''Fantasia X'' is the eighth

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by the South Korean boy group

Monsta X Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program ''No.Mercy'' under Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooho ...

. It was released by

Starship Entertainment Starship Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2008 and became an independent subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment in 2013. It is also called one of the "five major agencies" in the pop music world, with SM Entertainm ...

and distributed by

Kakao M Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...

on May 26, 2020. It had seven tracks, with "Fantasia" as the title track.

Background and release

This was Monsta X's first comeback without

Wonho Lee Ho-seok (, born March 1, 1993), known by his stage name Wonho (), is a South Korean singer under Highline Entertainment. He is a former member of South Korean boy group Monsta X under Starship Entertainment. In 2020, he made his solo deb ...

, as he left the group on October 31, 2019. It was initially set to be released on May 11 but was postponed to May 26, so that Shownu could recover from his back pain. The EP was released in four versions.

Critical reception

Taylor Glasby of '' Clash'' described ''Fantasia X'' as "a distillation of Monsta X's many parts. Light, breezy pop ('Beautiful Night') nestles beside sensual, bassy funk ('It Ain't Over'), the record's middle section reinforced by the commanding brass and EDM of 'Chaotic' and a thumping party track – 'Zone'". 'Stand Up' is "a confession of pain experienced but also a rallying cry to prevail" and "beneath its bouncy, trop-house beats" is a song that "reflects the band's journey through dark places to emerge on the other side".

Listicles

Commercial performance

The album is certified Platinum in South Korea and has sold 271,263 units as of 2020. The album peaked at number 2 on the weekly

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

, and at number 5 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s World Albums chart. The title track "Fantasia" peaked at number 117 on the weekly

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...

and on the weekly ''Billboard''

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—its first issue was dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-speci ...

chart at number 11. The track "Stand Up" also appeared on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales chart at number 25. It did not appear on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, though it appeared on its component Gaon Download Chart at number 102, alongside the other five songs on the EP, with "Flow" at 99, "Zone" at 104, "Beautiful Night" at 106, "Chaotic" at 112, and "It Ain't Over" at 115. It won the song of the week on '' The Show''.

Background and release

Critical reception

Listicles

Commercial performance

Track listing

Charts

Album

Weekly charts

Monthly chart

Year-end chart

Songs

Weekly charts

Certification and sales

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Release history

See also

Notes

References