Current Events: Phish for non-phans, a reunion playlist

Well done Mister LaBate, well done; however I would like to counter balance your musings with two simple additions:

1) Tom Marshall was for the times a remarkable wizard of wit and irony. Simply put his mind does not operate on normal wave lengths and that is what ultimately fueled the band's "absurdist sense of humor and unflagging refusal to take itself seriously". To date I have never met anyone else with such an uncanny ability to capture the weird world of the seemingly mundane with such original vision; he's like Seinfeld on acid.

2) While Undermind was clearly uninspired, there is an absolute hidden gem lurking in there. Page's "Army of One" is arguably one of the best songs ever recorded by the band.

Perhaps you're right—I might've been a little harsh on Marshall - it's true that he contributed a lot to the sense of humor. There is no set of lyrics more wonderfully ridiculous than "Run Like an Antelope." And, back in the day, I always loved seeing the "deeper-meaning contingent" at Phish shows arguing furiously about just what, exactly, Trey meant when he sang lines like, "Your hands and feet are mangoes, you're gonna be a genius anyway." Sure thing, Scooby... why don't you and Butterfly ponder that a little longer, bra. Who knows? There might be a dissertation in it. May I suggest... mango references : Phish : : Campbell's soup cans : Andy Warhol.

Once upon a time, I was a phan too... I didn't know they were getting back together for a reunion. Should be interesting. I believe that Story of the Ghost was the last of their great albums. It all went downhill after that, unfortunately.

Decent article for the uninitiated, but I almost stopped reading after I read, the lyrics penned by collaborator Tom Marshall mostly sucked. The author obviously has no appreciation for finely-tuned jibberish.

Good angle for an article on the Phish reunion. But. Couldn't disagree more with most of the album assessments, though. To be fair, my perspective is that of a person who started as a Phish fan in high school when Lawn Boy came out. So I've been there through most of it.

Judged as studio albums Junta, Lawn Boy and Picture of Nectar are no great treat to listen to. Almost all songs there are best in the wild. Rift is a decent listen, but the songs are still better live. Hoist is a mediocre album, and the songs are OK live. Billy Breathes: getting better in the studio, songs still better live. Farmhouse? First really good studio album, very listenable over and over, though poppy as pointed out in this article.

Story of the Ghost - Phish perfection. A great studio album and tremendous live.

But the blow off of the last two albums is a mistake. The band wasn't around long enough to develop those songs live, but I think the studio qualities of those two albums are actually very good. They are very present and even a bit gritty in that you can hear everything without a bunch of studio polish. Basically, I guess they are almost live in the studio, which may be why they sound so good.

Anyway, just another opinion. Everyone has one. I just hope I have a ticket to Hampton to go with my opinion. :)