LIVE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN-NEW YEAR'S EVE 1995

This is the only Phish music I've ever heard, although after listening to this huge 3-disc set I don't doubt the people who say it is their best work. It's hard to believe they could be any better.

By all accounts, a Phish concert was a highly interactive event, and this album amply demonstrates this side of the band; several songs are part of some strange concept about the band getting the recipe for time so that the New Year can happen, and the indecipherable story of Colonel Forbin, famous mockingbirds, and the Time Phactory is highly entertaining. I include this because the tongue-in-cheek humour and whimsical nature of Phish are an important part of the experience, elevating them beyond being simply great instrumentalists (which they all are) to being almost a sort of mindset or way of life. Listening to Phish will impart warm feelings of joviality and goodwill towards the world.

Musically, of course, this album is stellar. It is an eclectic mix, in approximate order of prominence, of jazz, rock, funk, folk, and barbershop quartet. The band is at the top of their game, and the playing is extremely tight

I consider this an essential progressive record because it demonstrates the prog ideals of extended, complex compositions, stellar musicianship, and fusion of multiple genres extremely well. I recommend this to anybody who likes jazz-rock, jam bands, or who has a sense of humour.