It would probably sound a lot like Story of the Ghost. Which, IMO, is a great album.
disclaimer: the following is based on my perception and much speculation… more or less, i’m thinking out loud
it’s a bit upsetting that it seems (from the outside) that mike and page tunes rarely end up in the phish live rotation… and yet trey tunes pop up all the time, on albums and live. is he that controlling? can he not stand to have other member’s tunes be in the fold?
i’d like to know what really goes on at rehearsals and recording sessions. maybe it’s the producer (Lillywhite for Joy) of the albums that favors trey’s tunes over others for their pop sensibility and more universal appeal (which is arguable)… or maybe mike and page don’t push their tunes too hard because; a) they’re so conditioned to trey running things his way that they don’t even bother anymore, they know the end result; or b) they don’t care to have their tunes become phish tunes, they want to seperate their own material in order to have a different identity outside of phish
personally, as stated previously in this thread and others, i’d love to have some songs off Inside In, Green Sparrow or Page’s self-titled make it into the phish rotation (i.e. Soulfood Man, Dig Further Down, Heavy Rotation, Back in the Basement)…
but i digress… we did have a total of 5 new tunes from page, mike or fish played live this past year… Beauty of a Broke Heart (played 6 times), Sugar Shack (5), I Been Around (2) and Windy City (1)…
regardless, i’d like to see a more diverse crossection of the new music we see in 2010
/mindless rant 
^ no kidding, check out this track listing from SOTG… total band collaboration
“Ghost” (Anastasio, Marshall) - 3:51
“Birds of a Feather” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 4:15
“Meat” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 2:39
“Guyute” (Anastasio, Marshall) - 8:26
“Fikus” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 2:20
“Shafty” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 2:21
“Limb by Limb” (Anastasio, Herman, Marshall) - 3:32
“Frankie Says” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 3:06
“Brian and Robert” (Anastasio, Marshall) - 3:03
“Water in the Sky” (Anastasio, Marshall) - 2:28
“Roggae” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 2:59
“Wading in the Velvet Sea” (Anastasio, Marshall) - 4:29
“The Moma Dance” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 4:28
“End of Session” (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Marshall, McConnell) - 1:54
wow, sorry… that post was way too long 
^ Mike’s shit on Party Time is tight, but still I like Sugar Shack the most out of the new Mike songs I’ve heard.
My husband and I were just talking about Trey’s songwriting the other day. I got the urge to listen to Night Speaks on Plasma for some reason and Holt had never heard any of his solo material before, so it sparked a discussion.
During the course of the discussion he asked me if I thought Phish could still go on without Trey and I think they could…actually, it might be better in some respects–especially songwriting-- without Trey. He asked me why Trey wrote the majority of the songs when Mike was clearly a strong songwriter in his own right. I honestly didn’t have an answer for that. Why is Trey writing Phish songs with random country music song writers when he’s got 3 bandmates, at least 2 who write great songs?? Honestly, I love Leo, but I prefer what Mike writes these days, yet on any given Phish album he may get one song. It’s always the anomoly on the album and enevitably, it ends up being one of my favorites. Sugar Shack was the best part of Joy, IMO.
As for the direction, I’m with you Hose. Why does “evolution” have to mean decreased quality? I’ve been listening to Junta all week now and it really kinda breaks my heart to think about how far they have strayed. I was thinking back on Trey’s “band speech” from Coventry and when he was talking about when they first started they were trying to “break down this rule and that”. And then I thought of Bittersweet Motel when Mike was telling Trey he “played alot of notes”. I would love to pick their brains and find out when all that began to change. What was the catalyst for this shift?
Nonnie, I love you, and believe me when I say that, but…Phish w/o Trey?
Clarification: The Phish without Trey comment was if Trey Jerry’d on us, not if Phish kicked him out or he left.
^ except it wouldn’t be called ‘Phish’ without Trey… that’s for sure. maybe ‘Fish’??
was that the speech from saturday or sunday?
oh wait… it was the same damn speech!!!
lol
The biography addressed some of these concerns about contributions over the years and such and is somewhat informative if you want some deeper answers.
I think Brad, the contributions of all band members on Ghost is why on Mike Gordon’s webpage the only album he lists under Phish projects is Story of the Ghost.
Me personally, if I had to blame somebody for the shift in creativity it would be Tom Marshall. Before that Trey seemed, for the most part, to write lyrics to fit the music. Now it seems he writes music to fit the lyrics. I’m not dogging on Tom’s lyrics, but if you look at all of these so-called ‘heavy hitting’ Phish tunes (YEM, Reba, Bowie) they are just attributed to (Anastasio) and not the (Anastasio/Marshall) team. I don’t know if one approach is better than the other…just different.
Good point, but “Coil”, “Stash”, “Chalkdust” & "Maze"are all Marshall songs … The entire Rift album is musically adventurous & unique of course. And the lyrics are all Marshall’s (mostly), and are plenty quirky for my tastes.
I don’t think you can point to a single thing; it’s like trying to define the Beatles’ breakup … one part management wanting to maximize fan base, one part Trey wanting real recognition as an artist, one part band differences over the seriously quirky stuff, let’s say …
I understand wanting to resist that comedy stuff. Imagine getting known for being kind of a novelty; that could get old or frustrating real quick. Ya don’t wanna open for Weird Al.
But I felt like Rift helped to bring them away from that stigma without losing all the brilliance of the incredible machine that was Phish.
After that point though, you can just feel them striving for ordinary. The very next album was recorded in LA with Paul Fox, had a “single”, and no atonal fugues or serious jamming (outside of the album closer with the dramatic ending).
This is from the Article in Jambands.com Trey Anastasio Thread:
Trey’s just more prolific and driven to get stuff done. I would love to see more input from Mike especially. Or some Mike/Trey cowrites.
^ definitely! and i guess when thinking back to some gordo interviews around the time green sparrow came out and talking about touring with his solo band, he was very clear that he LOVES having that other creative output and a totally different process. it does kind of feel like mike wants to keep his solo stuff seperate from phish, like he wants/needs to have that other identity, which is understandable.
that being said, he could write tunes specifically with phish in mind… maybe sugar shack was one of those
But I WANT to point to one single thing
I kind of doubt that the motivation behind Phish’s new material over time becoming more simple or more accessible/groove-oriented had anything to do with them wanting to become more popular or receive recognition. Nor do I think it was because management wanted that. Perhaps I’m wrong, but Phish, especially back then, seemed like a band who did pretty much whatever they wanted.
From that same interview:
It doesn’t; I was simply addressing Phish’s new material becoming more simplistic during the 90’s. Maybe Trey isn’t capable of composing output of that caliber anymore. Maybe he just enjoys writing these types of songs.
Heck if I know 
I have another hypothesis about the decline of the song-writing: they (especially Trey) seem to spend very little time in Vermont these days. If you’ve been to Vermont, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about when I say that their music is like a musical representation of the state of Vermont: quirky, totally unique, and a lot of people just don’t get it. I sincerely believe that a lot of the magic that was going on back when they were really writing killer material consistently was due to the fact that they lived in Vermont. I know Mike still lives there, but I’m not sure about the others. Go back to VT and write some music!
Too many cluster flies.
This thread is full of lulz…
Mike writing Phishy songs…Traveled Too Far…I’m Morphing Again? Dig Further Down? Sounds like Mikey’s got some issues. Doesn’t sound like Kitty Malone’s adventures, a stolen tape deck, or another rewind does it?
Doesn’t this same worry occur before every new era (year) of Phish? This has started all the way back to Fast Enough For You (late 92). They’ve sold out…It’ll never be the same.
I have full confidence in Trey. Whatever road he has seemed to take has been pretty cool. I applaud the guy for trying new things. If he wants to collaborate with this country chick…so be it.
^ 
II was waiting for Fee to “defend” Trey.
These are the kind of cheesy pop lyrics Trey should be writing. 
The Wheel and the Maypole, XTC, Andy Partridge.
I’ve got the plow if you’ve got the furrow
I’ve got the rabbit if you’ve his burrow home
I’ve got the pen if you’ve got the paper
Time is but clay and I’ll see you and the wheel turn
You and the wheel turn
And if the pot won’t hold our love
Then we’ll dash it to the ground
And if the pot won’t hold our love
We’ll build one bigger all around
goes the wheel
I’ve got the seed if you’ve got the valley
I’ve got the big stick if you’ve Aunt Sally’s head 
I’ve got the time if you’ve got the motion
Time is but clay and I’ll see you and the wheel turn
You and the wheel turn
And if the pot won’t hold our love
Then we’ll dash it to the ground
And if the pot won’t hold our love
We’ll build one bigger all around
goes the wheel
Maypole, Maypole, Maypole you’ve spun me round and knocked me off my axis mundi
Maypole, Maypole, Maypole the ties that bind you will unwind to free me one day
and everything decays
Yes, everything decays
Forest tumbles down to make the soil
Planets fall apart just to feed the stars and stuff their larders
And what made me think we’re any better
and what made me think we’d last forever
was I so naive?
of course it all unweaves
Maypole, Maypole, Maypole you’ve spun me round and knocked me off my axis mundi
Maypole, Maypole, Maypole the ties that bind you will unwind to free me one day
and everything decays
Pyramids and palaces to dust
Empires crumble in
Wedding cake begins to must and molder
And what made me think we’re any better
and what made me think we’d last forever
was I so naive?
failing to perceive
Maypole (round goes the wheel)
Maypole (round goes the wheel)
Maypole (the ties that bind you will unwind to free me one day)
Maypole (if the pot won’t hold our love)
Trey and Partridge are similar in many ways… both are creative musical genius types and their respective bands are their baby… and both are driven and a bit of a control freak. The difference between the two, from my perspective, is Trey is a guitar player first, song writer second… Partridge the other way around… not sure where this actually fits into the discussion. 