Anyone else have the new Phish album yet? I was surprised on Saturday by the copy that I had pre-ordered back in October.
The story: Phish got back together for the first time in their 2-year hiatus back in September and spent four days working on new stuff. They liked it so well that they edited the sessions down to an 80-minute album and released it. The result is the first Phish studio album since I’ve been listening to them on which I had heard none of the songs before the album’s release.
This approach is not entirely different from the one they used to record “Story of the Ghost”, IMO their best studio album (despite the unfortunate studio version of “Guyute”). Spontaneity suits them well, and the more they produce, examine, and tinker, the more they take away from the energy that makes Phish a great live band.
They didn’t do much with this one. A few of the songs are 10-minute explorations of the sort that Phish has typically shied away from in the studio. “Pebbles and Marbles”, “Seven Below”, and “Waves” make me salivate over the upcoming live shows (and my subsequent CDs of them), and confirm my assertions that the hiatus would breathe new life into the band. (Not that this was in question, given the excellent side project releases by all four members.)
The songs in between the big productions are mostly calmer, less experimental, and largely hit and miss. “46 Days” is a winner–it is the first time Phish has actually musically reminded me of the Grateful Dead, which is not a bad thing.
When I’m thinking about a new Phish album, I always think, “What would someone who doesn’t like or has never heard Phish think of this one?” I think I’d still recommend “A Live One” or “Farmhouse” (or even “Junta”) to the newbie, but this one could hit some of them the right way.
To the initiated, though, I’d say pick it up. They’ve started their second seventeen years together off right.
Dr. J