• Record Label: 02.
  • Release Date: Apr 14, 2009
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 81
  2. Negative: 1 out of 81

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  1. CA
    Jul 25, 2009
    10
    One of the best releases of 2009. A perfect blend of indie rock and electropop. Love more and more with each listen. Not a skipper here.
  2. AlexW
    May 25, 2009
    10
    This album is refined to the best songs. Like "Live it Out" but more refined, with a tuned up "Old World Underground..." sound.
  3. YukkaP
    Jun 18, 2009
    5
    Commercial pop/rock marketed as Indie-rock. Not a bad update of older bands such as Blondie or the Divinyls. Kind of a Yeah, Yeah Yeahs wannabe band trying to cash in before their rapidly approaching 40th birthday party.
  4. ChrisS
    May 17, 2009
    5
    This band picked up where they left-off; only to go nowhere new. 'Blindness' and the welcoming intro 'Help, Im Alive' are the highlights of this CD. Worh having, but expect no more.
  5. ZachP
    Jun 7, 2009
    8
    Solid and pleasantly expected. Nothing new, but that isn't a bad thing. Metric hasn't hit the stale scale yet; songs like "Gimme Sympathy," "Stadium Love," and "Gold Guns Girls" are fun at any time.
  6. JasonB
    Aug 7, 2009
    8
    Whoever said that this is pop marketed as indie rock is retarded. Metric has been around for a while now and are here to stay. The album is slick which is not the same as commercialized. Emily Haines provides interesting, quirky vocals on tracks like "Stadium Love", one of the best tracks on Fantasies. Overall it is a very consistent album.
  7. TheBigCrunch
    Jul 20, 2009
    10
    I've never been much of a Metric fan, but this album is just about perfect. No, they're not coming anywhere near a reinvention of the wheel, but jaw-dropping originality is often as irascible as it is thrilling. Perfect pop albums however are always welcome. Best album of the year for me so far.
  8. KeithL
    Apr 23, 2009
    9
    Pretty much a culmination of the best moments of their 3 prior records.
  9. MikeS.
    Jun 16, 2009
    9
    Great album. "Blindness" kills me, "Gimme Sympathy" and "Sick Muse" are infectious. There are just a couple tracks I don't love, and I probably just haven't given them enough listens yet. I'm saving the 10 for the next album, because based on this outing I truly think they are getting even better. If you read a review where some misinformed soul cries "sellout", understand Great album. "Blindness" kills me, "Gimme Sympathy" and "Sick Muse" are infectious. There are just a couple tracks I don't love, and I probably just haven't given them enough listens yet. I'm saving the 10 for the next album, because based on this outing I truly think they are getting even better. If you read a review where some misinformed soul cries "sellout", understand that this album is the antithesis of that. Shun the major labels, handpick your team from a network grown through years of travel sharing your music, and wood-shedding in your own studio with creative control to produce it is not selling out. Great work guys.. and gal. Expand
  10. DevinG
    Jun 18, 2009
    9
    "Fantasies" isn't wildly new and doesn't at all re-invent the sound that Metric have become comfortable with. That said, it is still an amazing record, albeit one with a lot of untapped potential.
  11. NathanielT
    Aug 15, 2009
    10
    I have to say that this has become my favourite album of all time. I have listened to it non stop since it's release in April. Metric are fantastic, and even better in person.
  12. PhilG.
    Aug 23, 2009
    9
    Unadorned naked honesty wrapped in, at least from this crew, a stripped down streamlined sound.
  13. Mar 28, 2011
    7
    Metric is a different type of band. They have originality and it shows on this album. Not only can you dance to a lot of these tracks, but the lyrics are also something you should listen too, they're surprisingly good. Emily Haines' vocals are very good. It's a great mix of electropop and indie. B
  14. Mar 11, 2011
    8
    A handful of great songs really make this album. I have 'Gimme Sympathy' and 'Stadium Love' on repeat. There are a few songs I could leave but overall the album is a lot of fun.
  15. Oct 21, 2012
    9
    One of the essential electronic/alt. rock albums. Metric's evolution isn't all that much of what you'd call evolution, but more adaptation. Thank God what they've adapted to embraces them tightly.
  16. Aug 11, 2018
    10
    This is the album that really sold me on Metric. Favorite songs from Fantasies: Help I'm Alive, Sick Muse, Satellite Mind, Twilight Galaxy, Gold Gun Girls, Gimme Sympathy, Collect Call, Front Row, and Stadium Love. Amazing that there are so many favorites on an album! Love their sound, their lyrics, their imagery, and the feeling the music inspires.
  17. Jun 9, 2016
    8
    Probably one of the strongest Metric album if not the most commercially successful. This was the golden age of the band and really projected them into the spotlight. Download: Gimme Sympathy, Help I'm Alive, Satellite Mind.
  18. Mar 11, 2015
    9
    Fantasies is an album that has something for everybody -- catchy tunes, dance ballads, and interesting lyrics. The production is stellar, and many of the songs are immediately fantastic. None of the songs are worth discarding, and most of them can be repeated multiple times without boredom. A great record infused with passion and wonderful composition.
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 29
  2. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Fantasies is, rather unfortunately but perhaps not surprisingly, just another Metric album.
  2. Standing alone, Fantasies is an accomplished, enjoyable LP. Next to its siblings in the Metric back catalogue, however, it seems to lack urgency, a sense of the essential, dynamism, and even the touch of righteous anger that made itself known now and then.
  3. This Canadian-American hipster quartet's first record in four years has an electrophile slickness, not to mention a set of catchy songs.