Released - 9/8/09
Label - Jemp Records
BLURB - A truly amateur effort from veteran jam band Phish has myself questioning, what was the point of this release? With over four years passing since their last (also abysmal) release, 'Undermind,' and various solo projects taking place, one would think that the quartet reuniting for a new release would bring some new creativity and ideas to the table. Au contraire. 'Joy' is a fairly boring record that rarely travels into experimentation and fails to offer up innovative tracks like Reba, You Enjoy Myself or Guyute. Yes, I'm well aware that Phish studio records seldom take from their veritable circus of sounds and jams that their live shows feature, but you've got to do better than a collection of vanilla sounding rock tracks.
Rating - 3 out of 10
FULL STORY - Phish is my favorite band of all time. They have more or less helped shape my musical taste. I spent nearly two years fully engulfed in Phishdom, refusing to listen to any other music and compiling a collection of around 50 live shows. What sold me was the variety. Some tracks were straight ahead rock, some were jazz, some were electronic heavy, some were acoustic, some were experimental, some were forty minute jams, some were hilarious, some took me on a trip...you get the picture. If I had to pick one aspect of their music that failed to be captured on, 'Joy' it would be this variety. Given the fact that all of the band members became deeply involved in various solo projects, I was anticipating a new, fresh-sounding Phish album, with all of these new projects forging into one great release. What I got sounds like four of my Dad's friends recording some 'cool' songs in their basement.
I've noticed several media outlets calling this album, 'grounded' and 'mature.' I don't understand why using these adjectives would give merit to the record. Phish is and never has been grounded. They've been known for pushing the limits of music and sound. Phish, in my opinion, is not and should not be mature. They've been known for doing wacky songs and having fun, while at the same time creating an atmosphere for their listeners, which they could not find anywhere else...one that allows them to escape their maturity, kick back and relax. In fact, during the peak of Phish, one of their most popular songs, 'Simple,' featured a two minute vacuum cleaner solo. I consider this neither grounded nor mature, and yet this was when Phish was putting out their most renowned and influential work. Maybe it's me, but I don't get these reviews. It's like if a restaurant critic would inform his audience that a new restaurant has a really friendly staff. That's nice to hear, but I'm going there to eat, not to mingle.
What I can say for this record is that there is a great potential for these songs in their live shows. Several songs would work segueing into other tracks or becoming jams in themselves, one of which being, 'Time Turns Elastic.' This song (13:30) is a beast in it's own right, but could really become a live spectacle. Some lackluster lyrics and mundane guitar play sort of lulls the listener to sleep for the first couple of minutes, but after that the track starts sliding into a journey of sorts. It's really the only track worth mentioning. 'Time Turns Elastic' has a real, 'Divided Sky' feel to it (for the Phish-heads out there).
The rest of the album is terrible. There, I said it. 'Kill Devil Falls' will help me illustrate this. This is a straight ahead rock song that sounds hauntingly similar to, 'Chalk Dust Torture.' The former feature some uplifting lyrics:
"I step right up to the cliff side, going to learn how to leap. I stared straight into the future. Tell me what do you see? This time will be different."
The general themes and topics in this song revolve around persistence and learning to change. So yes, it's lines like these the critics are attaching themselves to and coining as 'grounded,' but coming from Trey Anastasio they are hard to follow, or more, even relate to. This obviously has some ties to Anastasio's time in rehab, but Phish became Phish well before Trey went off the deep end. Why change the formula that had worked for so many years and suddenly throw in emotion and feelings into the mix? It comes off feeling forced and unnatural. Now the latter, 'Chalk Dust Torture' sounds very much like, 'Kill Devil Falls' but with a couple more twists and turns, and lyrics that, while weird, still were relatable to their audience:
"But who can unlearn all the facts that I've learned? As I sat in their chairs and my synapses burned. The torture of chalk dust collects on my tongue. Thoughts follow my vision and dance in the sun. All my vasoconstrictors come slowly undone. Can't this wait 'til I'm old? Can I live while I'm young?"
'Joy' plays like a journal of ideas and thoughts Anastasio had while finishing up his rehab. Ideas of rebirth and doing the right thing fill the album's ten tracks, making in that sense, a sincere and mature effort to push Phish's music further. The hard part here, is that Phish can't go any further. They've been the greatest, most fun-loving and experimental band out there for the last twenty five years. I don't see the logic in trying to switch up their formula for success so late in their career. The songs have the potential to be decent live, but on, 'Joy' they are just far too boring, uninspired and unimaginative for me.
Tracks
1.) Backwards Down the Number Line
2.) Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
3.) Joy
4.) Sugar Shack
5.) Ocelot
6.) Kill Devil Falls
7.) Light
8.) I Been Around
9.) Time Turns Elastic
10.) Twenty Years Later
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