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Though not quite as spectacular as Rings Around the World, Phantom Power is still one of the most refreshingly original and fun releases of the summer.
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There's a newfound depth to the Furries' music, a sense that no matter how hard the band tries to keep things positive, the darkness in the world has managed to encroach on its outlook and musical approach.
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Phantom Power sees the down-to-earth Welsh band moving away from genre-hopping and rough juxtapositions, and beginning to blend their influences into an evenly spread melange that simply sounds like a highly evolved pop band.
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BlenderBeneath the sweetest of the album's retro harmonies, though, lurk harsh synths and dark thoughts. [Oct 2003, p.128]
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A dreamy, sun-dappled delight, blending pastoral folk, psychedelia, free-wheeling, West Coast Americana and orchestral pop with such apparent effortlessness that its darker lyrical themes - the workings of sinister, invisible forces and the destruction wrought by war - are uncovered only by careful listening.
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Phantom Power is a very good album (and, again, compared to many of SFA's peers in 2003, it is far ahead of the pack), but it does lack some of the things that made earlier Super Furry Animals so exhilarating -- the grit, the wild abandon, the absurdity, and the sheer unpredictability, where it was impossible to tell what would happen next.
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Even if the album sounds more restrained, there is nothing holding back the quality of the material.
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It is every bit the equal of recent pop classics like the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, or The Shins' Oh, Inverted World.
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A diverse collection of intricately composed pop music, in the broadest sense of the genre.
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As mindlessly captivating an album as you're likely to hear all year.
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Sure, it's a jumble, but, like the Beatles' White Album, it hangs together.
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Yet another shining psychedelic opus.
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Some may consider the Super Furries to be treading water on Phantom Power because it feels comfortable and familiar. But when something sounds this good and touches this many bases, I'll take a few more like this one.
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UrbPhantom Power is pretty much your perfect experience, certainly alongside some jazzy cigarettes and a nubile lovely. [Oct 2003, p.84]
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Their most focused, energetic pop record since 'Radiator'.... Certainly, 'Phantom Power' shows up Radiohead's timid adventures, while giving The Coral something to aim for too.
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Bugger if the Furries haven't gone and exceeded their own expectations with this, a total stonker of a new record that cannot fail to excite and delight on, oh, so many levels.
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PlanetThough the overall grainy sheen of Phantom Power sounds a bit forced, it's still not as polished and canned as its predecessor. [#5, p.104]
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Densely composed yet effortlessly melodic.
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UncutAn album of hope and humour and beauty, Phantom Power is frequently as deep and mysterious as the title intimates. [Aug 2003, p.100]
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SpinSimultaneously joyous and joyless, all downloaded beats, downhearted lyrics and down-the-hatch daring. [Aug 2003, p.113]
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Alternative PressThe Furries' songs have alwyas been strong enough to succeed without shock treatment, and these antics' absence means the addictive melodies of these classic, mostly straightforward pop and glam jams will just hit your bloodstream even quicker. [Sep 2003, p.104]
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Q MagazineThey've made a fine pop record without compromising their trademark quirkiness.... The band's best work to date. [Aug 2003, p.114]
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OutburnPhantom Power's Technicolor ballads, flowery pop synths and acoustic touches will leave a smile on your face even as the winter days approach. [#23, p.102]
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The Welsh quintet's concept-album ambitions are undercut by inherent goofiness, especially when the band parodies Robert Johnson (''Golden Retriever'') and Iron Maiden (''Out of Control'').
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MojoA fabulous record, a baffling, joyful, touching, frustrating, silly, totally seductive album that you can lose yourself in for an hour, a day, a week. [Aug 2003, p.92]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 21 out of 23
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Mixed: 2 out of 23
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Negative: 0 out of 23
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DJCMar 29, 2009
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emilywildMay 6, 2008
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TylerLJan 21, 2006I think that Phantom Power is one of the top cds of our modern era