It was the first of the two albums to feature John Wetton as the new bass player, who replaced Gary Thain in early 1975.

Return to Fantasy "retains the musical experimentation that marked Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld, but has an overall harder-rocking feel that makes it more consistent than either one of those albums", said Donald A. Guarisco in his retrospective AllMusic review.

He criticized some of the album's "genre-hopping", and concluded, "In the end, Return to Fantasy lacks the coherence of a top-shelf Uriah Heep classic like Demons and Wizards but remains a strong and likable album that is guaranteed to please the group's fans".

[2] The review by Canadian journalist Martin Popoff was very critical of the album's recording "dominated by blaring but thin organ and sloppy drumming" and of Byron's "distant and unsure" performance, judging the album "completely adrift without a trace of spark".

[3] All tracks are written by David Byron, Mick Box, Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake except where noted