The album produced four singles for the band; "The Day You Come", "Don't Wanna Be Left Out/Good-Day Ray", "Already Gone" and "Passenger", which all appeared on Triple J's Hottest 100 poll in two consecutive years.

Songwriter Bernard Fanning then spent much of 1997 writing songs for Internationalist in Brisbane, drawing on inspiration from a mid-1997 band trip to the United States.

[4] Powderfinger used the extra time to play table tennis, which was the band's recreation of choice during the Internationalist and Odyssey Number Five recording sessions.

[9] When "The Day You Come" was released, there was speculation that it alluded to Pauline Hanson's One Nation political party, although the band claimed the song was vague and didn't specifically refer to one person.

[11] Drummer Jon Coghill described it as the most difficult Powderfinger song to play live at the time, because it was so "fast and offbeat".

[14] The music video for "Don't Wanna Be Left Out" was unpopular and drew criticism from band members.

"Passenger" was influenced by Elvis Presley, and included a big horn section, as well as backing vocals from folk group Tiddas.

[9] With Internationalist, Powderfinger first set their sights overseas, appearing at numerous music festivals in the U.S., including South by Southwest in Texas.

"[20] Internationalist debuted at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart, and was certified gold in its first week, selling over 35,000 copies.

[25] Haug said he was amazed with the highly positive critical response the album had received, surprised that "even Molly [Meldrum] gave it nine out of ten."

The positivity of the album's reception created a feeling of surrealism, and Haug told Juice Magazine "I wish someone would write a really bad [review].

[11] Juice's Benedict Watts said it received "a level of universal praise not yet dished out on an Australian release since You Am I's Hi Fi Way".

[19] HIT's Teresa Bolster suggested Fanning feared the worst during songwriting; "Celebrity Head", a song on the album, was seen as a "pre-emptive, scathing attack on music writers", which he argued was intended as a joke.

The Courier-Mail's Nicola Six called it the band's most diverse album yet, using "The Day You Come" as an example; its "opening staccato guitar riff to the way the bass blends with Bernard Fanning's almost-falsetto in the final chorus" made it the "perfect first single".

[21] AllMusic approved of the "rocking" "Don't Wanna Be Left Out", but said Powderfinger sacrificed their uniqueness on "Good Day Ray", which Lewis argued was heavily Foo Fighters influenced.

[26] Lewis approved of the "melodic" "Already Gone",[26] while Juice's Simon Wooldridge said it and "Passenger" demonstrated Powderfinger's "flair for the big hook".

[28] Beat's Neala Johnson compared the album's political motifs to the Manic Street Preachers—"an earnest, sometimes cynical, social and personal conscience displayed in the lyrics".

[9] Noel Mangel of The Courier-Mail said it had "a lightness of touch and boisterous spirit", especially compared to the distorted guitars on debut album Parables for Wooden Ears.