Phantom Power
by The Tragically Hip

Phantom Power by The Tragically Hip
Year: 1998
Overall rank: 8,254th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 56 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1998 (129th)
Award Top albums of the 1990s (1,318th)
Award Best albums of all time (8,254th)

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The Tragically Hip bestography

Phantom Power is ranked 6th best out of 18 albums by The Tragically Hip on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Tragically Hip is Fully Completely which is ranked number 1737 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 983.

The Tragically Hip album bestography « Higher ranked (7,924th)
Trouble At The Henhouse
This album (8,254th)
Phantom Power
Lower ranked (12,868th) »
In Violet Light

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Phantom Power track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Phantom Power rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 8,254th | 1990s rank: 1,318th | 1998 rank: 129th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 Robert Anton WilsonTop 7 Music Albums of 19983/74
2026awightmaTop 40 Greatest Music Albums38/407
2026saltysurpriseTop 40 Music Albums of 199820/403
2026 Robert Anton WilsonTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s16/10017
2025 paladisiac1990s 65rating (64-63.5), #001-100*76/93 -
2025 paladisiactop 65r albums (63), #0001-010070/100 -
2025JaymanthemanTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s86/1003
2025 jhuikTragically Hip + Side Projects in Order4/24 -
2025JaymanthemanTop 42 Music Albums of 19986/424
2025 TheDude85Caught Me By Surprise18/99 -
2025 paladisiacTop 100 Music Albums of 199846/1003
2025 IgtonumamaTop 100 Music Albums of 199866/1002
2024 imacgill2023 Reissues8/21 -
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 199850/1003
2024 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 199828/1004
2023glynspsaTop 100 Music Albums of 199821/1004
2022LosWochosTop 94 Music Albums of 199843/943
2022 NoisyBeastTop Albums of 1998... #101-20081/100 -
2021mlgprounicornTop 78 Music Albums of 199877/780
2021kelseyconnellyTop 17 Music Albums of 199813/171
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 50
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 152
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Phantom Power collection

Phantom Power ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 56 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 56 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 
12/12/2025 01:04 Kingturtle  Ratings distribution  7,57973/100
 
75/100
 
09/10/2025 21:40 traistboar  Ratings distribution  1,70679/100
 
60/100
 
03/06/2025 13:25 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  24,76064/100
 
80/100
 
10/18/2024 00:00 mattmaster  Ratings distribution  44779/100
 
75/100
 
10/05/2024 13:17 BurndenAce  Ratings distribution  1,22776/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.4/100, a mean average of 77.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.3.

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Phantom Power favourites

Showing all 1 members who have added this album as a favourite

Phantom Power comments

Showing all 6 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 01/10/2019 00:13 | #229421
Easily digestible rock record when the Hip were still at their creative peak. There are plenty of rockers. Bobcaygeon is possibly the best Hip song ever, but there's some gold in the deep cuts too. I would consider Phantom Power to be a return to form after some experimentation with Trouble at the Henhouse.

Key Tracks: Poets, Bobcaygeon, Membership, Fireworks, Membership, Escape is At Hand for the Traveling Man, Emperor Penguin
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/08/2015 21:21 | #131093
Being Canadian and a LONG time fan, this is perhaps my favourite Hip Album. Front to back, like many of their albums, this is so great and shows the band really coming into their own.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/21/2014 08:15 | #112451
A bit of an oddity, this album was the first of a trio of records that began to alienate the Hip's original fanbase. An improvement over Trouble in the Henhouse, Phantom Power also finds the Hip exploring more 'pop' themes while losing the rough edges that had so often defined the production style of their previous records. Despite some of these shortcomings, the Hip managed to pull out a few of the best songs of their repertoire including "Bobcaygeon", "Emperor Penguin", and my personal favourite Hip song of all time: "Escape is at Hand...".
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/23/2012 18:52 | #45195
A few real standouts, but the majority of this album is filler. Bobcaygeon and Fireworks are great. This marks the end of the Hip's peak.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/16/2012 01:14 | #42460
Solid record. Fav track; Escape is at hand...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/01/2012 00:10 | #34074
The band's sixth full length studio album finds them still peaking. This was a great return to form after the lukewarm Trouble at the Henhouse. Bobcaygeon is a Canlit classic and there are seven songs on this album that I absolutely love.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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