Fantasy - Beyond the Beyond. 1974 England (archival)

Beyond the Beyond was the proposed second album from Fantasy that didn't see a release until 18 years later.

For Paint a Picture I wrote: "In effect Paint a Picture is all about the individual songs themselves. None of them go too far astray from their original premise... Each of these songs are well written, with plenty of great guitar and keyboards, and are great for relistenability. It's the type of album one wishes had been more popular with FM radio, rather than the direction they ultimately headed in. For 1973, it's decidedly quaint and a bit out of touch. As others have mentioned, it really does sound like an album from 1970, with a more late 60s psychedelic era approach to composition, verse the full blown concepts of 1973. A very fine album once you understand what it contains."

Beyond the Beyond remains out of time one year later. More mellotron than on the predecessor and the music is a bit more progressive rock influenced. I enjoyed this album more on original impact, though I rate both the same these days. They are more subtle than the usual prog band of the era. If you are a fan of Paint a Picture then you'll also want to hear this.

Ownership: CD: 1992 Audio Archives. Jewel case issue with lyric booklet and historical liner notes. Acquired a few years after release (1995). This was to be the first release from the label that has a bit of a checkered history. I didn't buy it immediately since I was at the time dissatisfied with Paint a Picture.

This archival album was also picked up on LP by the Norwegian label Colours (rare today). Later CD issues add five more bonus tracks. Audio Archives also put the LP back in the market in 2016.

1995; 4/12/13; 12/13/14; 9/24/23 (new entry)