Fantastica remains the gold standard by which all outer space exotica records are judged -- composed and conducted by Russ Garcia, the album is a marvel of sound and structure, brilliantly evoking the music of the cosmos via revolutionary studio techniques, cinematic arrangements, and innovative electronic elements. Created in tandem with Liberty Records' chief engineer, Ted Keep, Fantastica bears little resemblance to conventional earthly music -- alongside traditional instruments like woodwinds, harp, and percussion is a series of electronic devices and effects, including a sine wave generator that creates treble and bass tones of almost inhuman extremes. This is sound at its most deeply visual, conjuring horrific images of alien attack ("The Monsters of Jupiter"), natural disaster ("Nova"), and chilling isolation ("The Lost Souls of Saturn") that articulate the collective unconsciousness of humankind with clarity and poetry -- a masterpiece.
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