Give it another listen

Phish Albums
#1

I had the urge to listen to A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing yesterday, so I popped this baby in.

I ended up listening to the whole album I realized that while it may not be the best Phish album that there is, it is still actually one of the better albums I have ever heard. Back when it first came out I considered it bad because it was so different and not what I was hoping for. But now I’ve grown up.

Anyone who hasn’t listened to Undermind in a while needs to. I found it more enjoyable than I ever thought I would.

#2

The more I listen to Undermind, the more hit or miss it seems. It doesn’t go for the variety of earlier albums or the “I can listen to it all the way through” of later albums.

#3

^True, I guess I just didn’t factor in the songs that I skipped. I still think it’s a good album, but there definitely are a few songs that I push the “next” button on.

#4

Man I friggin love this album. And I have no idea why, really … clearly the band was moving further beyond my favorite of their qualities than ever by this point. I love their quirkier, more progressive writing. Their live show was suffering in some ways by 2004. They weren’t writing like they once could for the most part, and the band was ready to hang it up.

So how come I like this album better than every other studio album of their previous ten years??

It doesn’t blow the other albums away, but I do enjoy it more somehow. Maybe cuz they’d annonced their breakup by the time I got it, and I knew I had no choice but to just accept things as they unfolded, instead of my usual “Why isn’t this just like Junta?” feeling.

#5

I thought Undermind was one of their most musically cohesive albums since Billy Breathes. The tone of the music wasn’t happy by any stretch of the imagination, and in some instances downright painful to listen to.

But they were together in their torment playing their swansong together, expressing the emotion of their own dissolution in some of the best studio cuts this band has ever produced. Musically, they were as tight as they were for Junta, maybe even more so. It’s just that the message of the music wasn’t one that any of us really wanted to hear.

#6

Interesting angle … I never found Billy Breathes to be very cohesive (despite the more serious lyrics and plentitude of acoustic guitar), and I think Undermind eclipses it in every way.

I think it’s kind of a tight album, but they’re not playing conventionally challenging parts either. I mean, the album is solid, but I feel that’s more to do with Tchad Blake than anything. Writing-wise it’s the same rush-job type writing that’s gone on with Trey for years. Junta was tight in a way that only comes with many many happy rehearsals.

But I haven’t really thought too much about the lyrical tone of Undermind, except that musically it’s pretty upbeat and happy for a band mired in problems.

#7

I agree!!

Undermind is a fun album to listen to, especially the title track, maggie’s revenge, and sass (both parts)

#8

I regret to report that I was wrong about myself. I guess I have thought about the lyrical tone after all. And now, after thinking about it some more, I think you’ve got a point about the messages of Undermind. I think I was just shrugging it off as typical of Tom Marshall to write dark lyrics.

But yeah, it’s a fun album to hear, contrary to whatever non-fun the lyrics might bring. I love hearing “Nothing” - they played it good in Brooklyn I thought. I love The Connection and Undermind, and the two wordy ones with S’s.

#9

'^^I thought is was “Two Vigins and Me”

#10

I love Undermind. I will gladly give it another listen.

#11

I remember being given this CD for Christmas, scoffing at it a little (I’m kind of snob sometimes, I’ll admit it) and throwing it in a box when I got home. I’ve never even put it in the player, I don’t think. Maybe I’ll go check it out now that thinking of Phish doesn’t make me irate anymore. :wink:

#12

I just listened to it again, and won’t be doing that again for a long time,
Decent:
SASS
Undermind
Grind
Access Me

Tolerable:
The Connection
Army Of One
SIHTOS

Yikes:
The rest of the album

I give this album the polluting medal of pollution.

#13

Al Gore’s Head disapproves.

#14

I don’t know… When a new Phish CD comes out, I don’t have expectations other than it’s gonna be good and DIFFERENT. My first listen through, I loved it. Still do!