THE FIXX – Phantoms ’84 [Music On CD Expanded Edition remastered +3] (2025) , MP3+FLAC, FAKE!

Also requested, here’s in exclusive the just released “Music On CD Expanded Edition remastered +3” of THE FIXX 1984’s celebrated album “Phantoms“.

While Dutch label Music On CD rarely reissue albums is remastered form, this version of “Phantoms” is really welcomed as it sounds fabulous. And the bonus tracks aren’t just fillers – the much sought after ‘I Will (Extended)’ isn’t just a dance remix, this long version is really different from the original album track.
After the catchy ‘Reach the Beach’ (1983) album, “Phantoms”, originally released in 1984 by MCA Records was a little more serious, a little more lugubrious, and a little more varied – for many the best THE FIXX record.
Very ’80s new wave pop-rock in nature, The Fixx weren’t just posers, but a very good band. They had an original sound, thanks to the echoing synths, clean processed guitars, cavernous drums, and Cy Curnin’s unique voice, which soared over the precise arrangements to make it sound melodic.

Following “Reach the Beach” and its trio of Top 40 hits was never going to be easy, and “Phantoms” never really had the chance to replicate the success of its predecessor. But there was a reason too: The Fixx wanted to make the album they wanted – mature but still with commercial singles.
“Reach The Beach” made it to #8 on the Billboard Album Chart and would go on to sell over 2 million copies in America. “Phantoms” hit #19, and sold a fraction of that. And yet while “Reach the Beach” is certainly a terrific, landmark album, “Phantoms” is every bit as good, if not better.

The project started out very promising, as the lead single did quite well. Clocking in at a thrifty 2:27, “Are We Ourselves?” is a frantic rocker with an arresting sense of urgency. The verse is the familiar Fixx vibe, built around a tight, repetitive guitar riff, adroitly arranged bursts of keyboard, and a heavy dose of barely restrained tension. The chorus, however, opens up to a more expansive sound which was a new approach for the band, and one that is explored throughout “Phantoms” and on all their subsequent albums. “Are We Ourselves?” is a potent and concise track — Cy Curnin’s vocal conveys just the right amount of anxious dread , especially as the song reaches its climactic finale, riding a wave of layered synths and Curnin’s increasingly intense vocals to a quick fade-out.
Like 1983’s “One Thing Leads to Another,” there is nothing about “Are We Ourselves?” that really screams “pop hit,” and, especially given its unusual brevity, it was a ballsy choice as the lead single. It reached #15 on the US singles chart in the fall of 1984, but made it #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles Chart.

Are We Ourselves?” would prove to be the only Top 40 hit from “Phantoms.” The second single was “Sunshine in the Shade,” another compact song that packs a powerful punch. “Sunshine in the Shade” is an exercise in creating and releasing tension. The introduction is a brief crescendo of keyboard and guitar which then unleashes a verse as taut as a wire, until the tension is allowed to be released with the cathartic repetition of “Sunshine in the Shade” in the chorus. It’s a terrific song, a jittery rocker with a creative vocal arrangement and a fantastic keyboard breakdown in the unusual mid-section.
With a theme of finding hope amongst despair, “Sunshine in the Shade” should have resonated with the public, but in retrospect perhaps it was too similar in vibe to “Are We Ourselves?” Radio wasn’t really interested, and, hampered by a video that wasn’t the band’s best and that MTV rarely played, the single limped to #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and a surprisingly low #37 on the Mainstream Rock Chart.

The third single was the cinematic “Less Cities, More Moving People,” arguably the strongest track on the album. “Less Cities” has an epic feel to it. It’s highly rhythmic and features an anthemic chorus and a foreboding synthesizer line that first appears near the beginning and repeats periodically. The song is built on a strangely swaying electronic effect that hums ominously in the background, punctuated by a prominent bass-line, occasional bright bursts of keyboard and subtle guitar patterns.
It’s a brilliantly devised creation with various sounds and textures happening in the background that the listener might not notice initially, but with a good pair of headphones all the careful attention to detail the band and producer Rupert Hine put into the music jumps out (bits of percussion, subtle keyboard effects and a vocal chant that reinforces the rhythm of the song and adds sonic depth). Hine’s production work is fantastic on “Phantoms” as a whole, but “Less Cities, More Moving People” in particular is truly genius. Cy Curnin delivers a great dystopian lyric and a knockout vocal performance. It’s an A+ song.

Might it have mattered if “Less Cities, More Moving People” had been the first single? Second-guessing after all these years may be a pointless exercise, but “Less Cities, More Moving People” is eccentric and compelling while still accessible, and maybe it would have captured the same commercial lightning as “One Thing Leads to Another.” Obviously it’s impossible to say — by the time it was released as the third single, radio and MTV support for “Phantoms” had evaporated, and the song failed to make the Billboard Hot 100.
At that point, MCA Records, which had already seriously ramped down promotional efforts after the failure of “Sunshine in the Shade,” basically pulled the plug on the album. It was the final single, and soon “Phantoms” was quietly relegated to the long list of those moderately successful but largely forgettable albums that nobody but die-hard fans talk about anymore.
It’s a fate this record doesn’t deserve.

“Phantoms” is strong throughout and is worthy of reexamination. “Lose Face” opens the album with two quirky keyboard blips and then Jamie West-Oram jumps in with his tight, clean, immediately recognizable guitar, and the band is off and running with an offbeat pop-rocker that is completely unlike anything anybody else was recording at the time.
Had there been a fourth single, it might have been “Woman on a Train,” a mid-tempo shuffle with a terrific bass-line. It was co-written by Jeanette Obstoj, who also collaborated with The Fixx on their superb 1986 single “Secret Separation” and Tina Turner’s “I Might Have Been Queen” from the “Private Dancer” album, which was also produced by Rupert Hine and features guest turns by both Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram.

The ballad “Wish,” with its beautifully melodic chorus, is one of the true hidden gems of The Fixx’s catalog and would be wonderful to hear resurrected in their live set. “I Will” is another ballad that might have made a good single (perhaps it was considered at one point, since an extended version was created). It features a lovely piano part, one of Curnin’s finest vocals, and a wonderfully fluid bass-line.
“Lost in Battle Overseas” is wickedly tight and funky, featuring a repeating riff of massive layers of synthesizer. “Question” is another killer track with an inventive arrangement and a short but zany keyboard solo.

“Question” would have made an intriguing single, but was instead wasted as the b-side to “Are We Ourselves?”. “Facing the Wind” once again showcases the enormous creativity of keyboardist Rupert Greenall, whose talent shines throughout “Phantoms.”
The album closes with the moody, beautifully arranged “Phantom Living,” which is a wonderful production with some terrific effects on the layered vocals and exquisite guitar-work.
The entire album is very strong — not a weak track to be found.

If the average music fan owns an album by The Fixx, in all probability it’s “Reach the Beach”, or one of their greatest hits collections. It’s time for a reassessment not only of “Phantoms,” but of the band’s entire catalog.
It’s not all about the lack of mainstream success — their music is admittedly not particularly radio-friendly. The Fixx has been shortchanged by writers, critics, and fans of some of the other key bands of the era. Over their career, The Fixx has recorded an impressive catalog of terrific albums and singles, and looking back over a 40 year period it could easily be argued that The Fixx are one of the most unjustly underrated bands to emerge from the ‘80s.

But they deserve to be on the list of the great bands of the era, and too frequently they are forgotten completely unless “One Thing Leads to Another” shows up on an ‘80s retrospective compilation.
It doesn’t help that some of their albums are hard to find; “Phantoms” was out of print for years and unavailable unless you happen upon it in a used shop or snag an expensive used copy online. But now Music On CD make it available again, complete with bonus tracks and a pristine remastered sound.
Pick up “Phantoms” and listen to it with fresh ears on a good stereo or headphones — it is without question one of the great unsung rock&pop albums of the 1980s.
Highly Recommended

01 – Lose Face
02 – Less Cities, More Moving People
03 – Sunshine In The Shade
04 – Woman On A Train
05 – Wish
06 – Lost In Battle Overseas
07 – Question
08 – In Suspense
09 – Facing The Wind
10 – Are We Ourselves
11 – I Will
12 – Phantom Living
BONUS TRACKS:
13 – Less Cities, More Moving People (12”)
14 – Sunshine In The Shade (Live)
15 – I Will (Extended)

Cy Curnin – vocals
Rupert Greenall – keyboards
James West-Oram – guitar
Dan K. Brown – bass
Adam Woods – drums, percussion

MP3 FLAC