Billy Breathes

Upon the start of this one, you would get the impression that Phish were delivering a conventional rock album. The opening four songs Free, Character Zero, Waste, and Taste all follow standard rock formula, are focused and all gems in their songwriting. However, the album must take twists and turns and so it does, with interludes, flourishes, and other shorter adventures, highlighted by Theme From the Bottom, Billy Breathes, and Prince Caspian. This still results in their most focused record and possibly the best so far though that can be as much familiarity talking as quality.

The Story of the Ghost

For the second consecutive album it seems, Phish frontloaded the best stuff, with the opening four tracks of Ghost, Birds of a Feather, Meat, and Guyute all pretty fabulous, with the latter really building into a beast. Limb by Limb, Water in the Sky, and Wading in the Velvet Sea are all also strong, and perhaps sticking with those 7 songs would have been plenty for this one. Still, finding 7 songs to walk away with is a strong effort from these guys.

The Siket Disc

Often with Phish, there can be this impulse for them to just shut up and play - especially when the lyrics seem like nothing but placeholders for explorations and jam sessions. So one would think that an album with no words - fully instrumental - would be a moment to allow everyone their moments to shine and to release something hugely compelling. Not really. Sure, there are a few interesting moments within say What’s the Use or Title Track, but mostly, this is Phish at its most boring, stuck in a place where you think it could explode but it never does. Soundscapes that are fine if you want that, but there never feels like a beginning, middle and end - just there.

I do enjoy a lot of the fully (or mostly) instrumental tracks by Phish over their career and I can honestly say I think I've listened to this album once. I'm in tune with your assessment and feel like Phish is definitely at their best when they are going on a full fledged ride as opposed to coasting.

Farmhouse

In the next total shift, Phish release Farmhouse, a fully focused album of a more traditional writing style. There are still explorations here, like First Tube, but this along with Billy Breathes are easily the most accessible records so far. Farmhouse, Twist, Back on the Train, Heavy Things, and the funky Gotta Jibboo are early nuggets of fun, and the easiness never leaves the group on this one - the last before the first short hiatus.

Yes. Agreed 100% - I have no issues at all with them doing instrumental, but I prefer the band pointed and focused, not so much 34 minutes of meandering with no pay off.

i'm not really sure i'd throw in the siket disc as a true studio effort meant to be digested like an actual album. it's studio jam leftovers that page cut and edited into what appears on the record. it was released on their website first, then only made retail like a year later, months after farmhouse was released. siket disc is more akin to an odds n' sods one-off release than a true entry in their studio catalog meant to be assessed among the others.

i've been enjoying your takes here, liebzz. thanks.

Thanks. That very well may be the case, but I didn’t want to leave it out given it is a studio release that’s right there for us.

Farmhouse is a record that gets consistent play at our house. It sounds like the band was burnt out and this is basically a Trey record, but I love how focused it is. To KD's point about Trey, his guitar work on Farmhouse is some of my favorite by any guitarist on record. His tone, phrasing, the softer stuff, the epic nature of First Tube....I dig it all.

Libezz, you have to see Phish live. I've only seen them 3 times but similar to your take on them, if you are patient, okay with some meandering, the payoffs are bigger and better than anything you've seen. I caught a random night in Raleigh back in 2011 and their cover of Good Times, Bad Times hit a peak that I had never seen by any band.

Farmhouse is easily the best phish album

Yeah they are a band that has been on my list to see for decades and I never pull the trigger - I really should.

I have seen Oysterhead when they toured the first time around and Trey was really great then too.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/oysterhe ... de2aa.html

Round Room

This album is a bit of a curiosity for me. After the tight and focused Farmhouse, the band is much looser here. And for the most part, it’s the longer tracks here that provide the best material and by a wide margin. Pebbles and Marbles, Seven Below, 46 Days, Walls of the Cave, and Waves are clear winners here and all with extended play time. A few of the other songs here caught my ear, Thunderhead, All of These Dreams, and Mexican Cousin on first listen…but the longer songs here are pretty phenomenal.

Round Room was the first Phish album I ever listened to and is still my favorite.

You can feel how excited they were to be all back together making music again. I love this album.

I’d have a hard time picking an absolute favorite thus far, but I will say I am 3/4 of the way through Undermind and that might be it so far.

the connection is a fun little song that i wish they would play more.

I really like "The Connection" too.

Undermind

So as I noted above, this album far exceeded whatever expectations I had. Mostly concise and focused, but the band rocks here while still exploring new sounds for them. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing is obvious here as a clear winner - finding new space for them while still being really compelling. In addition, Undermind, very much yes on the Connection, the sonic sequel to A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing in Maggie’s Revenge, Crowd Control, Nothing…really most everything, though the back few songs seem to lose a bit of steam. This is one of my favorites so far and probably would be tops if not for the sputtering end…but really quite excellent.

Joy

Frankly, the title says it all. This album really is a joy to sit back and listen to. Concise, breezy, and easy. Given the last 2 songs on this album make up about 2/5ths of the album, there’s no extended jams until the end, and when they come, they shift and pull in ways that come across more like movements than long journeys, especially in the epic Time Turns Elastic. The rest of the album though is remarkably consistently good, and fun! Kill Devil Falls, I Been Around, and Sugar Shack are just a good time, and the opening 3 tracks are really nice. Quite an enjoyable album.

Fuego

Phish tend to be at their strongest when these songs get a chance to breathe, but not to the point where they drift into outer space. If this band struggles at anything in particular, it is finding that balance. I think that has driven most of the discussion in this journey, and a focal point for this album, where they seem to really get that balance. The songs are longer, but they rarely fall into the abyss, instead either staying firmly within the song, or skirting on the right side of that line, as in the title track. The Line, Devotion to a Dream, Halfway to the Moon, Sing Monica, the groove oriented 555, and Waiting All Night are other highlights and really those moments where Phish hits their mark without the requisite meandering. Wingsuit closes us out with some nice highs as well. Really, I am finding this studio catalogue much more pleasurable than I expected.