Phantom Power

I added this album to the list, and let me tell you, it was a real tough choice between this and a few other Hip albums. I thought about Fully Completely (which everyone who liked this should listen to as well), but ultimately, I had to choose Phantom Power because it is ingrained into the very circuitry of my being. Gord Downie is Canada's most revered and endearing rock icon, I'll fight anyone that says otherwise. He's our person, our speaker for the house, the teller of our tales, and the keeper of our collective identity as a nation. When Gord was diagnosed with terminal cancer it was a deathblow to the nation. No exaggeration. He toured one last time, with fucking terminal brain cancer, so he could say goodbye and thank you to the legions of fans that grew up on his music and wove his words into their hearts. I am one of those fans. I was lucky enough to get tickets to that last concert and there is no show on earth I'll ever see that can compare. I can't even begin to describe what it feels like to see your favourite band play their final show ever, knowing it is the final show, leaving nothing behind. Pedal to the metal, balls to the wall, giving us every ounce of themselves they had. It was a remarkable feat. Legendary. Literally a legend in Canada that we'll revere until the end of time. He was our guy, they were our band. The entire nation ground to halt the day Gord died. To crack a beer on a dock in the summertime is The Hip. To play a round of golf on a scorching hot August day is The Hip. To boat out on Lake Muskoka with your buddies is The Hip. To drive your car in a winter snowstorm is The Hip. To watch Hockey Night in Canada on a Saturday night is The Hip. The Hip is a bonafide Canadian Experience in an of itself. If you don't like it, you can take off eh hoser? If you think they're just a cheap R.E.M. knock off, then you weren't really listening at all. This is Canada's band, and their omission from the original list is a hate crime. That's why I included them. Best possible place to dive deeper into their catalogue and their impact is here: https://www.hipmuseum.com/ Thank you for listening to my I LOVE THE TRAGICALLY HIP SO MUCH rant, appreciate you. I'm glad I got the chance to correct an egregious wrong and put them into the rotation.

Every time I hear the Tragically Hip, I think to myself, "I need to listen to more Tragically Hip." They were so good. It didn't even occur to me until now that there was no Tragically Hip on the original 1,001 albums list. That seems like a pretty major omission to me, but what do I know. In any case, thanks anonymous person for adding this. 4 stars.

This is superior educated rock, like REM but better singing! I was immediately taken by “Bobcaygeon” - good storytelling. A solid and engaging “indie” rock album.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Bobcaygeon, Thompson girl, Fireworks, Escape is at hand for the travellin’ man

Very boring

Been a Hip fan for a while now and this album shows off why. Gord’s vocals, rocking hard without ever really rocking hard, the serene chiller tracks. Hell yea added to library

I really enjoyed this album. It seems like something that I could get hooked on after several listens. Go Canada!

I'm from Michigan, which is a lot like Canada but with more guns and less affordable healthcare. Canada is so close to me that I grew up listening to the CBC on the radio. So, I'm very familiar with the Tragically Hip! However, I think this is my first full album listen. I don't quite get how these guys transcended to become full on Canadian royalty/icons/institutions, but it's a great album with lots of energy! I've been listening to them all week, so there's something to it for sure.

Great choice for the extended list. Love this band.

I always tend to forget about The Hip and when I listen to their music I wonder why. Great guitar hooks, energy and sublime songs.

Very much an album of its era and its genre. One of the reviews called it educated rock and I couldn’t agree more. The neutral milk hotel brand of turn of the century indie rock.

I have seen The Tragically Hip described as "Canada's best-kept secret" and I'll say, I can see why. I enjoyed this, even if you can zero in to the amount of R.E.M. records this band owns (saying that as a fan myself). Vocalist Gord Downie has a light amount of vibrato on his voice that reminds me of Stipe, Adam Duritz (of Counting Crows), and maybe the guys from The Presidents Of the United States of America. I think my only complaint is that I didn't "feel" anything while listening to this: I could objectively call it solid music, but anything after opener "Poets" really didn't hit me as hard. Maybe it requires further study. Favorite tracks: "Poets", "Chagrin Falls", "Membership"

Very Canada, much chilled, fairly folky

Some solid Canadian Dad rock. Poets, Fireworks, Escape Is At Hand, all incredible tracks. I love the sort of plainspoken lyricism and delivery. Emperor Penguin is a solid closer.

I know nothing of this band. It's bloody great. I will listen to more. Thanks

This is somewhere in the REM...slightly DMB vein with a harder edge and I am loving it.

Carving out The Hip’s place on this list, one album at a time

Liked this one, even if it felt a bit stodgy due to trappings of the past at points. Think cutting a bit of the fat and getting this LP down to a 40-minute runtime would’ve made it killer, but even then it was enjoyable getting to hear Canada’s take on R.E.M.

I’m shocked I never heard of this band before. They got the alt rock 90s sound so well and they felt like a less whiny version of REM. Clean instrumentals and crisp lyricism makes this album a very simple one to enjoy. Overall this was a solid and id definitely revisit it. 6.9/10

Tragically under-rated

They have good music, but the singer doesn't seem very appealing to me, he has a lazy voice. Their best hit is somewhat ordinary. To be classified as rock, there is a lot to be desired.

Sounds like a less polished REM.

This was so bland.

Another band with a very familiar name that I don't recall ever really listening to, though I must have crossed paths with them given their era's intersection with my college radio days. I liked this, alt rock in somewhat in the vein of Hüsker Dü or Trip Shakespeare. It's got a bit of that male alt-rock vocal issue, but overall better than most.

Not groundbreaking in anyway, but very much enjoyed

As a Canadian, I think I am required by law to like this band? I'll be honest, before this I'd never listened to them. Never really interested me all that much. Listening to it, it's the Canadian version of REM. I'm sure if you grew up with it, it would be great but for me it's just fine. I remember when Gord Downie died, it was big news. Every Canadian band seemed to come out of the woodwork and reference how they were impacted by his death. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes. But only because they were super influential in Canada.

Enjoyed this, reminded of REM which is a good thing, add t my frequent rotation.

3 Oasis-level

I have a theory that protectionism in the Canadian music industry provides domestic success for Canadian bands that every so often accidentally bleeds over into the rest of the world. The end result is harmless and friendly, yet pointless and bland Canadian rock bands getting a sliver of airplay outside their home country and boring the shit out of us. Realistically, most of these Canadian bands' successes can be chalked up to the same policy that stops supermarkets importing milk from Thailand. The local farmers can continue to ply their middling trade and don't have to move to the city, ya know? 3/5, will never listen again.

This album was fairly basic college rock fare. I listened to it twice but both times I couldn’t really get into it like I wanted to. Also, 1998 seems a bit late for this album. Music like this was being done a decade earlier. I did enjoy some songs in the back half quite a bit though.

The second best indie rock album called Phantom Power. Rating: 3.5 Playlist track: Bobcaygeon Date listened: 25/09/24

A well written, well played album of the college rock variety. Leans a little too much into REM's well-worn musical territory. Still some decent songs to be found here, worth revisiting later. Fave Songs: Bobcaygeon, Fireworks, Thompson Girl, Something On, Vapour Trails

Rock alternativo. Ni fu ni fa.

Ok

"Waiter, waiter! More alt-rock please!" Once again, we're back in the saddle. To be fair, I enjoyed this one a bit more than some others, good melodies and stuff, enough to go around. But man, not even remotely challenging or distinct to me. Must we listen before we die? Favorite tracks: Save the Planet, Membership, Fireworks, Escape is At Hand. Album art: A control panel of knobs and dials and gauges. More memorable and distinct than the music. 3.5/5

Not my style

Pretty ordinary alt rock. Nothing really caught my interest... maybe Vapour Trails is the closest to connecting for me. Its okay, but doesn't stand out.

I could only find the deluxe edition, which was three hours long. It's a good album. I think one hour would have been enough.

i guess im feeling generous, but i really dislike them, i find them just boring

Sounds like a more affordable version of REM...

Not bad

I liked this album overall. The major issue that I see with it is that every time I stop thinking about it while I'm listening, my brain becomes convinced that I'm listening to REM. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's mainly the sound of the lead singer's voice that gets me, but I thought that was kind of funny. 3/5 Cool album, but I don't particularly grasp its signficance

Bit whiney. Like REM, who I also think are shit

Sounded a lot like REM. Some good tracks on there though I skipped a few as well.

So so

The Tragically Hip seem to have deity status in Canada but I've never understood it, and Phantom Power doesn't really help me get there either. They're like a beige version of REM, which is really fucking beige, and while the songs are nice enough on the ears, this album left absolutely no marks and didn't capture my attention once. 2/5.

In the famous words of a fellow reviewer: Ni fu ni fa. I get this has a legendary status in Canada, but to me it just sounds like They Might Be Giants if they made generic alt rock.

Totally passed me by. Unmoved