Phish
REVIEWS
- JUNTA
JUNTA, (1988)
Rating: 8.5
Best Songs-The Divided Sky
Worst Song-Contact
A very unfocused debut, but very enjoyable
Written by Oleg Sobolev
Now this one is a strange way to start a career - the guys released this tape-only 80-minute album back in 1988, and then they sold it at the shows, so nobody except Phish fans have ever heard it until 1992, when Elektra released it on two CDs with some bonus tracks. I don't know why did they never release other tapes that Phish recorded before in 1988 (including a rock opera or something called The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday), so let's say this was the first real Phish album. So what we have on here?
The album opens with "Fee", a fan-favourite, but I simply can't see what makes it to be so special and outstanding. Yeah, the song has a nice rhythm and McConnell's piano breaks are beautiful, but the song is way too long and repetitive to be even a highlight here. "You Enjoy Myself", which comes next, is much better, and probably one of the best Phish songs ever. With a great guitar solos from Trey and awesome beat, this epic just captures me. And the vocal part, despite having just one line of lyrics, is catchy and memorable. The next song, "Esther", isn't very memorable, though. In fact, I can't remember any hook from the vocal part, which sounds like a third-rate Latin jazz. In fact, the song IS a third-rate Latin number, even if it has a pretty middle part.
"Golgi Apparatus" is one of my personal favourites here: catchy and interesting, with awesome instrumental breaks and a killer groove. "Foam" kinda bores me, but, overall, the song is just a non-offensive filler: may be a fun listen, but absolutely unmemorable. And 'Dinner And A Movie" is completely terrible. It's, as I understand, the first band's attempt to be humorous, and it, like many others, isn't really great. The song has just one repeating line all over, but unlike "You Enjoy Myself", the song isn't catchy. And the sound effects are totally horrible.
But two last songs on the CD number one are totally mindblowing in every way. 12-minute "The Divided Sky" and 11-minute "David Bowie" have some of the most awesome instrumental parts I have ever heard. The ending of 'David Bowie" is especially breathtaking: Trey plays one of the best guitar solos ever with the whole band kicking the shit outta groove. Fantastic stuff. And the rest of the song is great as well: the band manages to capture Talking Heads-like groove perfectly and then they slowly come to a jazzy part with beautiful vocal harmonies and piano solos. A piano/guitar interplay in the middle drives me crazy. And "The Divided Sky" has one of the best opening parts in any song I have ever heard: Trey's guitar tone is awesome and xylophone is simply gorgeous. And I love that "Divided skyyyyyyyy and the wind blows hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh" part after it! The whole composition becomes totally gorgeous in the middle, and Trey plays the other great solo. As for the ending, it's a jam, but a great one, with yet another excellent solo from Trey. The climax of the song leaves me speechless. Gorgeous xylophone returns and the band plays one of the best 15 seconds in music history. Both of these epics are very strongly recommended for any music fan and they, with "You Enjoy Myself" and "Golgi Apparatus" gain the album and 8.5. Because the other stuff isn't that good.
The second CD mainly concentrates on "Fluffhead"/"Fluff's Travels" suite, and these two song have simply nothing to attract me. They aren't bad anyway, and I can listen to them without a problem, and "Fluff's Travels" has even a really pretty "fluffy fluffy fluffy head" part. The following "Contact" is the first song Mike Gordon has ever penned, and it's the worst Phish song I have heard so far. It has got a primitive melody, it's repetitive and annoying and it's stupid as hell. Wanna know the lyrics? "Wheels make contact with road" or some crap like that. Dump that shit. And dump the bonus tracks, because all three are them are completely worthless. "Union Federal" is 25 minutes of avant-garde mess, "Sanity" is a stinky and boring jam and "Icculus" is just plain stupid. So, overall, the second CD is much worse than the first one. My advice: go and find someone who has Junta and steal the first CD. Nevermind the second one.
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A PICTURE OF NECTAR, 1992
Overall rating: 8.5
Best song - Stash
Worst song - Catapult
Now the band concentrates mainly on songwriting than on jamming
Written by Oleg Sobolev
In 1990, Phish released an album called Lawn Boy, which I
haven’t heard, but, according to fans, it’s a good one, probably
even better than Junta. I have heard all of the tracks from that one live
(except for some song called “The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony”) and they
all are good. Especially kickass jam “Run Like An Antelope” and
catchy “Bouncing Around The Room”. Hopefully, I will find a copy
and will review it, but, as for now, let me focus on A Picture Of Nectar.
This album is tough to review, because, you know, many songs on here manage
to suck and rule at the same time. Take, for example, a fan-favourite “Tweezer”:
the guys establish a solid groove there with catchy vocal parts and everything
and it’s simply impossible not to dance to this one, but the song is
too long and repetitive. If they could cut it to four or so minutes, it would
be another great number in Phish catalog. That’s why the short reprise
of “Tweezer’ at the end is so much better than the actual song.
More energetic, too. Oh, and “Poor Heart”! That one is a unique
song, truly unique: it starts horribly, as absolutely generic country song
with godawful vocal part, but it’s completely saved by middle instrumental
part. There are a lot of songs that are completely saved by something (like
chorus in “The Mango Song”) or spoiled by something (like the
overall length of “Eliza” – too short, too short).
However, there are almost no overall bad songs (outside of strange 32-second
“Catapult”, 29-second “Manteca” and unmemorable “Faht”),
and even a couple of great ones – in fact, the album has two of the
best Phish songs ever: “Llama” and “Stash”. The former
is suited to be an opener: a great drum intro, awesome groove, funny “rapping”
from Trey and mindblowing middle part with Page giving a really outstanding
performance on his organ. “Stash” is even better and truly justifies
its’ 7-minute length. Trey leads the song with his guitar melody in
the instrumental parts, while vocal parts are catchy and groovy. “Maybe
so or maybe not” part in the song which combines awesome vocal harmonies
and solid instrumental groove is one of the band’s finest moments.
Of all the other songs, honorable mentions go to catchy “Cavern”
and “Guelah Papyrus” and incredible rocker “Chalk Dust Torture”.
But, overall, the album combines great numbers with mediocrity and needed
some serious edition before the release. However, it is already released and
it’s impossible to re-write history. So it’s just a good album
and nothing more.
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A LIVE ONE, 1995
Overall rating: 8
Best song - Bouncing Around The Room
Worst song – Harry Hood
Awfully messed up live album. The band shines on some songs and completely
blows the others.
Written by Oleg Sobolev
So, this is Phish best-selling album ever and also the strangest
one. The guys decided to collect the best performances from their 1994 tours
and put them on one double live album. And they did a very big mistake, because,
you know, some of these performances JUST SUCK. And suck faithfully, I must
tell ya, because nothing on Earth can save any jam band from falling into
ultra-boring self-indulgent improvisation. And while, in the case of Phish,
many of their jams are still highly entertaining, a lot of them just blow
monkey’s ass. For instance, the entire second disk of this baby can
swim deep into sea of shit because of the jams. See, nobody on Earth except
for Phish phans need 31-minute version of “Tweezer”. Just like
the original 8-minute thing wasn’t enough, the band feeds us with 31
MINUTES OF “TWEEZER”! Ok, I admit, first three or so minutes are
good, but then the song turns into tasteless funk groove with Trey doing some
really lousy solos. In pieces, it turns into some kind of acid astral improv,
and I don’t know how many people can ever appreciate this stuff. But
the worst thing of all is one of the final sections where the band tries to
play noise-rock. Holy cows, this is what you really don’t want to hear:
Phish playing noise-rock. God, now I know how Ian Curtis felt when he went
to hang himself.
That leaves us with two more jams on the second CD. The least offensive of
them, “The Squirming Coil” has an awesome song part, but the last
six or so minutes are given fully to Mr. Page McConnell and his piano improvisations.
Being a talented player, Page can give a great solo if he will play it fast
– he’s all about energy. These improvisations are slow and dragging.
By the time Page finishes playing, I can feel my mind melting out. It’s
truly awesome how the guy can blow one great song. However, neither “The
Squirming Coil” nor “Tweezer” can give me as much problems
as “Harry Hood”. Let me tell you one thing: if you are on the
Phish show, and the band begins to play “Harry Hood”, RUN AWAY.
Simply do it and come back after 15 or so minutes, because everything the
band can to do in that song is make long dub/reggae jams mixed with horrible
astral stuff just like in “Tweezer” on here. Who wants to listen
Phish doing a dub/reggae stuff anyway? That’s the worst Phish track
I’ve heard so far.
But if you want to knowledge the truly great side of Phish jamming, be sure
to check the first CD. “Slave To The Traffic Light” sounds like
the guys have the whole life before themselves: they play very lazy stuff,
but I can get this kind of lazy stuff aside of reggae jamming on “H****
H***”. The version of “Stash” is awesome, turning into some
of the finest jazz from the non-jazz bad I have ever heard at the end with
Trey giving some superb solos. And the rendition of “You Enjoy Myself”
should be a Bible for all the jam bands around: Phish manages to get astral
stuff right, combine it with killer funk grooves, great solo section and they
don’t lose the spirit of the original. The best of all is, of course,
6-minute vocal jam at the end. Usually, purely a capella stuff bores me, but
this jam that Phish pulls is great. The band doesn’t even harmonize
a lot, but they still do incredible things using just their voices.
Anyway, enough of the jam stuff, let’s discuss non-jam songs on here.
All of them rule, except for “Gumbo” (boooooooring) and “Montana”
(what the fuck is this shit? Lazy two-minute drum solo? Yeah, right). “Wilson”
has a great melody and rocks harder than Phish actually can. But wait, “Chalk
Dust Torture” rocks even harder and blows the studio original, ‘cause
it sounds just like Deep Purple or someone in their prime. Finally, there’s
an ultra-stupid (just like any Mike Gordon’s song, duh) “Simple”,
but if the lyrics don’t go further than “Oh, what a band without
cymbals?/ Yeah, cymbals are grand”, the melody is catchy and sing-alongable.
And then there’s the opener and one of the best Phish songs ever –
“Bouncing Around The Room”. A great melody, charming lyrics, catchy
refrain and Beach Boys-level harmonies – it’s all here. And that
gorgeous little guitar at the very end... I love this little song to death,
you know. Too bad has “Harry Hood” and suchlike. PLEASE DON’T
BUY it if you want an introduction to Phish, like many people do. Save your
money for Farmhouse (the album, not the building) or something.
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BILLY BREATHES, 1996
Overall rating: 9
Best song – CHARACTER ZERO
Worst song – STEEP
Finally this band focuses on songwriting, not jamming and we get better results!
Written by Oleg Sobolev
“Whoa! Phish got all rocking and stuff!” –
you may think while listening to first two tracks on here, “Free”
and “Character Zero”. But that’s not true, since only mentioned
tracks really rock hard. Aside from the guitar solos from Trey, Billy Breathes
is much more poppy album and much more well-written than any Phish album that
came before it (of the ones I’ve heard, of course) – it seems
that the famous Steve Lillywhite made the guys to forget about jamming and
write some short, but effective songs. And so, we have a truly great album,
with only a small number of flaws. Three very short songs (“Bliss”,
“Swept Away” and “Steep”) are all crap, but I can
forgive Phish, because, you know, they are less than two minutes each. Oh,
and “Taste” and “Talk” aren’t very memorable,
but enjoyable enough.
All the other songs are, however, very good. “Cars Trucks Buses”
is an awesome little instrumental that I hated for some twisted reason, probably
because it’s impossible to memorize, but, damn, the playing is fantastic!
“Waste” is very touching, with catchy melody and beautiful arrangement.
Plus, Tom Marshall penned some really good lyrics, especially the line “Come
waste your time with me” which sounds so hopeless on record. Mike Gordon
pens beautiful folk song called “Train Song” which is criminally
underrated – I love the feel of the song, it just takes me to the beginning
of XXth century. Great, great stuff. Epic “Theme From The Bottom”
is even better, with powerful ending and awesome guitarwork all the way. Two
other epics, the title track and “Prince Caspian”, don’t
work as good as “Theme”, but are also great in their own way.
“Billy Breathes” has one of the most beautiful Trey solos and
“Prince Caspian”, while being a little bit repetitive, is still
an excellent song with great melody.
As for “Free” and “Character Zero”, well, they are
two best songs on the album. “Free” has an incredible melody,
unforgettable work from Page McConnell and great lyrics. “Character
Zero” begins very quiet, with only bass and voice but then gets rocking
with fantastic refrain and guitar solo. Definitely the best song on here.
Overall, this is one of the best Phish albums. Get it if you see a copy in
the shop.
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SLIP STITCH AND PASS, 1997
Overall rating: 9.5
Best song – MIKE’S SONG
Worst song – HELLO MY BABY
Simply excellent live album. Go get it ASAP.
Written by Oleg Sobolev
Now you get it all, ladies and gentlemen. So, here they are,
Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell and Jonathan Fishman, captured
in their live glory at the 1997 show in Hamburg. Totally awesome bunch of
songs, superb performances and genius jamming – it’s all here,
and you got a lot of it: the whole 72 minutes, an ideal length for a good
live disk. And the song selection is perfect! Some covers, a lot of jams and
one humble original. Great! I’m going to give a TEN to this right now!..
…Well, not at all, you know. There are surely some flaws, but some of
them. For example, the band opens the album (and the show) with a cover of
Talking Heads’ “Cities”, and while the song is great whoever
performs it, Phish’s version is way too slow for me. If the original
was fast, chaotic (in a good way) and totally paranoid (due to presence of
David Byrne), Phish turn it into some kind of funk showtune with needless
jam instead of a guitar solo. But still, the song is great anyway and the
atmosphere is kind of fun. And “Hello My Baby” is crap. And I
mean it – it’s crap – a capella tune from twenties. Are
kidding me?
All other song rule and RULE ASS. “Wolfman’s Brother” is
just your average good song, but the jam turns it into a great song, driving
and simply mad. The cover of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago”
is a blues jam, and a great one, with superb guitarwork and band playing very,
very tightly. They also go and jam on “Mike’s Song” (the
best Gordon’s song ever), and that one rules even more, but when Page
turns on his weird organ’s tone and the whole band begins to jam some
Eastern tune, Musical Nirvana is somewhere near your speakers, you know. Even
better is the moment when Trey begins to quote The Doors’ “The
End” and Pink Floyd’s “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”!
“Weigh” is great too, and although it’s a silly song, it
has a very solid groove and everything. And, speaking about grooves, “Weekapaug
Groove” is another jam and, again, a truly great one. And I even like
8-minute version of “Taste” with totally DEVASTING Trey’s
solo. Finally, brief “A Lawn Boy” is very catchy and has Mike
Gordon playing one of the best bass solos ever. Man, was that guy on roll
that day!
Get this one, get it right now. It’s the album you need.
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HAMPTON COMES ALIVE, 1999
Overall rating: 9.5
Best song – Wading In The Velvet Sea
Worst song – Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars
Now this one is just HUGE. An overkill maybe, but a good overkill.
Written by Oleg Sobolev
Well, so, at the end of November 1998, Phish decided to record
another album. But just one album wasn’t enough for them, so they recorded
six CDs of material in one weekend at Hampton, VA. And yes, they included
both shows from that weekend here without any cuts, studio mastering or something
– it’s all here and it all rocks. The only problem with Hampton
Comes Alive is that it lasts for too long. I mean, do you really want to listen
to any band live five hours non-stop? It’s, however, possible to listen
to one show non-stop, so I decided to describe both of them separately.
First show (three first discs): this one isn’t as good as the second
one, but surely has its’ moments. For instance, a killer jam at the
end of “Stash” which is simply excellent, just the song itself.
The band also performs gorgeous “Farmhouse”, a personal favourite
of mine. Beautiful “Train Song” and “Driver” are also
on here, as well as powerful jams “Split Open And Melt” and “Bathtub
Gin”. By the way, ‘Bathtub Gin” sounds as “Harry Hood”
as it should be – with a great dancey groove and powerful astral parts.
Speaking about “Hood” itself, it mostly bores the shit out of
me, of course, but the performance is way better than the one on A Live One.
The other jam is “Possum”, but I don’t seem to remember
anything about it at all. “Character Zero” is much better than
the studio original, mostly because Trey decides it’s better to do a
longer solo. Finally, the greatest thing on here are covers. Dylan’s
“Quinn The Eskimo” is very powerful and, I dare to say that, blows
the original away. “Funky Bitch” has a very noticeable Hammond
solos from McConnell, and, overall, it’s a very good song itself. The
band also does some novelty covers, like Ween’s “Roses Are Free”
(they blow this one completely) and Will Smith’s “Getting’
Jiggy With It” (which rules, because Fishman can rap, the song is groovy
and the atmosphere is fan). So, the show has some low points (the mentioned
“Roses Are Free” and very mediocre “Rift”), but good.
But the second show is better, so stick to that one.
Second show (the last three discs): now this is what I’m talking about!
Phish is on their very power, and, in spite of presence of Gordon’s
awful “Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars”, ultra-boring blues
“Dogs Stole Things” and stupid “Nellie Kane” and “Ha
Ha Ha”, the show rocks my balls off. Especially the final CD, full of
fantastic jams like “Mike’s Song”, “Weekapaug Groove”
and “Simple” (the band’s best astral jam I’ve heard
so far). This show also has such favourites of mine as “Wilson”
and “The Divided Sky”. The covers are also better than the ones
from the first show. Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie On Reggae Woman”
is as groovy as the original and has a genius guitar solo instead of a harmonica
one of the original. “Cry Baby Cry” (by you know whom) is a great
song itself and the cover is fantastic. The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”
rocks ass and Tom Marshall comes to join the band on the final cover of great
Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”, and that performance is excellent
all over. But the greatest song on the second show is, of course, “Wading
In The Velvet Sea”. Now, this is one of the greatest, the most perfect
and simply gorgeous ballads I have ever heard. Probably not only “ballads”
but “songs”. It’s that great. Absolutely beautiful live
melody, great “I’ve been wading in the velvet sea” refrain
and superb guitar solo from Trey. This is what music is all about.
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FARMHOUSE, 2000
Overall rating: 9.5
Best song – Farmhouse
Worst song – The Inlaw Josie Wales
Good God, this is what I want from Phish – careful songwriting, arrangements
and everything. This is a truly great album.
Written by Oleg Sobolev
Well, now this one is the best studio Phish album I have
ever heard. The band finally forgets anything about jamming on the studio
record (except for the last track), and gives Trey a chance to write all songs
on here (of course, in a collaboration with Tom Marshall). And Trey doesn’t
blow his chance! This album is full of very good songs, good ones and two
true masterpieces. The album is also produced and mixed wonderfully, and although
it clearly doesn’t sound as the record that was released in 2000, it
sounds like a record that was released in 60’s and that rules. The songs
are also much more poppy, and nothing on here reminds that Phish can rock
hard. And Tom Marshall pens his best lyrics ever (check out “Dirt”
or “Heavy Things”, both of which have excellent lyrics).
The album opens with the title track and my choice for the best Phish song
ever. It’s amazing and perfect. Touching verses, sing-along and catchy
choruses and has Trey’s guitar in the best condition. The song kicks
any kind of ass. “Twist” is a great song too, with another catchy
chorus, but too short. “Bug” isn’t as great as Dire Straits’
song with the same name, but it has a great melody and set of fantastic lyrics.
Fun little country-rock ditty “Back On The Train” sounds just
like Grateful Dead circa 1970, and that’s why it rules so much. And
the most successful Phish single ever “Heavy Things” is just a
perfect pop, with great bouncy melody, cool lyrics and the final part that
simply stones me with its’ guitar solos and back vocal harmonies. And
then goes funky “Gotta Jibboo”, with horns, groove and all that
stuff. Awesome! “Dirt” has gorgeous melody and string quartet,
and rules, simply rules! “Piper” isn’t as good as it was
on Hampton Comes Alive, but I still like vocal harmonies. “Sleep”
is short and beautiful, just like “Train Song”, only better, because
Mike Gordon didn’t write it. “The Inlaw Josie Wales” is
an instrumental and the only track on here I don’t really like. Fortunately,
“Sand” is better and very catchy too. And the closing jam “First
Tube” is very, very powerful, with Page and Trey giving some awesome
solos.
The album is clearly the best one Phish have recorded. Strange, but after
it the band went on hiatus, but came back after two years of silence. Trey
Anastasio released an album with supergroup Oysterhead and his own solo album,
but I haven’t heard it. I also haven’t heard Phish 2002 album
Round Room, but I will get this one and the other Phish album I miss, like
Rift or The Story Of Ghost. Maybe even some of the albums from Live Phish
series. We’ll see.
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