I have not heard KT's first album, but as a new fan, I can tell you that this album is great. Her faster, more pop tracks are her strongest. The slower songs toward the end are a good way to end the album, but don't pack the power of the other songs.

Stand Out Tracks: "Funnyman" and "Saving My Face"

Talented Tunstall offers up a nice variety of musical selections in this enjoyable collection. My personal favorite is "Hold On," which is unfortunately short (under three minutes) and I do admit to preferring her upbeat tracks.

It is a well produced CD and shows off not only her talent, but the promise for future albums and a long career to come.

This is a tough album to classify...the cover [nice legs], and opening cut would lead you to expect really "hard rock", and, in spots, it is. Overall though, the record is far from "hard", and is actually kind of "soft" at times.

My favorite cut is "White Bird", which has a jazz sound. The recording closes with "Someday Soon" and "Paper Aeroplane", which are rather mellow. Miss Tunstall is a pretty girl from "across the pond", who has a very pleasing voice. If you want to get rocked, but not too hard, you might just like it.

After KT Tunstall delivered the near-classic album Eye to the Telescope, I heard that she was releasing a new album barely a year later, and sometimes when an artist does that, the results aren't necessarily bad but still not quite as stellar. Well, my worries were put to rest after hearing Drastic Fantastic.

You won't find anything QUITE as catchy as "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on here ("Hold On" comes pretty darn close, though), but there are still plenty of quality tracks. Such tracks include metaphorical tales like "Paper Aeroplane" and "White Bird", as well as more "standard" fare like "If Only", or even the more troublesome vibe of "Saving My Face". Speaking of poignant tracks, the mellow, acoustic "Beauty of Uncertainty" also shines.

Even though "I Don't Want You Now" made me say just that, Drastic Fantastic shows that KT Tunstall shot two for two because the album is indeed fantastic. Pick it up.

Anthony Rupert

Her hoarse voice make the difference and the style of her music please me very much since I heard for the first time "Suddenly I See" and "Black Horse and The Cherry Tree". This album is great. I recommend.

Aw, man. I was SO looking forward to KT's new album, but this was a complete disappointment. I've seen her live 3 times, and in one show she played this incredible song titled "Dirty Water"...that isn't on the album. I didn't get hooked by a single song, and while after reading the reviews here I'm willing to have another listen, I don't think it will drastically, fantastically change my opinion. A real let-down from an artist I think has much more than one hit CD in her.

Despite the dreadful cover art (hopefully a joke) this is one fine album. A little less plaintive folkishness than the first, yet still contains the fine lyrics and Ms. Tunstall's sweet voice. Some songs approach the artfulness of artists such as Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann. Others just make you wanna do a little dance. If you like great pop music, this will do it for you.

I loved this album, even more than Tunstall's first disc. It starts off a little slow, but by the time we get to "Funnyman" the disc really takes off and you will find five or six songs that really just suck you in. The first time I listened, I thought it was ok, but now I am just drawn in by the first few chords. A fun, light, and really enjoyable LP by one of the better artists making Commercial music today.

Tunstall is a mammoth talent, and as the album cover suggests, clearly chafing against the folk/alternative label sometimes applied to her (and perhaps trying to sell some more records). Don't take this the wrong way but think Chrissie Hynde meets Paul McCartney.

There's not a weak song on the album (nor was there on "Telescope"). A couple of these songs (Funnyman, for instance) strike me as overproduced and sound better in simpler live renditions that you can find on YouTube.

But this is anything but watered-down pop -- Tunstall's brilliance shines through. You have to keep in mind the studio work is done in many ways to sound good on the radio -- the real Tunstall, like the real Springsteen, is an awe-inspiring live performer.

Kate "KT" Tunstall is a hot new rock star, shooting across the American sky and drawing many a comment. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1975, she suddenly leaped to international fame with her debut album, Eye To The Telescope. She has a wonderful voice, and this album is every bit as wonderful to listen to as the other.

For the most part, the songs of this album are soulful and jazzy, and are really nice to listen to. I love Little Favours and Hold On, but my favorites are Beauty of Uncertainty and Paper Aeroplane. If these two albums are any indication, Ms. Tunstall has a long and distinguished career in front of her!

If you like good music, then get this album! You won't be disappointed. I give this album my highest recommendations.

I bought Drastic Fantastic because I loved Eye to the Telescope (ETTT) so much, and I was surprised but definitely not disappointed. This album has a few more mellow racks than ETTT, but the lyrics are great, the tunes innovative and complex, and KT's great vocals really shine here. Haven't found a track on the whole album I didn't like - very unusual for me :-)

Great album. I gave this as a gift as well as bought one for myself. If you liked Eye of the Telescope you will enjoy this on even more.

This is the first KT albul I've bought and I can't stop listening to it. It is pop music that has depth. The first song starts strong, but after that the rest of the album mellows out just enough for repeat listening, but not so much that you fall alseep. KT has the perfect blend of pretty melodies with strength underneath.

I purchased "Drastic Fantastic" on the strength of Ms. Tunstall's previous recordings. "Eye to the Telescope and the live "Acoustic Extravaganza" both of which I love and am still listening to in heavy rotation. while Ms. Tunstall's music on these is not the most adventurous, it is sultry and not completely predictable. The production is appropriate for her smoky voice. More magical are her lyrics which are tart and clever and tasty with metaphor.
To be blunt her last outing is overproduced hooky, poppy wallpaper perfect for office lite-rock radio. "Drastic Fantastic" is neither.

I just love this gall, this CD is a little less good than the previous, but great nonetheless...I can't get enough of that voice...she sure looks hot...

Drastic Fantastic is the third KT cd i have (the other two are Eye to the telescope and Acoustic extravaganza). After just one listen through the whole album, i fell in love with it. this is her best work yet.

My favourite songs here are:
- Little favours --> great opening, very catchy
- If only --> great guitars, great reff
- Funnyman --> THE BEST SONG HERE!
- Hold On --> first single, very catchy and has a great beat
- Hopeless
- Saving My Face
- I Don't Want You Now

This album is very different than Eye to the telescope, but her new style and vocals are great! A Must buy album of 2007.

She's got a great sound, and while this disc isn't any kind of earth shattering departure from her first album, it's still a disc of quality tracks that are all very listeninable and well recorded. The over all sensation of the disc is a little more bipolar in it's tempo's between hardish/rock and slower lovey dovey songs. I still think her writing not a new genre but as she describes, in not so many words, but a melding of different genre. Much as she is a meld of different races, her and her music totally makes for a wonderful thing. My only hope is that her 3rd disc, if there is one, shows her branching out and pushing her artistic limits and challenging her listeners. Props Ms Tunstall.

I so love KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope that the second I saw this CD, I snapped it up with great delight. I didn't even know that she had a new CD coming out so finding this one was a bit like Christmas. The CD certainly didn't disappoint.

Tunstall's sound is hard to describe. This CD seems to have more of a rock edge to it than her previous work. I think it is my inability to fit it squarely into a genre box that makes it such a great CD for me. There are some really great guitar riffs, particularly on Little Favours. Musically, I think this CD is more inventive than Eye to the Telescope, though that one was by no means lacking in creativity. This CD is more diverse, touching on every style from rock to folk to the somewhat country flavored Hopeless. Tunstall's voice is also wonderful on this disk. Her voice sounds surer and there's no doubt that she owns this music, that it's tailor made for her. She has one of the best voices on the contemporary scene. It goes from smoky to sweet to raw and is so distinct from the manufactured pop princesses.

Tunstall's other great strength is her lyrics. She glides through her words playfully, serving to showcase the cleverness inherent in her songs. I especially love listening to her sing about "this little universe between our backs" in Little Favours. It's one of the catchiest, most colorful song lyrics I've heard in some time. Tunstall does a wonderful job of painting a scene with her words. Sometimes playful and sometimes mournful, her lyrics have an undercurrent of perceptiveness and intelligence that makes them such a joy to listen to.

In short, Tunstall has been a long time in the coming. After having to suffer a long line of undertalented and overexposed Barbie wannabes, it's a marvel to have a genuine musician to enjoy.

Poppy and somewhat edgy in places, KT is the prime example of an artist with limited talents. She plays the guitar pretty well. But the songs run out of steam after a while.

Little Favours is harmony Heaven. But otherwise, not the wisest choice as the initial start out to an album. Not by a long shot. White Bird is pleasant though and would've made for a strong opener. Sure, it's a little too calm for it's own good. But is a great song all the same.

Yet another singer-songwriter caught up in the glitz and glamour of this particular lifestyle and destined to get lost in the everlasting sea of stars that shine for a split second and then aren't remembered at all.

Buy this if You must but I'm glad I didn't.

Download White Bird and Paper Aeroplane legally or illegally I don't care. Just get them and move onto something worth checking out!!

2.5 stars.

KT's best song on the cd was performed on Ellen. I loved it and bought the cd. I absolutely love her voice but the instrumentals are a bit tinny and the music sounds redundant. It reminds me of my old Peter Frampton album where all the songs sound alike.

The cover which shows Tunstall playing electric guitar leads one to think that the recording features some hot guitar. Unfortunately, it doesn't. In fact, even on the up beat opening track, there is no instrument break--a typical Tunstall song--unrealized potential. So, we now know that Tunstall can prance around and strum guitar but she can't PLAY guitar. However, all of the songs on the CD are decent if not exciting. It's disappointing that not more was done with them.

At 39 minutes of music, this is not a generous offering and shows that Tunstall isn't a prolific songwriter. She has a fantastic voice and should have filled out the CD with cover songs. Also she needs a producer who has great musical ideas and can realize them with supporting musicians, lead guitar riffs and other rock 'n' roll ideas.

I actually love this CD more then her first one, has a few poppy tunes, fewer slower ones, overall just a great CD.

...at least compared with eye to the telescope.
Although it should have nothing to do one thing with the other, it usually happens that when an artist changes the way they look, the logo and so on their music changes with them, and given that you liked things the way they were, the change is for the worse most of the times.

In my opinion that is what happens here...kt changed the way she dressed and the logo, let alone the lovely look of her old web page, going from a young girl looking smiling and uncompromising with her old jeans and boots to a glam diva. But all those subjects don't matter if the music is good, and here is the problem. Musically this album is not a total departure from eye to..., although the bluesy thing and the voice and acoustic guitar songs are missed, but the songs are overall much worse here than they were on eye..., and they are poppier.

1- litle favours: there is a previous and acoustic version of this song as a b-side to under the weather i think...that version is much better and moving than the one on drastic, wich could not be compared on its own with other side of the world...

2- if only: it begins like an average poppy song, a little bit catchy...but then comes the chorus and i skip it...i'm sorry...another place to fall should be offended

3- white bird: wonderful. probably the best thing here, with kt singing alone, only with her acoustic guitar and few arrangements, very much in the vein of heal over...par with under the weather

4- funnyman: good song, and not a poppy one like if only was...this is serious and catchy...thins get better although black horse is better

5- hold on: this is the first single and the so-called black horse of the album...i don't think so but is good and i love kt's voice on this one...very good, like miniature disasters was

6- hopeless: very good although i find it very poppy...i consider it the twin sister of saving my face although the latter is much better...any way this is good as well, but worse than the sheer brilliance of silent sea

7- i don't want you know: horrible, poppy and bland...nothing to do with universe & you or any other song on eye, which play in a far better league...

8- saving my face: very, very good!!!! nice chorus and nice song overall.maybe a little bit short...but once again i don't think is better than its number partner on eye.., false alarm

9- beauty of uncertainty: is good, very somber and slow..it could be the silent sea of drastic although worse (once again), but is worthy...i'd rather listening to suddenly i see on eye..., which strangely enough was the poppiest song on eye...and i am not into pop songs very much...

10- someday soon: flows almost unnoticed...it would be matched with stoppin' the love which is the worst song on eye...althugh better than this...sorry

11- paper aeroplane: same as someday soon although is remarkable the fact that kt dares finishing her album with such dark and slow tracks lihe the last three

of course this is my opinion and i'm sorry for the comparison with eye..., but you have noticed i find eye... almost inmaculate...stoppin' the love and through the dark are, for me, the worst tracks on ther but they are much better than many of the tracks on drastic...

i know it is very difficult to match the incredible quality and feeling of eye... and i am sure that kt got off the eye to the telescipe horse on purpose, intending not to create the same album again and again...

i am sur she did not want to deliver eye... part II but i wouldn't have minded it...and i think the way her music has changed has a lot to do with the way her appearance and the album art have changed...and it has been made intentionally in my opinion...

anyway, this is not a bad album, not at all, and kt fans will like it, like i do, as all the good reviews show...is just that i hope kt to deliver much better things in the future, because i loved acoustic extravaganza too...

thank you for reading and greetings from spain!!!

Love this album, its just as good as Eye To the telescope, though with changes, she's even dancing now! she's exploring more in the music area, which is cool, and we have a result her drastic fantastic album..Just love it, standouts are of course Hold On, saving my face, Someday soon and paper aeroplane, her album is just a hit! love it! great purchase if you liked her previous cd

This cd just keeps getting better with every play i am a big fan of this !

Although I haven't warmed up to this album as quickly as I did to "Eye to the Telescope", KT Tunstall is "Drastically Fantastic" just the same. I would recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of KT Tunstall.

This is a very enjoyable CD. It isn't quite up to the last one, but not much is. I liked all the songs, and like the musical range. One extra on this CD which is fun is that it includes access to a Tunstall website, videos, etc. Gives you that sense you have some personal knowledge of an artist yu admire.

This is an album that grows on you. If you're already a fan, you'll want this. A lyric printout in the booklet would have made this perfect.

I don't usually expect any artist's second CD to be better than the first, but this one is.
If your interested in guitar driven rock, good lyrics, and tunes that make you want to shake it (in an indie-rock sort of way)...
Buy it.

This is pretty good... not as good as Eye to the Telescope, but that's a hard one to follow...

I enjoy the CD. I like the rockin' style that not many woman can pull off as well as KT. I was just hoping for a little bit more punch to this collection. I think she took the safe route...there are songs to surely please fans of just about every style. So the songs show she has quite a range but they all seem to dilute each other into the background.

I didn't have to worry about her follow-up CD to Eye to the Telescope. KT Tunstall gets better and better. Great voice. Just have to start my day listening to Drastic Fantastic and love playing her CDs while i'm cleaning!! Unfortunately she hasn't seemed to catch on commercially. Although that might not be a bad thing. I wouldn't know her if it wouldn't be for satellite radio. Can't wait for what she'll do next!

KT Tunstall sophomore album, Drastic Fantastic is a solid and energetic collection of uptempo and dreamy ballads. Standout tracks include: Little Favours, If Only, Funnyman, Hold On, I Don't Want You Now, Saving My Face, and Beauty of Uncertainity. Tunstall's lyrics and gorgeous voice are always at their best, this album has a harder edge than her debut, Eye to the Telescope. Drastic Fantastic isn't all that drastic but these well-produced songs have been stuck in my head for days. Tunstall has this great and natural ability to craft high quality pop tracks. None of the 11 tracks seem cheesy and self-indulgent in any way. If there is one album to have this fall, Drastic Fantastic is the one that shall get you in a good mood, keep rockin' on KT. This lady is amazing!

I read some middling reviews of this album in the press, but I think they're mistaken -- this is a fantastic follow-up. The musicianship, singing and songwriting are all excellent -- I love the melange of R&B, pop and rock. I find myself humming different songs off the album all day long. Shine on, KT! The only thing I miss is a lyrics booklet!

I like KT Tunstill how ever the songs on this Item didnt really fit my listening