9/10
Wow. I really didn't expect to like this album as much as I did. I had the wrong idea about Phish. I always pictured them as being a dirty hippie band with long, disjointed jam sequences. Turns out I love them. "Joy" is their 14th studio album (first in 5 years), and I had never listened to any of the earlier stuff, but now I can't wait to. The music is so much more pleasant and melodic than I thought it would be. It's really catchy, but also really well written, well sung, and well played. There are solos and instrumental bridges, but nothing to drawn out. Everything works. It's almost perfect. Slower songs like "Joy" aren't too slow to bore you to death, but slow enough to provide a nice change of pace. I can't say enough about how catchy, but good, the music is. I always feel like catchy songs sacrifice quality; generally the lyrics aren't as thoughtful or meaningful. But that is definitely not the case here. It's also very rare that bands with great songwriting have great instrumentals, including some really great guitar solos. These guys are just so much more talented than I ever gave them credit for. The only song that does go a little too long is "Time Turns Elastic", which kind of loses me halfway through. The album is a little bit short, too, which is ironic for a band known for epic 3+ hour live shows.
Regardless, it's great, and definitely worth a listen. Check out the tracks "Backwards Down the Number Line" and "Joy", and let me know what you think.
Backwards Down the Number Line
Joy
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