Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Drastic Fantastic

EMAILPRINTby KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall reviews
68
7.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 34 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Virgin

Release Date: 18 September 2007

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock, Pop

Summary

"Drastic Fantastic" is KT's studio follow-up to her successful debut CD.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Observer Music Monthly

Drastic Fantastic feels neither brave nor raw; Steve Osborne, working with Tunstall for the second time, has produced an album of flawless pop hits.

Read Full Review >
80

musicOMH.com

Just when you think things are getting a bit too glossy and radio-friendly, there's a reminder of the edge that makes her such a good listen.

Read Full Review >
80

Uncut

There's another side to the jaunty guitars and multi-tracked choruses that sometimes make Tunstall sound like she's singing an orange juice advert.... 'Beauty of Uncertainty' and the closer 'Paper Aeroplane' are stark and moody etudes as far removed from, say, Dido as it's possible to get.

Read Full Review >
80

Billboard

Tunstall crushes the sophomore jinx under the stilleto heels of the white boots she wears on the album cover, delivering a confident and assured set that's fuller and a touch more electric than its predecessor.

Read Full Review >
80

Hartford Courant

The Scottish singer builds on the promise of her first album with Drastic Fantastic.

Read Full Review >
80

All Music Guide

Drastic Fantastic a rare beast: a pop album with a songwriter's heart, and one that works on both levels.

Read Full Review >
80

Sputnikmusic

Drastic Fantastic achieves success due to its near-perfect composition and construction.

Read Full Review >
70

PopMatters

Drastic Fantastic is not so much a revelation, and song-by-song, it might not even quite surpass its predecessor in overall strength, but it’s proof that she’s for real.

Read Full Review >
70

Dot Music

An underwhelming end to a sly, bitter, rocking album it maybe, but at least it makes plain the point that being polite does nothing for her and a bit of passion and rock'n'roll attitude goes a long way.

Read Full Review >
70

Blender

The clarity of her frustration gives the songs an unsparing honesty, but it's also frustrating to witness. [Oct 2007, p.112]

70

Slant Magazine

A definite improvement on her solid debut, this is also a more polished record that should continue to build upon Tunstall's success.

Read Full Review >
70

Rolling Stone

It's high-gloss folk pop, confessional in form if not in content, crafted with intelligent attention to every detail.

Read Full Review >
63

Los Angeles Times

It's more professional than compellingly personal, but a lack of pretension lets the choruses soar and the hooks kick in with full, pleasurable effect.

Read Full Review >
60

The Guardian

Tunstall has never sounded better, and the Sheryl Crow riffs and mid-tempo chick rock of 'If Only' and 'Little Favours' serve her well.

Read Full Review >
60

Spin

The follow-up proves Tunstall is no fluke.... but it also maks clear that Tunstall's glaring faults--dull lyrics filled with pedestrian phrases--aren't fleeting, either. [Oct 2007, p.112]

60

Boston Globe

Tunstall's third album is far less gritty than her first album.

Read Full Review >
60

NOW Magazine

The more introspective moments show songwriting potential that's worth getting excited about, but at times the disc coasts along too comfortably to be truly remarkable.

Read Full Review >
60

Q Magazine

While there's nothing on Drastic Fantastic to spook the horses, neither is it an obvious rerun of its predecessor. [October 2007, p.90]

58

Entertainment Weekly

Drastic Fantastic's airy guitar pop--not to mention Tunstall's muted rasp--feels more technically proficient than passionate. [21 Sep 2007, p.81]

42

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Tunstall tries hard to stand out with moments of guitar fuzz and lyrics that occasionally border on clever, but Drastic is ultimately little more than pleasant background noise.

Read Full Review >
40

Mojo

It's a shame Drastic Fantastic disappoints. [Oct 2007, p.92]

40

New Musical Express

Her debut had some killer pop singles like 'Black Horse And The Cherry Tree', but on Drastic Fantastic her talent and quirks have been mostly hidden under a gloss of studio production and bland AOR.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Neil R. gave it an8:
Not quite as good as the first album, but the first few tracks are extremely singalongtoable, and she varies her style elegantly (though, again, the album as a whole sounds similar to the previous).

B D gave it a10:
Fantastic

Henry G. gave it a9:
Absolutely sublime. Just brilliant.

Edward H gave it a10:
KT is so freekin' rokkin' on diz album, she is sincere and very honest in her songs and she has such a awsum ass voice 2. Anyone dat sayz she is dull or borin' obviously don'tz know shit bout reel pop muzik. Diz is a winner wit yo boi. Peace KT you have made yo boi proud. Keep it Komin' Ghirlfriend!

Matt R. gave it a9:
Not as good as her first, but still a great album. One of the better voices/personas of all female artists right now.

T gave it a10:
A brilliant variety of more rockier tracks to quieter acoustic ballads, well done KT.

Mark C. gave it a10:
A wonderful album that really shows a rockier side of KT. The best album so far in 2007.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use