Phish The Story of the Ghost

Phish: Trey Anastasio (vocals, guitar); Page McConnell (vocals, keyboards); Mike Gordon (vocals, bass); Jon Fishman (vocals, drums).
Additional personnel: Dave Grippo (saxophone); James Harvey (trombone); Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet); Heloise Williams (background vocals).
Engineers: Chris Shaw, John Siket, Phish, Andy Wallace.
Principally recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York between March 1997 and June 1998.
Personnel: Trey Anastasio (vocals, guitar, alto horn); Page McConnell (vocals, keyboards); Dave Grippo (saxophone); Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet); James Harvey (trombone); Heloise Williams (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace.
Recording information: Bearsville Sound Studios, Bearsville, NY (03/11/1997-06/??/1998); Dave O's Farmhouse (03/11/1997-06/??/1998).
Why does Phish have such an uncanny knack for constructing amazingly dynamic eight-minute jam-journeys upon a few verses about little animals with funny names? At times reminiscent of the darker songs on RIFT, THE STORY OF THE GHOST is a shadowy assembly of songs about dream-makers, phantom princes, listless wanderings and alienation. Let us not think, however, that Phish's wacky lyrics would mire us in the gloom of the pictures they paint. Just the opposite, they form the verbal thread through often fantastical musical situations that exude a magical feeling of limitlessness.
Building freshly on familiar formulas from the past, this is one funky album. Concert favorite "Guyute" (that's "gai-yoo-tee") opens with a tale of a strange, nasty pig, in a 7/8 meter that makes "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in 4/4 sound awkward. It quickly yields to an instrumental rhapsody that blazes with wild guitar-piano unisons. "Fikus" is just plain moody, with creeping bass, vocals with a whiff of Robert Wyatt, and a lonely bell in the background to boot. Mike Gordon's bass playing has arrived at being truly excellent, providing both ample grooves and melodic grit. If any of the band's more recent writing proved too pop-ish for some, this is surely a ripping return to their dreamy tie-dyed soul.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock and Pop