King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Phantom Island
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's Phantom Island channels baroque-pop theatre and horn-led, sunburnt funk into a widescreen ten-track statement that critics call both inventive and occasionally overstuffed. Across professional reviews, the record earns a 71.55/100 consensus score from 11 reviews, and the clearest verd
The best song(s) shine through orchestration and horn-led funk that create cinematic summer grooves.
The album’s core strengths are its orchestration, dynamic arrangements, and optimistic tonal center, though lyrics sometimes undercut songs.
Best for listeners looking for summer vibes and genre blending, starting with Daydreams and In Heaven.
Full consensus notes
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's Phantom Island channels baroque-pop theatre and horn-led, sunburnt funk into a widescreen ten-track statement that critics call both inventive and occasionally overstuffed. Across professional reviews, the record earns a 71.55/100 consensus score from 11 reviews, and the clearest verdict is that when orchestration and groove click, the band delivers some of their most buoyant, cinematic work to date.
Critics consistently praise the title cut “Phantom Island”, the brass-driven romp “Deadstick”, and moments of tender orchestral largesse such as “Silent Spirit” and “Grow Wings And Fly” as the best songs on Phantom Island. Reviewers note recurring themes of homesickness, flight and longing, and a push-pull between psychedelia and strings that produces cinematic funk, jazz flourishes and roots-rock warmth. Several pieces single out string swells, horn color and jazz-flute as the arrangements that elevate melody, while others warn that lush production sometimes obscures lyrical focus.
That mix of admiration and reservation defines the critical consensus: many professional reviews celebrate inventive genre blending, theatrical ambition and accessible, stadium-ready moments, while some critics find the album's theatrical flourishes corny or its lyrics meandering. For readers wondering whether Phantom Island is good, the score and reviews suggest it is worth hearing for its standout tracks and orchestral gambits; the record also signals King Gizzard's willingness to reinvent and expand their palette, promising striking live translations when the band leans into the arrangements.
This collection sets up the detailed reviews below, mapping where orchestral experimentation pays off and where it occasionally tips into excess within the band's evolving catalog.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Daydreams
1 mention
"baroque pop would sound like with them playing with a full -blown orchestra"— The Spill Magazine
In Heaven
1 mention
"modern baroque pop with a King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard twist"— The Spill Magazine
Phantom Island (self-titled opener)
1 mention
"String swells add to the cinematic drama of self-titled opener "Phantom Island,"— Sputnikmusic
the title track and “Deadstick” — act as volcanic eruptions of blaring brass
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Darkness
To Be in Love
Hers Forever
Phantom Limbs (Interlude)
Daydreams
Unaware
In Heaven
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 12 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Throughout, the band’s knack for embracing genres without losing cohesion makes the best songs feel effortless, layered, and designed for warm afternoons. This is King Gizz at their best: precise, progressive, and irresistibly fun.
Key Points
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The best song(s) shine through orchestration and horn-led funk that create cinematic summer grooves.
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The album’s core strengths are genre-blending arrangements, detailed orchestration, and an upbeat, summery vibe.
Themes
Critic's Take
Isabel Glasgow writes with a fond, observant tone, noting how strings and horns turn songs into balm without entirely erasing grit or doubt.
Key Points
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The album's core strengths are intimate lyricism and orchestral arrangements that amplify homesick themes.
Themes
Re
Key Points
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The title track is best because its orchestration transforms paranoid intuition into 70s cinematic funk-disco.
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The album’s core strength is its orchestral arrangements that expand and elevate previously retro-rock material.
Themes
Critic's Take
Overall, the piece frames the record as a joyous, ten-track delight arriving just in time for summer.
Key Points
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The best song is praised for its adventurous genre-melding and was called a standout that becomes a tripped-out joyride.
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The album's core strengths are reinvention, jazz and baroque-pop inflections, and a tender throughline recalling past work.
Themes
Key Points
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The best song moments are the brassy, orchestral openers that act like volcanic eruptions and define the album's new direction.
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The album's core strengths are genre-morphing orchestration, accessible songwriting, and a whimsical, colorful tone.
Themes
Critic's Take
Ethan Reis writes with that knowing fan’s mixture of affection and impatience, praising the lush strings and trumpets while grumbling at clumsy lyrics, so the best tracks on Phantom Island are the ones that let the band shred around the arrangements rather than drown in saccharine optimism. The result is a beautiful, sometimes lyrically-missed record that should translate thrillingly to the live, orchestra-backed stage.
Key Points
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The title-track and propulsive guitar-led songs are the best because the orchestra amplifies the band’s maximalism without smothering it.
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The album’s core strengths are its orchestration, dynamic arrangements, and optimistic tonal center, though lyrics sometimes undercut songs.
Themes
Key Points
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The album’s core strength is adventurous orchestral experimentation that yields occasional, vivid moments of coherence and magic.
Themes
Key Points
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The album's core strengths are narrative character vignettes and orchestral rock experimentation that largely succeed.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
Ferrier praises the tight musicianship and a few standout riffs, but repeatedly flags the album’s theatrical flourishes as occasionally corny and ill-fitting. Her tone remains wry and measured: she admires the craft yet worries the symphonic touches and cheesy ’70s callbacks will alienate long-term fans.
Key Points
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The album’s core strength is ambitious theatricality and tight musicianship, but orchestration and corniness undermine cohesion.
Themes
Critic's Take
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard arrive on Phantom Island sounding like a band reimagining baroque pop with a full orchestra, and it works better than a simple charm. The review revels in their inventiveness and the album’s modern baroque sweep, positioning tracks such as “Daydreams” and “In Heaven” as highlights in a record that refuses to play safe. The tone is admiring and a little bemused by their prolificacy, yet clear-eyed about how these lush arrangements become quintessential King Gizzard - uncanny, ornate and thrilling. If you search for the best songs on Phantom Island, the record points to those orchestral centerpieces as its clearest triumphs.
Key Points
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Orchestral, baroque-leaning tracks like "Daydreams" emerge as the album's best for their lush arrangements.
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The album's core strength is inventiveness and successful genre-bending into modern baroque pop with full orchestration.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
Hi, everyone. But much of the album is held back by meandering, talk-sung lyrics that undermine otherwise strong arrangements, so the best tracks stand out precisely because they balance melody, groove, and the orchestral touches more successfully.
Key Points
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The album's core strengths are adventurous orchestral arrangements and roots-rock grooves, but meandering lyrics often undercut immediacy.