We Keep It Rolling.
Just bought it and put it in. Listening on 3.5 foot tall Yamaha speakers that I just installed at the house. They look like Trey’s speakers. 
I really liked Fuego. The Line not so much. It all sounds great though so far! Fresh Phish!!! Between this and that badass Letterman playing, this is a good day in the Land of Lizards!
I knew I liked Winterqueen on the 10.31 Stream! The breakdown is like TAB meets Fire On The Mountain! I love the horn arrangement!
Just had my first listen. Great album.
Love the sound and flow. I think Fuego and The Line could have faded out a bit earlier but maybe it was the dabs. Will have to relisten a few times before making any judgment calls though.
Highlights:
Halfway to the Moon
Winterqueen
Waiting All Night
Wombat
555
Wingsuit
Fuego
el fuego es muy buena 
I feel like people are going to hate Devotion to a Dream but man do I love it. I want Page and Trey to just trade cheesy classic rock riffs over that jam. Just rage it hard - no patience, just shred! Kind of a Springsteen sounding sound.
Wingsuit is an amazing song. Fuego kinda sounds like a Queen song. I’m also into Monica. I think the cool kids will wanna hate that song though.
I like Winterqueen a little better now that they added that ending with the horns. Still very Tab sounding though. After first listen I like the album, I also concur about the sound and flow.
I know it’s picky and small in the grand scheme of things but I dislike the new ending to Fuego with the whole Viking Warriors thing. Just end it before that.
^ all of the above.
More from me later. In general, the songs I didn’t like at first are growing on me. As an album, I’m still not sure it’s convincing as a whole . . .
I like the album so far … LOVE the artwork and the orange vinyl … surprising to me how it’s not too different from the Halloween set in a lot of ways. In a few instances, I even prefer the stage versions. I never thought I’d be the one saying that. I kind of haven’t settled into it completely, still getting my head around it.
Nice to know all the material going in … when’s the last time that happened? Farmhouse? Rift?
One thing that really strikes me is that the Wombat and Wingsuit vocal harmonies are really different in places. Wombat in particular makes me go like wtf? cuz I thought it was way cooler 10/31/13. I thought Ezrin was supposedly a musical whiz, but to me the opening Wombat harmonies sound crap, compared to the show.
In Wingsuit, it’s where they sing “Time to put your wingsuit on” over and over, it was kind of differentish in the show in a cool way, whereas on the record it’s more conventional. That’s cool though, it’s cool both ways.
So to throw this out there, and get it said, I wanna complain about the lyrics just a little. That Devotion to a Dream tune makes me nuts. And as much as I'd love to defend it on its musical merits and set the lyrics aside, the music sorta bugs me too!
It's been my main hangup with recent Phish, that their songwriting went very ordinary-ish, and I truly don't know what they're going for there. Easy-to-play songs? Broader mass appeal? Less druggie stigma? Hit singles? ... Maybe it'll grow on me, but in a way I kinda hope not. I really try to be open minded, but sometimes ya just don't like stuff. Show of Life comes to mind. It's like, how do I make the most of this? I can't believe this is what they're writing. It can bum you out when you just don't dig it.
It's weird too, because there are a number of really cool lyric moments on Fuego - the title song itself has some nice words that I like a lot ... I like 555 so far, .. I like Waiting All Night a lot - that one seems to kind of pull it off really well, when it comes to Phish writing "regular songs". Halfway to the Moon is cool. Sing Monica has some neat wordplay that I like, I'm down with that song too.
I guess Devotion to a Dream is the only one I'm really struggling with. The Line and Wingsuit, for me the strengths outweigh the things I'm not crazy about.
Overall I think the lyrics are headed in a direction that I like, compared to some of the '09 lyrics, and some of the songs that have surfaced since. I'm very particular I guess. But then, lyrically speaking, their identity has been all over the map since the mid-90s when they decided to not be a nerd band any longer henceforth forevermore .... yet they still are anyway; look at 'em.
:smiley:
I don't know, maybe Trey doesn't like being known for drawing awesome circles anymore. What if you wanna be known for drawing [i]ordinary[/i] ones? Remember that line in the Undermind bonus DVD? I'm paraphrasing and parodying too.
Sometimes I think he's still trying to get as far away from Col. Forbin's Ascent as humanly possible.
Lyrics aside, one thing I notice is that it SOUNDS like Phish. There are moments where they’re just jamming for a while, so the record does breathe more like a show does. And they’re captured well, as far as the instruments go.
Too early to really tell, but I think I like it more than Party Time and Joy. Gotta listen to it a bunch and get used to the changes from teh Wingsuit set, I was really used to those versions.
After 3 listens, Devotion to a Dream and Sing Monica shouldn’t have made the cut. Everything else is awesome.
i like it better with Wingsuit opening the album, so i’ve changed the track order for my mp3s. Wingsuit remains my favorite song from Halloween and its strong here too. i’d actually even say that Trey’s solo on Halloween was a bit more fluid and emotive, but the recorded version is great too.
the low point for me is the strange take on Wombat. its a goofy song but its still a bit jarring to hear it recorded with that on display. as others have noted, after the song “explodes”, well, it really blows up, just wish there was more!
Devotion To A Dream is excellently produced… clean, clean, clean, bursting with energy. my surprise favorite from the album since it didn’t strike me on Halloween. just a quick gut feeling tells me that its going to be like DWD was when Hoist came out… everyone hated it - “poppy”, “over-produced”, “dumb lyrics” - but once it became a jam vehicle after a handful of years, that tune changed.
Went back and listened to winterqueen again from AC. Love it live but not so much on the album. I liked the quiet aspect of treys vocals at AC but the album he sounds very loud over the music. Not as pleasing to my ears lol.
Haven’t been this excited about a new Phish album in five years.
^ I believe it.
Now that I think about it, I feel the same way! Weird!
My pre-order hasn’t showed up yet, not that I was expecting it to. Just wanted to vent. Stuff does not cost that much/take that long to get from the US to Canada. Seriously I could have paid $50 (!!!) extra for 2-3 day delivery, but the cheapest they would offer was ($15) and shipping is like 2-6 weeks. 2 to 6 weeks I can drive down to Vermont and pick it up…hell, I can walk.
/Rant
I really like all of these songs the more I think about it.
^I would rant too. That sucks. Why not buy an mp3 copy to tide you over?
What are dabs?
As far as Fuego goes, I really like Fuego as the title/opening track. It’s the strongest and most interesting tune. Even though I have listened to them all at least a few times, my thoughts are still forming and evolving about the songs and album as a whole.
I have never went back and listened to the Halloween set, so I can’t make the comparison in differences between their original live and album versions. It seems Wombat falls a little flat on the album and I’m not sure if it’s because it changed alot or because the energy doesn’t come across as well in a recording. On the first few lines “Had to have that,” they are a little out of sync and I wonder why it was left like that. Maybe they were going for it to sound imperfect. I’m not nitpicking, I just notice it and wonder.
I just listened again, thru side B, and hey, cool album. Still don’t know how I feel about it in some ways too. And Wombat was smokin’ during the Halloween show, what happened? I agree with that completely.
Halfway to the Moon, at the end, reminds me of a KISS track called “Odyssey” that Bob Ezrin also produced.
Fuego is one of my favorite 3.0 songs, like top five.
Diggin the album a lot, and I have Mike’s Overstep going too, they supplement each other pretty well.
Helps that I’m excited for the show next week … but yeah I’m digging teh Phishes
I think everyone in the 3.0 era has struggled with this a little bit. Ultimately, I really do believe that the best explanation is that men in their mid-to-late 40’s don’t want to sing about dipsyfuddled, milky-rashed grape apple pies. And when you think about live flops like Jennifer Dances and TTE (I love TTE, btw, but the majority of people hated hearing it at a show), Phish did whatever they wanted to until they felt like it wasn’t right. The way I can make the most of “Show of Life” moments is to know that Trey digs it, and the guys probably do, too, and that’s what’s most important.
I think the “getting famous for drawing circles” is exactly why people have historically had trouble with “pop-phish.” You play years and years of bowies, foams, yem’s, rebas, etc and then drop Prince Caspian for 12 minutes? Quite a shift. But gradually, people expect the unexpected. If nothing else, it keeps your urinary system going during shows.
I agree completely, and it’s funny that I think the best example is in the end of Devotion to a Dream, the song you’re having the most trouble with! It’s funny how each of us has a different perception of how phish is doing phish.
And Wombat was smokin’ during the Halloween show, what happened?
Yeah, it’s just this weird song that ends too quickly.
I really do believe that the best explanation is that men in their mid-to-late 40’s don’t want to sing about dipsyfuddled, milky-rashed grape apple pies
Sounds about right. Seems bands that experimented more when younger don’t start experimenting MORE when they get older. If anything, I felt like TTE was Trey’s attempt to bring back one of those long-form songs that jump around a lot like the old classics and it just didn’t work. Does this mean he can’t do them anymore. I felt they did pull it off with songs like Walls of the Cave and Waves.
And when you think about live flops like Jennifer Dances and TTE (I love TTE, btw, but the majority of people hated hearing it at a show), Phish did whatever they wanted to until they felt like it wasn’t right.
I’ve found it interesting that they’ve never played The Connection live. It’s like they knew it wouldn’t get good reception even before they tried it. Did they regret recording it?
and it’s funny that I think the best example is in the end of Devotion to a Dream, the song you’re having the most trouble with!
I feel that bands don’t let songs breathe enough in general so it was weird to hear Phish (on other albums) kinda cutting off songs before they get going. I’m not asking for a 10-minute jam on a song but you’ve gotta extend that solo for another minute or so…it really matters on a studio song. Devotion is a cool song but the jam really hits the home run for me.