Artist bio

See also: Trey Anastasio

When it comes to Phish, anything is possible. The four-member band has bucked nearly every rule of conventional music industry wisdom. They've become one of the most popular bands of their generation without significant radio airplay or MTV attention. They've sold millions of albums -- including a never-ending stream of live releases -- even though they encourage taping at their concerts. And they've managed to pull off at least four enormous sized rock festivals in an era when such events usually ended in burnings, slayings and general mass destruction.

If NATN's editors had to guess just one source of the band's success, we'd point to the live experience. In short: These guys rock, hard and long. Phish incorporate nearly every genre of popular (and unpopular) music from the past 30 years into their show. Each of the four members -- guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell, drummer Jon Fishman, and bassist Mike Gordon -- are amazing musicians in their own right, but they play together like one well-fueled, tightly wound rock-and-roll machine.

Comparisons to the Grateful Dead are lame mostly because they tend to stem from the band's non-stop tour schedule and generalizations about its hippy following. Though Phish often dabbles in bluegrass, folk and other Dead-ish genres, the group's music tends to be a little bit more on the wacky, silly side. Would Jerry ever have asked you to "Wash Uffizi and drive you to Firenze?" We doubt it. For a good intro to the band's music, try 1995's A Live One and 1996's Billy Breathes, Or, if you're hungry for an intense musical mind warp, check out Vol. 4 of the band's Live Phish series.

Albums by this artist

New Year's Eve, 1995 (2005)

Undermind (2004)

Round Room (2002)

Farmhouse (2000)

Hampton Comes Alive (1999)

A Live One (Recommended) (1995)

A Picture Of Nectar (1992)

Lawn Boy (1990)

Concerts

August 13, 2004
Newport State Airport, Coventry, VT

August 14, 2003
Lincolnshire Regal 16, Chicago

Phish

Lawn Boy

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» BEN FRENCH | CO-DIRECTOR

Phish Lawn Boy Elektra, 1990 RiYL: Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Bela Fleck

Give this album credit where credit is due. I hate to be the first critic to admit it, but Lawn Boy stands as one of the '90s' most underrated albums. Loaded with bombastic ingenuity, it also stands as one of the era's most ambitious, difficult, and postively individual major label debuts.

Of course, Phish's ambitious nature and the unrefined execution of this music isn't really what you would call ear candy. Most normal listeners are likely to shudder on first sampling of the ordered cacaphony that is Phish.

The ridiculous lyrics. The complex jams. It instantly smacks of Frank Zappa and the Grateful Dead -- a combination that makes everyone but heavy pot smokers run for the hills.

Still, I defy anyone to listen to "Reba" a hundred times and tell me it's not a fantastic work of music. The band stumbles through a light, nonsensical intro, and then winds its way through an intricate, three-dimensional transition riddled with interweaving guitar and piano lines. The final section, an extended crescendo guided perfectly by Trey Anastasio'sshockingly beautiful guitar solo, is almost reason enough to drop out of society and become another Phish nomad.

Almost.

Despite the arresting grandeur of songs like "Reba," "Bathtub Gin" and "Split Open And Melt," the album still leaves a nasty residue in the ears. Phish can't help themselves from having too much (obnoxious) fun. Try the excruciatingly boring "Lawn Boy," or maybe the trite bluegrass romp "My Sweet One," and see if you can hold back the wince.

In the album's closer, the band oddly offers up the short, semi-sweet "Bouncing Around the Room" as a pop treat for the women of the world able to make it through the entire album without shooting their hippy boyfriends. Still, the song is better pop then we're likely to hear on the radio....ever.

And its impossible to dismiss any of the songs on Lawn Boy as "dumb," "irritating," or "way too fucking long" without recognizing the group's chutzpah for doing their own thing. With this set of nine songs, Phish single-handedly ushered in a new era of experimental roots rock, which the band members would then go on to dominate during the next ten years.

No small achievment indeed.

BEN FRENCH | Ben founded NATN in the winter of 1998-1999 with fellow IU alums Troy Carpenter and Jonathan Cohen. During the day time, he's working for Nielsen Business Media, publisher of Billboard. Ben's favorite acts include Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys.