Fully & Completely: redux - Phantom Power

🎙️ Fully & Completely: Redux

Phantom Power (1998) — Remastered. Revisited. Reconsidered.

Originally released in 2018. Re-edited, remixed, and reintroduced in 2026.

July 14th, 1998.

Steve Berlin at the helm.

The band at full stride.

The ice storm still in the trees.

Hockey still in the bloodstream.

And somehow — almost impossibly —

The Tragically Hip delivered a “comeback” record that never needed a comeback.

We went back into the bathhouse for this one.

We cleaned it up.

We tightened the mix.

We added a short 2026 intro from Greg and I.

It’s quick. It’s sweet. It sets the tone.

And then we let 1998 breathe again.

🟡 Phantom Power — The Yellow Record

We’ve always talked about this stretch:

• Day for Night — blue
• Trouble at the Henhouse — red
• Phantom Power — yellow

Primary colours.

Primary era.

Primary stride.

This is the record where:

• 🎸 The rock came back
• 🎭 The art never left
• 🏒 Hockey met heartbreak
• 🇨🇦 Canada stayed cinematic
• 🎤 Gord Downie hit that upper register and meant it

🔥 The Run Is Unreal

Poets — the perfect lead single.

Something On — the ice storm riff.

Bobcaygeon — say less.

Thompson Girl — that vocal lift.

Fireworks — romance + Bobby Orr.

Escape Is At Hand — narrative brilliance.

Emperor Penguin — matriarchal masterpiece.

There are no throwaways here.

No padding.

No “yeah, it’s fine” tracks.

Just a band fully hitting its stride.

🎧 Why This Redux Matters

When we first recorded this episode in 2018, we loved it.

But revisiting it now?

With more context.

More history.

More loss.

More gratitude.

It hits different.

There’s a warmth in Phantom Power.

A confidence.

A joy that doesn’t feel naive.

It feels earned.

And hearing it again in 2026 — cleaned up and tightened — reminded us:

This isn’t just a “great Canadian rock album.”

It’s one of the strongest records in The Tragically Hip catalogue.

🎙️ Pull Quote

“This is a band fully hitting their stride of what they do right… unconventional, but it completely works.”

💬 Let’s Talk

I want to hear from you:

• Where were you in 1998 when Phantom Power dropped?
• Did this feel like a comeback?
• Is Bobcaygeon still the one?
• Has Escape Is At Hand grown on you?
• Do you skip anything? (be honest)

Tag someone who needs to rediscover this record.

Let’s spark something.

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