Billy Breathes Life into Phish's Funky, Melodic Image
Phish, with the exception of their 1988 debut Junta, have had a
difficult time capturing their essence, and hence their appeal, on disc.
Too often their music sounds forced, awkwardly executed, or just plain
boring on albums. People who have never seen the band's fiercely
executed, ambitious live shows were right in wondering what all the fuss
was about -- and fuss there has been. This past August, Phish played
before 135,000 ticketholders over two days at the Plattsburgh Air Force
Base in August, an event they christened the Clifford Ball, which just
happened to be the largest concert in North America in the past year.
Listening to 1994's Hoist, '93's Rift, '92's major-label
debut A Picture of Nectar, or 90's Lawn Boy, even die-hard
Phish heads usually admit, left the listener unsatisfied. These albums
had their moments, but that's all they were.
Billy Breathes, Phish's first studio-effort after last year's
certified-gold A Live One, shows for the first time on disc just
how infectious and skilled Phish can be. Working with producer Steve
Lillywhite may have had something to do with this success; in the past,
Phish has always had a large role in production, and working with
Lillywhite undoubtedly let them concentrate more completely on what was
going on their side of the control board, that is, the music. The disc
starts with a burst of feedback and a driving beat laid down by
band-mascot and drummer Jon Fishman on "Free." As guitarist Trey
Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell mirror each other's lines, the
tenor of the album is instantly set: confident, relaxed, playful, eager
to show what they can do but never trying too hard. Anastasio's vocals
sound better than they ever had--uncluttered, forceful and understated
at
the same time, and beautifully front and center in the mix. (Indeed,
Anastasio, who often sings in a quasi-hushed tone, sounds miles better
than he ever has on disc before, probably a result of both Lillywhite's
production and his continuing efforts to improve his singing voice.) When
Anastasio plunges into a fuzz-tone riff backed by bassist Mike Gordon's
deliciously funked-up vamps, it's clear from Billy Breathes' first
moments that Phish is successful here at doing what they have never been
successful at before--capturing their virtuosic, jam-oriented sound within
the limitations of three and a half minutes.
While Billy Breathes genuinely does not have a weak track among
the thirteen that made the disc (many of which, such as "Free" and the
album-ending "Prince Caspian," will already be familiar to Phish fans
from concerts), there are a handful of truly gorgeous tracks--"Free" is
one of them, and "Taste" another. "Taste" starts off with acoustic guitar
and hand drums, is soon joined by McConnell's ranging piano lines and
single-note accents, and when Gordon's bobbing bass-line joins in behind
the repeated-line, "I can't see through the lights," it is hard not to
smile at the joyful, all-encompassing success of the song. (With its
shuffling, building melody and light-handed virtuosity, it's hard not to
dance along, as well.) And, amazingly enough, "Taste" clocks in at four
minutes as well--a far cry from the ten-plus minutes that many of the best
songs off of Junta stretched over, leaving many to believe that
the reason for Phish's relative lack of success in the recording medium
is that they needing ample time to stretch out. On Billy Breathes,
the band creates that space and shows it can be done in a reasonable
amount of time, again, probably the result of having Lillywhite's deft
hand focusing on the production.
While Phish has been lumped into the neo-hippie category along with
band's such as Blues Traveler and the rest of HORDE nation, musically,
Phish ranges from flat-out funk, courtesy of Gordon's slapped-bass lines,
to delicate, unwinding tales marked by the band's spinning melody lines,
as showcased on "Theme From the Bottom," a beautiful song that feels as
if it is built, piece-by-piece, like a house of cards.
The title-track is also worth special mention, and, mirroring the album's
tenor, it is both gentler and roomier than many of Phish's past efforts.
Indeed, with its emphasis on intricately beautiful, web-like melodies,
Billy Breathes may come as a surprise to those who had pegged
Phish as a psychedelic, jam-oriented band, but it is a wonderful
surprise, full of hidden nooks and secret gems to be revealed to the
careful listener.