FANTASIZER!

This is multi-instrumentalist Dean Watson's third studio album and like the first two I can highly recommend "Fantasizer!" as well. Love the cover art and it's pretty cool that relationship between the visual and sound we have had here with artist Ron Eady and musical artist Dean Watson from the first album on and both live a couple of hours north of where I am in Ontario. Released in 2014 we once again get some amazing music, and one of Dean's talents is in arranging the music which must be akin to a musical puzzle when it's a one man show. Like the other two studio albums this just "sounds" so good with the contrasts of heaviness and those lighter atmospheric passages.

There's a variety of keyboard sounds in play bringing to mind even RPI with the organ like sounds pulsating away like on one of my favourite tracks "At Odds". Nasty stuff in a very good way. Funny I prefer the keyboards more often than not over the guitar which isn't usually the way with me. That self titled opener is also a favourite with that piano and spacey atmosphere to start. We get a darker and heavier sound around 3 1/2 minutes in and late to end it but in between it does brighten.

This really is a solid release without any throwaway tracks in my opinion, a very even sounding record. "Caged Creator" is the longest track at 11 1/2 minutes and one of the better compositions for sure. Might have been a good closer but that's left for the shortest piece "Solemn" which is a 3 minute melancholic piano song. I do like "Freak" a lot with that guitar after 2 minutes then later before 5 1/2 minutes. Some good contrasts in this one. Some power on "The Anomaly" but again we also get a calm with piano before the guitar returns kicking down the door. I like the mellow section in "Nomad" as it gives off a feel good vibe.

You can't go wrong with any of these first three studio albums from Dean Watson.