Fantasy Ride

by Ciara

Overview

The final version of Ciara's third album, issued after several months of delay, is quite dissimilar from the one detailed in an August 2008 Billboard cover story. According to the article, Fantasy Ride was to be divided into three sections tentatively titled "Groove City," "Crunk Town," and "Kingdom of Dance." At some point between then and the album's May 2009 release, this concept was mercifully scrapped, quite possibly because the track list underwent some changes. Regardless, it would not be difficult to construct an imaginary three-part Fantasy Ride from the finished product, with each song easy to slot into one of the designations. Had Ciara stuck with the city/town/kingdom concept, "Groove City" would have been the most populous and happening of the three. A couple of these ballads and slow jams are up there with the highlights from Goodies and The Evolution -- no coincidence that both were written and produced by the-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart (Rihanna's "Umbrella," Beyonce's "Single Ladies"), the Jam and Lewis or Neptunes of their time. On the hypnotically winding "Like a Surgeon" (not a cover of Weird Al's Madonna parody), the-Dream provides some of his best, gimmicky, post-R. Kelly similes and metaphors, delivered by Ciara with all the necessary arrogance: "I appreciate your recovery time, but you need a physical one more time." "Keep Dancin' on Me," its opposite in sentiment, is as resigned and alluring as the-Dream's own "Fancy," swapping dejection for a kind of blissful yearning. Blink and you will miss what was to be "Crunk Town": "High Price" is a decent "Oh" revamp, with booming, low-end, creature-feature synths, and Ludacris all part of the mix, though Ciara's outlandish operatics are a new (and nice) touch. The five uptempo tracks that would have been "Kingdom of Dance" are uneven, exemplified by the hobbling flop that is "Love Sex Magic," an easily forgettable Justin Timberlake collaboration, and "Work," an over-stuffed dancefloor mess that does not benefit from Missy Elliott's hoarse hectoring. Even if Ciara imaginatively develops the "Super C" superhero introduced in the disc's booklet, she and her collaborators will have to work extra hard on the next album to ensure that she does not stall in a creative cul de sac. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	03/20/2020
Label:	Sony Music
UPC:	0886975271320
Rank:	140364

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ciara   Primary Artist,Vocals
Chris Brown   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
The-Dream   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Justin Timberlake   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Missy Elliott   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Jeezy   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Ludacris   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Lukasz Gottwald   Guitar
Benny Blanco   Drums,Keyboards

Technical Credits

Yolonda Frederick   Make-Up
Mark Pitts   A&R,Executive Producer
Courtney Walter   Design,Art Direction
Mark "Exit" Goodchild   Engineer
Carlos Oyanedel   Assistant
Kiyah Wright   Hair Stylist
Ramon Rivas   Assistant
Gary "G" Silver   Production Coordination
Vanessa Silberman   Production Coordination
Brian "B-Luv" Thomas   Engineer
Polow da Don   Producer
Marcella Araica   Mixing
Tim Roberts   Assistant
Todd Rubenstein   Assistant
Rob Knox   Instrumentation
Kuk Harrell   Vocal Engineer,Vocal Producer
Mike Donaldson   Mixing,Engineer
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart   Producer
Benny Blanco   Producer,Programming
Don Vito   Producer
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins   Mixing,Producer,Vocal Producer
Phil Tan   Mixing
Elvis Williams   Producer
Candice Nelson   Vocal Arrangement
Dave Pensado   Mixing
Christy Hall   Production Assistant
D'Mystro   Producer
Matty Green   Assistant
Andrew Wuepper   Mixing Assistant
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Chris Athens   Mastering
Carlton Lynn   Engineer
Pat Thrall   Engineer
John Hanes   Digital Editing
Chris Brown   Vocal Arrangement
Justin Timberlake   Instrumentation
Mike Elizondo   Instrumentation
Jim Beanz   Vocal Arrangement
Giancarlo Lino   Mixing Assistant
Spike Stent   Mixing
Paul Foley   Engineer
Randy Urbanski   Mixing Assistant
Emily Wright   Engineer,Vocal Editing
Jared Newcomb   Assistant
Tatiana Gottwald   Assistant
Kelly "Becky 4 Real" Sheehan   Engineer
Ys   Producer
Mariel Haenn   Stylist
Jasper Cameron   Vocal Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Bernard Chang   Illustrations
Osinachi Nwaneri   Producer
Aubry Delane   Assistant
Becky Scott   Production Coordination