It's got the pleasant melancholy and strong melodies that characterize most Carole King albums, but there's an extra dose of grooviness here that, as another reviewer has mentioned, sounds inspired by Marvin Gaye's landmark What's Going On. The main thesis here appears to be "bad things exist, but the best way to create a better world is to just believe in the existence of a better world, in a very abstract way". Presented as a sort of song cycle, the album opens and closes with two versions of the title song and the songs on each side segue directly into one another. The album did go gold, got excellent reviews, went to number 6 a bit of a let down and spawned the hit Believe In Humanity and the minor hit You Light Up My life, not to be mistaken for Debbie Boones massive hit a few years later. Subsequently we are treated alternately to a series of dramatic monologues, in some of which Carole King appears as herself, voicing personal hope and aspiration, but the majority featuring her as someone else, black, Latin American or otherwise, voicing the same sentiments.

As the years passed, it remained one of her most consistent sellers as more people discovered its uniqueness.This one feels a little underrated to me - it is perhaps Carole's other best album behind Tapestry, Whereas Tapestry perfects a certain sound, Fantasy is almost a break away from it. In five cuts, Carole King “fantasizes” an ethnic persona, for which she has single-handedly provided the most tepid, tokenistic “soul” backgrounds imaginable. Unusually, this takes the form of a literal fantasia; a steady, safe, stream-of-consciousness flow of moreish MOR. It's not stacked with hits the same way Tapestry is, but it also stands out amongst the crowd of lesser albums she made afterwards.

Allmusic critic Jason Elias said that "'Corazón' has Latin intonations and King certainly doesn't embarrass herself.While several of the tracks went in different directions, such as “Being At War With Each Other” and “Welfare Symphony,” even they had a calm and peaceful feel to them. You’ve Been Around Too Long” expresses an early civil rights mentality: “… you’ve been around too long/Not to realize what’s going on inside/I’m just like you/I’m doing the best that I can do to make my stride. She ends with the best track of all, "Believe In Humanity", in which she and her piano remain in the groove while she states that she'd rather not hear the worst, or she might lose her faith in mankind, and she doesn't want that to happen.