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Phish - Round Room CD (album) cover

ROUND ROOM

Phish

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alecvarda@hot
2 stars In my view they were overwhelmed to be together again. They felt it, but the fans who only listen to the product hardly feel it. The only Highlight is a great PEBBLES & MARBLES. Fortunately some of the other songs on this album became nice jamming highlights on the 2003-04 Tours, like Seven Below (listen to the gorge Version from 7/13/03), Waves (listen to the IT-Festival Version) or 46 Days (Listen to the Hampton Version 1/02/03).
Report this review (#33675)
Posted Thursday, March 10, 2005 | Review Permalink
captaincasser
4 stars i love this album! i own every studio phish album and hundreds of live shows... the simplicity of this album is so refreshing and clean... this is new music that sounds like it's been around for years. i truly think that this album is a benchmark for what could have followed for years to come (if it were not for the breakup last summer)...the boys came out of the hiatus with something fresh and some people may not like it but give it a try if you've listened to older "a picture of nectar" or "rift" and found them to be to manic and frank zappaish, and you'll be suprised to hear a laid back, patient and mature band that just wants to sit back breathe and chill...
Report this review (#33676)
Posted Monday, March 14, 2005 | Review Permalink
Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk
3 stars I rounded it up to the upper star. I am not really familiar with Phish but I love their Slip and Past live album. I was expecting something as lively but this is hardly the case. I gather this was some sort of reunion album after some time off. All I can seem to remember after a few listen to this album is the opening track Pebbles & Marbles. Not that the rest is bad , but it just glides on along without you noticing. It actually sounds like your average Grateful Dead or 70's FM rock album but I gather they have done much better than this one. More to come in the following weeks. Really not much for a proghead in this album.
Report this review (#33677)
Posted Monday, March 21, 2005 | Review Permalink
codyman7@aol.
5 stars This is in fact a masterpiece of music. I own many Phish albums and many more live shows, and this is the best out of the whole bunch. Pebbles and Marbles is a great opener, a true Phish song if there ever was one. Friday is incredible. Thunderhead is a quirkey song about love that appeals to me as a hopeless romantic. And of course, there's the true pounding rock song with 46 Days. This is by far my most favorite Phish album and all-time album.
Report this review (#33678)
Posted Tuesday, March 22, 2005 | Review Permalink
Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars Phriends again

Following the release of the "Farmhouse" album and "The Skillet disc" of left overs in 2000, Phish took their first extended break since their formation. Two years later, the band were back, initially as a live act. As was their normal practice, they indulged in lengthy rehearsal jams in the studio, this album being put together in just three days and consisting entirely of edits from those jams. Unlike previous albums, the band did not use the jams to inspire tighter compositions, they simply extracted what they thought were the best bits from the jams. The most obvious thing about this album is therefore the unusually long nature of some of the tracks, with three running to 10 minutes or more.

To call these jams though is in reality stretching it a bit. There are defined compositions here, both musically and lyrically. The opening "Pebbles and marbles", which runs to over 11˝ minutes, is a mix of jazzy noodling and lyrical pop. It certainly builds nicely, with some appealing piano and lead guitar. The track is rather out of character for a Phish studio album, finding more in common with their famed live performances. As such, it leans much more towards prog than the bulk of the band's studio output.

Thereafter, things tend to resort to more orthodox Phish, the following "Anything but me" for example being a pleasant if utterly harmless soft ballad. The album is a mix of toe-tapping pop and those softer ballads, "Friday" almost being a continuation of "Anything but me". It does feature some nice lead guitar backed by organ though.

The next piece of interest really is "Seven below", an 8+ minute loose jam which drifts along nicely if rather inoffensively. "46 days" is one of the better tracks, and was one of the first from the album to be performed live. In terms of the music, the song is basic American rock, with nods to bands such as the Allman brothers and something of a retro feel. On the downside, "Mock song" may have resulted in a decent Phish song had it been developed, but as it stands it is a real low point on the album.

The album closes with a couple more tracks running to 10 minutes +, and a three minute interlude between them. The two long tracks appear to be successions of shorter ideas for songs, linked by extended jams. As such, they come across as a bit disjointed at times, the simpler pop melodies being at odds with the track lengths.

With an overall running time of over 70 minutes,prog fans may expect this to be the holy grail of Phish albums. To that extent, this is a bit of a let down, being a hurriedly put together set of rehearsals and work in progress jams. On the other hand, the music is generally enjoyable and from time to time it is even impressive.

Report this review (#457343)
Posted Sunday, June 5, 2011 | Review Permalink
4 stars Phish were onto something early in the new millennium- an epiphany if you will. Whilst their well and highly acclaimed 90's albums featured highly eclectic songwriting with zany and nonsensical lyrics, they were able to claim success with a slower, more cooled-down version of their rock. This latter statement is of course in reference to Farmhouse, the 2000's album featuring pop-rock songs that were slightly bogged down by the sappiness of that darned "mainstream" taste. The album was slightly panned by critic for lacking the acid-fueled pseudo depth from Junta or Lawn Boy, but it attracted more every-men to join the Phish circuit. A follow-up album was quickly set up and on track.

Hark! The palindrome year of 2002 rolled around in the form of the spherical Round Room. Like Farmhouse there was many of the same typical rock songs for your casual ears, but something was different this time a"round". The album featured many new epics that are much more intricate than what would be expected. These songs are structured very similarly- with a slow, almost minimalist first half and a raucous second half-, yet are unique in all of their own ways. It's hard to place a finger on it but it's almost as if these songs, mainly 'Pebbles and Marbles', 'Seven Below', 'Walls of the Cave', and 'Waves', feature more depth and meaning than those of any prior Phish album. A controversial opinion maybe, but just a listen to the aforementioned 'Walls of the Cave', with it's creative rhythm patterns set up by drummer god Jon Fishman, and beautiful yet simplistic lyrical abilities of Anastasio and Page McConnell, it is hard for me to deny it to myself. Of course, the shorter songs are good too; like I said they are indeed callbacks to Farmhouse, ranging from slow ballads to jazz-funking, puffed up powerhouses. A noteworthy mention is the track 'Mock Song', which as a fan of the band I felt was a fun poke at their past work, mainly the meaninglessness of their lyrics and such.

Round Room is something that eases you in. It doesn't take multiple listens to enjoy- just let go of any prior notions and sink in. By that time that path of enjoyment has already paved subconsciously for you. And the neatest thing of all: you did it all yourself.

Report this review (#1577452)
Posted Friday, June 10, 2016 | Review Permalink

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