Metric - Fantasies
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
The problem with eagerly anticipating a new album from a band that you really like is that when the album finally arrives it is almost always a disappointment. Three and a half years have passed since Metric has released any new material, and, even though they put out a “previously unreleased” album and a live DVD during that time, it seems like the wait was much, much longer. (The solo Emily Haines material suffered without the synergy of the rest of the band and didn’t help the time pass any more quickly.)
Fantasies begins with “Help, I'm Alive,” an insight into what it must be like to get on stage in front of a group of fans, with Haines stating, “If I stumble / they’re gonna eat me alive.” The subject matter hits a little more close to home on “Twilight Galaxy” where she says, “Did they tell you, you should grow up / when you wanted to dream? / Did they warn you, better shape up / if you want to succeed? / I don't know about you, who are they talking to? / They’re not talking to me.” (It’s doubtful that Haines ever encountered these statements in her life, but that doesn’t dismiss the importance of the message.)
The apex of the album is the upbeat “Gold Guns Girls” and on the opposite side of the spectrum there is “Collect Call” with its “lazy dancer” lyric, but fortunately that’s the band’s only misstep. “Gimme Sympathy” asks the trick question: “After all of this is gone / who’d you rather be / the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?” (If those are the only choices there’s only one possible answer.) And finally, to end on a high note, we have creatures battling each other to the death in “Stadium Love.”
- Score
- 87%
So, after all this time, is Fantasies a disappointment? Well…yes and no. Compared to their last two albums it falls short, but judged against some of the more recent releases it’s actually not bad.
