Most Underated Album?

Phish Albums
#21

For me, the last three Phish studio albums have a charm to them that makes it easy to listen to them. Round Room especially … it’s a fun listen.

I feel it’s the few ‘middle’ Phish albums were their weaker ones (if you can really call any of them weak!) - Hoist, BB, & SotG. I love the songs on <those albums but the whole album doesn’t grab me as a whole album, you know? Like, its pared-down Phish, but the payoff isn’t evident on the album level. Wtf am I even talking about.

The big thing for me is getting past those lyrics that strike as awkward. That always seems to happen to bands that get older … clunky lyric syndrome. Really, there’s not too much of that going on with Phish though.

But then, they could reunite and fill the canvas with cheese.

#22

i just put this in again today, and i really liked it like i always have, i agree that it is super underrated

#23

I am not entirely sold on RR being Phish’s most underrated album, but it is and always will be top-3 for me.

#24

For some reason I have just never been able to connect with this album very well. Maybe someday… hopefully.

#25

This is a Winter album for me.

#26

I’m running it in my car now and it’s definitely different. It’s growing on me…

#27

Of all the studio albums, this one, to me, has the most “wintry” feel. Yes, it was released in the winter, but there’s just something about it that invokes various images of snow and ice.

That said, I believe I’ll crank this during my run outside tomorrow and soak in the scenery.

#28

I wondered if someone else thought this.

Farmhouse, to me, is a summer album to play when the sun is shining, etc.

Ghost is a fall album, to be played only at night. :think:

#29

“Blue, Splinter and grow. New Crystals of snow, See several kinds, through seven below.” sounds wintry to me

I too see this album as a winter album. Mostly because i remember there being snow on the ground the first time i heard it, and they debuted all of the songs in the winter of 02 / 03.

#30

Winter indeed!

Sound went out on my TV so I’m revisiting this while watching hoops.

Is it Phish’s most underrated album? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love it to pieces.

#31

Wingsuit

#32

based on my perception that its their least liked album i have to say Undermind…

now, that is not to say its without issues… but i think some of the production ideas that went into that album are really overlooked and underrated. anyone who’s watched specimens of beauty has seen some of the approaches towards crafting the sound of the record.

but even just listening to the album reveals still more that the documentary doesn’t touch upon. right off the bat the SASS intro with its symphonics and percussions is kinda an unprecedented approach for a phish studio album. it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but i’ve always been fascinated how the studio version feels almost assembled one note at a time (remember The Blob?), and that speaks straight to the production.

i’ve always thought the way Nothing starts off, like the sound of a reel-to-reel tape (maybe it is?) torquing up was another cool detail among some others.

Secret Smile is a rare example of a Phish song that has the right vibe as a studio work that can’t be brought to the stage.

interestingly, i’d also say that its a kind of inconsistent approach to the production that then diminishes the overall album. i still think there was a ton of great creativity going on during this process, but for any number of reasons its clear that the kind of focused sonic template i hear on albums like Junta, Rift, and Story of The Ghost is missing from Undermind.

#33

. 'Cause it feels good.

#34

Can’t tell if this thread is really intended as a discussion about Round Room, but I’ll jump in.

It’s hard to say, since we don’t talk about their albums all that much.

It’s harder to say, since I can’t even decide what I think.

In fact, why am I typing? I have no idea.

#35

I’m a gonna need a straight answer out of you, sir.