. IRMA. Accessed 14 September 2007
  22. Nielsen SoundScan JAM! Music Charts - Top 100 Albums: Accessed 27 September 2007
  23. Megacharts - Accessed 17 September 2007
  24. French Albums Chart - acharts.us Accessed 20 September 2007
  25. German Top 100 Albums Chart - Accessed 26 September 2007
  26. Austrian Top 75 Albums Chart - Accessed 20 February 2008
  27. Italian Albums Chart - Accessed 20 September 2007
  28. Oricon. "KT タンストール". oricon.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  29. New Zealand Albums Top 40 - acharts.us Accessed 20 September 2007
  30. Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Record Industry Association
  31. "British album certifications – KT Tunstall – Drastic Fantastic". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Drastic Fantastic in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  32. "American album certifications – KT Tunstall – Drastic Fantastic". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH