CBS Records releases the album Fantasy by German band Münchener Freiheit (shortened to “Freiheit” for the English-speaking world). Issued in a German language edition earlier in the year, this version of the album features English lyrics and a different arrangement of the band’s best-known single, “Keeping The Dream Alive”. 
I was first introduced to Freiheit by way of the soundtrack of the 1989 John Cusack vehicle Say Anything, which featured the incredibly ELO-esque orchestral version of their single “Keeping the Dream Alive”. That’s at the end of that soundtrack, and I fell asleep early on side two only to be awakened sharply by that song. I managed to locate the album containing that song not long after – I had to give the Say Anything soundtrack back to its owner – and found out that while “Dream” was an oddity compared to the rest of the album, most of the rest of the album was outstanding. Freiheit has mastered vocal harmony in a way I haven’t heard since ELO’s original incarnation and Queen were at their respective peaks. Apart from the aforementioned song, the instrumental backing tends toward synth-driven pop/rock with the occasional guitar thrown in, but the melodies are as catchy as they get. Only one song on Fantasy (“So Good”) fails to trip my trigger. Two in particular, “On The Run To Be Free” and especially “Forever and a Day”, beg comparisons again to ELO and pass the test with flying colors.
- Keeping the Dream Alive (4:13)
- Kissed You In The Rain (3:46)
- Diana (4:15)
- The Land of Fantasy (4:54)
- Moonlight (3:08)
- Tears are a Girl’s Best Friend (4:54)
- So Good (4:06)
- Forever and a Day (3:18)
- Poor Little Boy (3:25)
- On The Run To Be Free (4:05)
Released by: WTG
Release date: 1988
Total running time: 40:27
1996 music review by Earl Green