The Fixx - Phantoms (1984) [Non-Remastered] / AvaxHome

The Fixx had a banner year in 1983, as their second album, Reach the Beach, broke down doors and gave the band a huge hit with "One Thing Leads to Another." Phantoms wasn't as good, not just because Reach the Beach had that hit but also because it was simply a really good mainstream new wave record. Phantoms was a little more serious, a little more lugubrious, a little directionless, but it still is a pretty good record, all the same. The reason why? The Fixx were a good band. They had an original sound, thanks to the echoing synths, clean-processed guitars, cavernous drums, and Cy Curnin's soaring voice, which soared over the precise arrangements to make it sound human. The wondrous thing about this combination is that it sounded appealing even when the material wasn't the equal of the sound, which is often the case on Phantoms. That's not to say it's a disaster, because it hardly is – the band sounds good, and the record is a shining example of post-new wave production. But, it does play a bit as singles and filler, with the Top 20 hit "Are We Ourselves" shining brightly among the record's 12 songs, but "Lose Face," the reggae-tinged "Sunshine in the Shade," and "Woman on a Train" all were fine Fixx songs, standing proudly among the perfectly acceptable, but rather undistinguished, cuts that formed the rest of the album, including a preponderance of long, moody synth ballads. Even if it was an uneven record, its ratio of hits to filler was no greater than most pop albums. However, Phantoms had the misfortune of arriving in one of the greatest years for pop music, a year where every kind of style was in full bloom. So, Phantoms fell by the wayside, but, in retrospect, it was an admirable successor to an album that defined a band's career.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

Despite the fact that it didn't match the commercial success of "Reach The Beach," this third album by the Fixx, 1984's "Phantoms," is the group's masterpiece. The band's atmospheric pop-rock works to maximum effect on this album, and there's not a single song here that I don't like. GREAT hooks & melodies everywhere you look, with such classic Fixx rockers as "Less Cities, More Moving People," "Sunshine In The Shade," "Woman On A Train," and the Top 40 hit "Are We Ourselves?", as well as "Lose Face" and "Question." The band also score major points with the softer tunes, including "Wish," the dreamy "Facing The Wind," and the absolutely beautiful number, "I Will" (and why this very lovely song was never released as a single I will never know–-the Fixx could've had another huge hit along the lines of "One Thing Leads To Another"). The band's performances are sharp, and Cy Curnin's passionate voice is excellent. Their record sales may have begun to decline with this one, but in my mind, it was the fault of radio and the record-buying public for missing out on this great disc. "Phantoms" is an outstanding Fixx album, with some of the best 80's pop-rock ever laid down. It's the best work Cy Curnin & company have ever done, so what are you waiting for? Pick it up, and enjoy the ultimate Fixx.

Review by Alan Caylow, Amazon.com

The Fixx at Allmusic
The Fixx at Wiki

Tracklist:

01. Lose Face (3:28)
02. Less Cities, More Moving People (3:52)
03. Sunshine in the Shade (2:27)
04. Woman on a Train (3:54)
05. Wish (4:06)
06. Lost in Battle Overseas (4:11)
07. Question (3:27)
08. In Suspence (3:44)
09. Facing the Wind (3:18)
10. Are We Ourselves? (2:28)
11. I Will (3:52)
12. Phantom Living (3:51)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 11. May 2016, 17:41

The Fixx / Phantoms (MCAD-5507)

Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GE20NU11 Adapter: 1 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\EAC 3\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.37 | 3:27.55 | 37 | 15616
2 | 3:28.17 | 3:52.10 | 15617 | 33026
3 | 7:20.27 | 2:26.55 | 33027 | 44031
4 | 9:47.07 | 3:54.20 | 44032 | 61601
5 | 13:41.27 | 4:05.58 | 61602 | 80034
6 | 17:47.10 | 4:11.20 | 80035 | 98879
7 | 21:58.30 | 3:27.15 | 98880 | 114419
8 | 25:25.45 | 3:44.00 | 114420 | 131219
9 | 29:09.45 | 3:18.30 | 131220 | 146099
10 | 32:28.00 | 2:27.57 | 146100 | 157181
11 | 34:55.57 | 3:52.15 | 157182 | 174596
12 | 38:47.72 | 3:51.20 | 174597 | 191941

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename Z:\OdW\THE FIXX DISCOGRAPHY\1984 - Phantoms (MCAD-5507)\The Fixx - Phantoms (MCAD-5507).wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.8 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C4294FC0
Copy CRC C4294FC0
Copy OK

No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 21) [F5B78FBC] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 21) [D6B317D2] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 21) [88CE32FE] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [0375E21D] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [04921A9E] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [BD410F54] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 21) [8C0DE467] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 21) [C08230D2] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [F96DAD70] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [BA017FBD] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [03C87174] (AR v2)
Track 12 accurately ripped (confidence 20) [358DFCB4] (AR v2)

All tracks accurately ripped

End of status report

–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6

[CTDB TOCID: .VFrDlzGVKeDJWyWWsB6AnNgNug-] found
Submit result: .VFrDlzGVKeDJWyWWsB6AnNgNug- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
2 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
3 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
4 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
5 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
6 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
7 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
8 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
9 | (5/6) Accurately ripped, or (1/6) differs in 752 samples @02:40:48-02:40:49,02:42:12-02:42:13,02:42:28-02:42:29,02:42:44-02:42:45,02:42:60-02:42:61,02:43:18-02:43:19,02:44:24-02:44:25,02:44:40-02:44:41,02:44:56-02:44:57
10 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
11 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
12 | (6/6) Accurately ripped

==== Log checksum A9840A35515A5973F1EA59442CE2B3373AA67A02CCE80C6A50743521D78F12FA ====

AR log

[CUETools log; Date: 25.04.2018 11:43:24; Version: 2.1.4]
Pregap length 00:00:37.
[CTDB TOCID: .VFrDlzGVKeDJWyWWsB6AnNgNug-] found.
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
2 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
3 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
4 | (27/28) Accurately ripped
5 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
6 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
7 | (27/28) Accurately ripped
8 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
9 | (27/28) Accurately ripped
10 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
11 | (28/28) Accurately ripped
12 | (25/28) Accurately ripped
[AccurateRip ID: 00130db3-00b1f8fc-9609ff0c] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [1971e56e|f5b78fbc] (13+27/42) Accurately ripped
02 [f71f8aaf|d6b317d2] (13+27/42) Accurately ripped
03 [180a0751|88ce32fe] (13+27/42) Accurately ripped
04 [7970551d|0375e21d] (13+26/41) Accurately ripped
05 [abe911e9|04921a9e] (13+26/39) Accurately ripped
06 [9aba6937|bd410f54] (13+26/41) Accurately ripped
07 [80f4679c|8c0de467] (13+27/40) Accurately ripped
08 [1174d5e0|c08230d2] (13+27/40) Accurately ripped
09 [f4820f52|f96dad70] (13+26/39) Accurately ripped
10 [f18d2b58|ba017fbd] (13+26/39) Accurately ripped
11 [5712e4c6|03c87174] (13+26/39) Accurately ripped
12 [75126b10|358dfcb4] (13+26/39) Accurately ripped
Offsetted by 43:
01 [f5130e94] (02/42) Accurately ripped
02 [c34c808b] (02/42) Accurately ripped
03 [51f4bbb4] (02/42) Accurately ripped
04 [742b876a] (02/41) Accurately ripped
05 [0a504795] (00/39) No match (V2 was not tested)
06 [32e7629f] (02/41) Accurately ripped
07 [6673550c] (00/40) No match (V2 was not tested)
08 [93b52709] (00/40) No match (V2 was not tested)
09 [ca26ce9b] (00/39) No match (V2 was not tested)
10 [09633b90] (00/39) No match (V2 was not tested)
11 [095815a1] (00/39) No match (V2 was not tested)
12 [7630cbf3] (00/39) No match (V2 was not tested)

Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 100,0 [C4294FC0] [55330932] CRC32
01 77,4 [29C508B9] [A59FB8C2]
02 65,9 [D27922C4] [8BA45090]
03 84,7 [5ED681D5] [4D29FD3A]
04 68,0 [065EE068] [072D1D67]
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10 86,9 [FF2F1242] [8CC6DC54]
11 69,7 [A5833E7D] [0C3BDC7B]
12 95,3 [D358431E] [A70F287E]

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2018-04-25 11:56:21

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: The Fixx / Phantoms (MCAD-5507)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR13 -2.22 dB -17.51 dB 3:28 01-Lose Face
DR13 -3.61 dB -18.82 dB 3:52 02-Less Cities, More Moving People
DR14 -1.44 dB -18.38 dB 2:27 03-Sunshine in the Shade
DR13 -3.34 dB -19.27 dB 3:54 04-Woman on a Train
DR14 -2.33 dB -20.14 dB 4:06 05-Wish
DR17 0.00 dB -19.27 dB 4:11 06-Lost in Battle Overseas
DR14 -0.67 dB -17.35 dB 3:27 07-Question
DR15 -2.15 dB -20.20 dB 3:44 08-In Suspence
DR14 -2.28 dB -19.27 dB 3:18 09-Facing the Wind
DR14 -1.21 dB -18.21 dB 2:28 10-Are We Ourselves?
DR13 -3.13 dB -19.95 dB 3:52 11-I Will
DR16 -0.41 dB -20.90 dB 3:51 12-Phantom Living
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 12
Official DR value: DR14

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 863 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

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