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I have been listening to Phish’s new album Joy for a few weeks now, and I feel like I need to categorize my thoughts, and there is not a  better place to do it than my blog.  This album is much more re-playable than a lot of Phish  studio albums, and it also has a very upbeat mood throughout most of the tracks.  Phish, not known for their albums, this one might change the minds of many.  I would argue, and Trey Anastasio would agree, that you don’t get the full “Phish” experience until you see them live, but this album certainly has a great deal of satisfaction built into it.  I am going to breakdown the songs one by one by discussing them as a studio track, as well as a potential live jam vehicle of the future.   If you have yet to hear this album go to Phish’s MySpace page or purchase it for a measily 4 bucks at Amazon.com

I think the most significant part of “Joy” is the title of the album by itself.   “Joy” speaks volumes to Phans after 5 years of absence.  Jnan Blau, a former teacher of mine and a scholar on the band said it best, “Listening to this summer’s shows, feeling it all out, reading reports from phans;  it’s clear they’re here to do good in the world again.  I discern a clear sense of purpose and communication.  There’s risk-taking, playfulness.  And, most importantly, a sense of joy.  The upcoming album could not be more aptly titled, fo’ sho’. It’s good see/hear/feel that again, to be feeling the feeling the I forgot….”

I think the album title, “Joy” also holds a great deal of significance for each of the band members; Page, Trey, Mike, and Jon.   Page and Jon, through the course of 5 years, remained very quiet on music scene.   Mike was working with a few artists here and there, but was relatively quiet as well.  Trey was enjoying success as a solo artist with his band until getting into legal and financial trouble with heroin and pain killers.  Throughout the course of five years, I’m sure the band had financial issues, and were starting to run out of money.   This is not why Phish came back to the stage, I believe they came back together as a band for all the right reasons, friendship, memories, sobriety, and the love of the Phans, but I’m sure they had plenty of Joy coming back to the stage for multiple reasons.

The first track on the album, “Backwards Down the Number Line” was a song written by Tom Marshall, long time lyricist and a good friend of Trey.  Trey received the lyrics to this song as a poem for a birthday present, and ultimately, this song, brought the band back together.   BDtNL  sounds like something that might have come off of Trey’s solo self-titled album.  The song is pretty poppy, but I am optimistic that the  improv potential for this song will be something unbelievable in the future.  I heard a glimpse of greatness when I heard this jam played at Toyota Park and I can see this jam going multiple different ways as it evolves in the years ahead.  I plan BDtNL to stay as a Set II opener, as it would seem awkward for it to go anywhere else in a setlist.

“Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan” is the second track on the album, and I think it is place nicely after BDtNL.  The song starts with a nice guitar lick from Trey, and great support from Page and Mike.  I would say this is the best song lyrically on the album as a whole.   This song seems to be the song asthetic evidence that Steve Lillywhite was the producer of this album.   I definitely could have saw this song on “Billy Breathes,” my favorite Phish Album, if it was written 10 years earlier.   This song as well, has a lot of potential in the improv market, and I expect it to be in rotation relatively often during the Summer of 2010.

“Joy” is the next song on the album.   This song was written by Trey  to his sister, Kristy Manning, who died this past spring from cancer.   Kristy was one of Phish’s first phans, an environmental activist, and her impact on the band has been exponentially important during their earlier years as a band. Musically, this  ballad slows down the album, but still holds an upbeat feeling.   I heard Joy debuted at Alpine Valley this year, and it was a huge emotional swing in the show.  Everyone just stopped and listened in a melancholy mood.  “We want you to be happy, because this is your song too….”

“Sugar Shack” is probably my least favorite song on the album.  Not because its a bad song, but because it just doesn’t seem to fit correctly with the other tracks.  If there is a sore thumb, this track would be it.   “Sugar Shack” was written by Mr. Mike Gordon, and has a nice funky groove to it.  It almost seems if this song came off of Gordo’s solo album, “The Green Sparrow.”  I really don’t see this making it onto many setlists in the future, but then again, Phish is always full of surprises.

“Ocelot” brings the album back around to where I think it should be.  Trey’s ability to belt out these lyrics with passion help me argue that this band actually does have a lot of talent singing.   I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around the lyrics of this song yet, but musically, it is composed very well.   Nice flow, slow, but not too slow, with nice support bass licks by Gordon in the background that almost go unnoticed.   Trey belts out a few pretty notes at the end of the song, setting a springboard for improve.  If this jam sticks around on the live circuit, I think it will have to pick up some pace in order to hold the energy of a show.

Next on the album, “Kill Devil Falls” is the new “Chalkdust Torture” in my mind.   It won’t replace “Chalkdust” but it is by far the song that is most similar, at least in my eyes. It has a cheesy beginning with Trey playing a quick lick before the track actually starts.  There is a lot of dance to be had in this song, as I have danced my tail off both times I’ve heard this played live.   A very groovy tune, yet another song in which I can’t seem to comprehend the lyrics (imagine that, a Phish song where lyrics are ambiguous).   “…but I learned my lesson, I can still remember the last one” is a transitional part of the jam providing a very powerful and energetic aesthetic that would otherwise be lacking.   Both times I’ve heard this song it has reached a high level of energy, with soaring guitar solos by Trey and Page really hitting the keys on the grand piano.  This song will be around for quite some time on the setlists.

“Light” provides another break in the album, slowing everything right back down.   While beautiful on album, I don’t see this one going anywhere near the stage after it debuted earlier this summer in Boston.  Though it starts pretty psychedelic beginning, it really doesn’t belong on the stage except as maybe a Set II opener.  Lyrically, this song is another gem, with a great deal of ambiguity but respectively, a great deal of optimism.  This is another track that I think I would have found on Trey’s solo album “Bar 17″  or maybe even Phish’s last album, “Undermind”.

“I Have Been Around” was written by Page, and rightfully so.  Very Jazzy, just like Page likes it, provides a nice intro into “Time Turns Elastic”.  Here is where people will probably shoot me, but I truely enjoy “Time Turns Elastic”  on the setlist.   However, I think this song would be better as a set opener.  Ironically, TTE has grown on me significantly after it disappointed me at Alpine Valley.  I always enjoyed the studio version of TTE since it was released, even though the lyrics are pretty corny.  I thought it was a beautiful orchestra piece transitioned for a four member band, and I think it brought a lot of Phans back to the days of Goddard College.  If Phish work away from the original track by playing it exactly as it was written, I think this song has potential.  I can think of 3 or 4 places in which they could take this jam into left field and throw Phans for a loop, they just need to grow a pair and do it…and at the same time, I think Phans need to give this one a chance…it has potential.

The album is closed out with “Twenty Years Later” which is, in  my opinion, the BEST closer that Phish has ever assembled for closing a studio album.  “20 Years Later” is perhaps the most beautiful song ever written by Phish (along side with Wading in the Velvet Sea), and it brings the listener back to the title of the album and it’s significance, “Joy.” Lyrically, musically, this song has everything assembled perfectly, and I can’t think of one awkward note  in this song.  Very poppy, but very Phishy at the same time.  “Twenty Years Later” will never make its way onto the live circuit, and I’m pretty confident in that statement.  It’s placed at the end of this album for a reason, and it’s going to stay there.

So where does “Joy” list in my studio albums (Excluding White and Siket Disc)?  Well, it’s in the top tier.  I strongly suggest that they keep Steve Lillywhite around for a while, he’s a musical genius and the master at producing beautiful albums.  I predict Phish will be back in the studio this spring, working on a few more numbers to introduce to us this summer, and will probably again release an album next winter.

1. Billy Breathes
2. Story of the Ghost
3. Joy
4. Rift
5. Picture of Nectar
6. Junta
7. Farmhouse
8. Hoist
9. Undermind
10. Round Room
11. Lawn Boy

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