I agree with a zest for the RR when it came out. However you left out Thunderhead which I don’t think works live but may be one of the most beautifully subtle and fractally written studio pieces they’ve ever done. Yes fractally. …and you’ll just hope that I’ve moved on. . so you’ll look up and find me gone… In this song i think you find the quintessence of Round Room… what the whole album was trying to say… what WOTC and Friday and Anything But Me was trying to do, to convey… Pebbles and Marbles like things on my mind. … and its a perfect prelude to Waves. Those two Thunderhead>Waves are made for each other.
Haven’t really thought on the words too much, interesting take there dude.
I have Hoist going right now, and why does one listen to Hoist? Cuz he doesn’t want to get sick of Rift, that’s why!
I love the Julius & DWD on Hoist so much more than how they’re delivered live. Julius just never really translates well comparatively, and DWD is juuuuuust fast enough live to lose the awesome groove from the album version. Cavern live does the same thing to my brain. Split Open & Melt is another one.
Hoist is a funny animal to me. I can’t tell which of their albums is the bigger departure - Hoist or Billy Breathes. They both represent abandonment of former Phish traits to me.
Totally hear what you’re saying. I have a soft spot for Round room as it was the disk that got stuck in my car CD player as my wife and I sat in traffic for over 24 hours waiting to get into Coventry - it was either no music or RR 
I will know every word to every song for the rest of my life. I think the lyrics on the Trey songs really reflect on where he was at that point in his life/career. One could even stretch that thought into the lyrics sorta being a cry for help. The last verse in Anything But Me always got me; almost bringing tears to my eyes:
I am just a raindrop, that accelerates without control
Losing bits and pieces in descent till I’m no longer whole
I am just another shooting star, high above that you might see
Until I have your full attention, I’ll be Anything But Me
^i hear ya. I’ve been totally “there” with rr. That last verse there sews up the song nicely, in fact it brings into full clarity what the rest of the song was saying… like a surprise ending of sorts. I’ve always felt rr is their strongest album, lyrically. songs like ABM, friday, TH, all these dreams… don’t translate live but are kinda the heart of the album… where -7 and 46 days are kinda out of place on the album but are dead ringers live. Waves and WOTC are the best of both worlds.
What do you guys make of the “until I have your full attention” thing? It reminds me of “Crowd Control”… I personally can’t help but see it as a kind of call for help, but it sounds like a deflection, like he doesn’t realize his own part in his troubles.
I like that the words are unique on this album, but they’re really not my favorites at all.
^“until I have your full attention… i’ll be anything but me…”
so the “other” he is speaking to… lets say his wife, girlfriend, friend… (many of the songs here have a strong connotation connected with unrequited love… or a sense of wishing to connect with the other but not receiving the same feelings back) so the other is not acknowledging or giving full attention to his feelings, his heart-felt love or whatever… this obviously is a downer… making him feel less than whole and to feel complete he needs her full attention, warmth… so wherever she directs her full attention, her full awareness, is what he wishes he was… a shooting star, a “tidal wave”… a satellite… so he is "anything that she pays attention to and can’t be fulyl himself until/if she directs her full awareness at him. Its pathetic really but so vulnerable that there is a piece of this we can all relate to… we have felt that stark loneliness at one time or another… and thats what makes the lyrics on this album so brilliant… it is so subtle and deeply affecting those hard to reach places. It’s art.
but i get what your saying… he’s not really taking responsibility… but i don’t see that as the point… its really just affecting that bare feeling or emotion… maybe later, after a few beerz the guy is like “ah screw it I’m fine!” but in those quiet moments in the middle of the night we feel the coldness of ABM. so we work to find happiness, resolution, connectedness, we try to free ourselves of faults, try to love more, try to be less selfish. in these ways we ward off loneliness and try to find meaningful relationships… we try to feel content and fill our heart. right? especially after we “fucked up”, ruined relationships… For most of us “fucking up” comes pretty naturally lol but we strive to learn from our mistakes and make the world a better place mostly.
the great thing about art is it doesn’t have to make total sense, is up for interpretation and moves us in some way… usually in a way we can’t quite put our finger on. RR is full of it.
Awesome, thanks for your insights. Makes better sense to me now.
Very well put…What’s your hourly rate?
^&^^ oh good, you’re welcome. at the time RR came out i was at a true turning point in my life and really listened to the album many times, many hours… now i can barely listen to it lolo but at the time it provided some comfort, perhaps some clarification… i definitely connected and appreciated the maturation expressed here… course trey fell apart soon after and was not surprising. we all have to grow up sometime. it was nice to hear a few select RR tunes live in summah of 04’… the splendid SPAC WOTC and mansfield waves and mexican cousin come to mind.
2/28/03 gin also got listened to a zillion times during that period… that gin is still my #1 fave jam. the entire jam barely has a wasted note, no noodling here, and the last 5-6 min are sublime. that 03 guitar tone is in full effect … at times in PH it is grating but here its part of what makes this gin shine.
I just put on Undermind, cuz I don’t know, I’m not feeling too great about things, and it’s a good album for feeling like that. In general I think I like it more than Joy & Party Time, and maybe a couple other studio albums. Maybe it’s down to Tchad Blake, I don’t know. I don’t even know exactly what I like about it. It’s certainly not my cup of Phish on the whole.
I put on this ‘Live Ones vol 5’ compilation I made a while back. It’s like, Hoist/Billy Breathes era material that didn’t make it to studio albums. A pretty fun listen.
- Leprechaun (7-31-1993)
- Ha Ha Ha (5-16-1995)
- Spock’s Brain (5-16-1995)
- Acoustic Army (10-02-1995)
- Glide II (5-16-1995)
- Simple (6-14-1995)
- Keyboard Cavalry (10-02-1995)
- Strange Design (5-16-1995)
I got Party Time on the turntable right now. I’ve said it before, but I’m happy to report that it is STILL getting better w/repeated listens. Ain’t no Junta of course, but it’s a cool album with just a couple less favorable moments. I like many of the songs a lot, despite it not being my favored style of Phish music.
Billy Breathes on in the car yesterday. Eh, this album still sounds like a band with a sudden sense of identity crisis, to me. Not my favorite.
Still though, since I rarely listen to this one, it was nice to hear it. And I had it good and loud too, so I really listened good. Started from Theme, and listened all the way thru Caspian, wondering if there’ll be a blank LP side.
Junta on the turntable today. Side E. I did not mind one bit.
This is kind of a pushy thread title, isn’t it?
I just listened to Siket Disc. Working my way backward thru their albums, vinyl if I’ve got it. Wondering if this will ever get vinyl’d. Also wondering why I’m so dismissive of it … certainly it’s a Phish album, no?
I guess it’d be a cool looking record, because it’d be three songs on side A (what’s the use is disproportionately long compared to the other tracks) and six on B, I reckon.
a
My Left Toe 4.47
The Name Is Slick 3.59
What’s The Use? 11.19
~Total: 20:05
b
Fish Bass 1.11
Quadraphonic Toppling 1.58
The Happy Whip & Dung Song 5.29
Insects 3.11
Title Track 1.00
Albert 2.18
~Total: 15.07
Siket Disc
Slow day at work, being able to catch up on random things.
Background music.
Rift
It’s one of my favorite studio albums right along with Picture of Nectar. Rift was the first dosage of the Phish for me and the first album I listened to in it’s entirety (I had heard a few tracks off Junta)
It’s always in my car, but tend to slack at times on their studio albums… Not sure why… Cause them im reminded, why don’t I listen to these more
I think Sparkle and Weigh in hindsight would of fit nicely on Hoist.
Im also listening to Billy Breathes as it is also always in my car. Great album, and a good choice for when you really aren’t in the mood to listen to music, but at the same time you are 
Does Trey’s new album count? I guess not…
I got Party Time on at work. This album’s pretty strange, but not really strange musically. It’s like Joy 2. But like, straight to home video.
I am now listening to Party Time at work as well, thanks to your post this morning.
Came to the realization I think I have only listened to this 2-4 times. Not sure why, but I plan on finding out now.