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Round Room
Phish
Retail Price (not our price): $18.98
Release Date: 2002-12-10
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
After the release of Farmhouse, Phish took a two-year break during which the Vermont jam band released a slew of live albums and splintered into several side projects: Singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio made a solo disc and recorded with Oysterhead, his all-star outfit with former Primus bassist Les Claypool and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland; bassist Mike Gordon collaborated with Leo Kottke and made a movie about Gov't Mule; drummer Jon Fishman made an album with Pork Tornado; and keyboardist Page McConnell released an album as Vida Blue. Despite anxiety that the separation may have disrupted the band's raw chemistry, when the members of Phish regrouped in the studio under the pretense of rehearsing for a New Year's Eve show they walked out with this album four days later. Clocking in just past the 78-minute mark, Round Room is looser and more relaxed than its predecessor. Although stately, spiraling songwriting remains at the fore, there is a charming tossed-off air to Gordon's "Mock Song" ("Penny, thistle, cell phone, blow / Reap what you sow," goes one verse) and Anastasio's "Thunderhead" ("I need a new way to express myself so you don't need to guess"). More encouraging still, the weaving guitars and chugging rhythms mark another step closer to capturing Phish's live prowess on tape. --Aidin Vaziri

2) Album Description
The wait is over. After going on an indefinite hiatus that ended up lasting over two years, Phish has reunited and, with astonishing speed, recorded 'Round Room', their first studio album since 2000's acclaimed 'Farmhouse'. Elektra. 2002

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5

1) Not my favorite, but still really good.   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
A lot of heads don't like this album, and I don't understand why because I have enjoyed since the band has released it. 'Pebbles' is great. Trey had debuted the song on his solo tour either earlier in 2002 or 2001 and Phish definately made it their own. 'Anything but Me' is a very enjoyable slow song and actually has some decent lyrics. 'Round Room' is pure Mike and you gotta love it. 'Mexican Cousin' is about as meh as it gets. 'Friday' is decent with some good guitar work (check out a live version). 'Seven Below' sounds good on the album but it really came into it's own during the band's tours starting with February 2003 (a stand-out version from 07/13/2003 is used as the filler on Live Phish 07/29/2003.) 'Mock Song' is pretty meh (the band only performed it once live.) '46 Days' seemed to become very popular during the band's final tours and was one of the more beloved post-hiatus songs (a stand-out version appears on the IT DVD.) 'All of these Dreams' is pretty meh. 'Wall of the Cave' is just awesome. This song really fit well as a set closer the last couple of years and the band really performed some great versions of this song live (Check out Live Phish 02/28/2003 for a remarkable version.) "Thunderhead" is another Trey Solo leftover, but not bad FWIW. The album closes with "Waves", which is arguably the best post-hiatus song, and if Phish had continued past 08/15/2004, this song is probably the direction their song-writing and jamming-style would have taken. Overall, I love this album. It definately put my doubts to rest while I was worried about how they would during the interval between the hiatus ending announcement in August of 2002 and their first show coming back on 12/31/2002.

2) A first look at Phish   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
My (rather late) introduction to Phish came rather indirectly via one of my favorite jazz improv CDs, "The Illustrated Band" by Vida Blue, which features Phish keyboardist Page McConnell. It made me realize that there was at least one astounding musician in this band, so, based solely on reviews here on Amazon, I chose to get hold of "Round Room." Having been an off-and-on fan of the Grateful Dead since the 1960s, I can't help making the comparison, because to my ears much of the jamming sounds very similar, especially the Garcia-like guitar work and, at times, the group harmonies. This is a good thing, however, since the band doesn't copy or rip off the Dead in any way, but seem to have merely picked up a few of their sounds along the way. The songs here are terrific, with lots of great written lyrics, complex music, and some very adept improvisations on guitar and keyboard. My only complaint about "Round Room" is that it sounds a bit sloppy and unsure at times, maybe a little like the Dead's less successful, off-night, live recordings. I can understand the band's desire to keep a fresh take rather than beating it into the ground with multiple attempts to record the "perfect" track, but more practice might have been in order. Not bad, though.

3) Definitely different Phish   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I love Phish to death, and I can go for all their stuff, whether it is the earlier, spontaneously musical stuff, or this. I only own four or five of their studio albums, but it seems to me that in the Beginning, they just got together to play music, and didn't focus on planning out the music, or spending large amounts of time writing songs. The lyrics on songs such as "Dinner and a Movie" reflect this. On "Round Room" however, it sounds like they really put a lot of effort into writing awesome lyrics and (for the most part) awesome music. The music seems a bit forced sometimes, but the lyrics are simply amazing. "Pebbles and Marbles" is a song that has very personal meaning to me, and I'm sure it means different things to different people. "Round Room" is the most charming love song ever, and it has an awesome intro!"I went to the lighthouse and I liked the viewI looked out the window and I could see you""Mexican Cousin" is an interesting song, that I really like. "Walls of the Cave" is another song that has personal meaning to me. It's really got profound lyrics.

4) My Personal Favorite   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Phish has given us a studio album that is just as exciting as their live shows with Round Room! They played whatever they wanted to play with less outside contributors. The only difference from Round Room and Junta is the jams flow differently. Wich is not a bad thing if you are not expecting the usual Phish vibe. No... this is a very different Phish cd. the guitar solo on "Pebbles And Marbles" is reminicent of Jimmi Hendrix.

5) Never Really Gets Going   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
I love Phish music and don't bash stuff just for perverse fun. I also own and enjoy all their other studio releases. But honestly, this is not a good cd. It never really gets going. Each song sounds like a laidback intro. I kept waiting for the "real song" to kick in. After a few minutes the next "intro" starts. It sounds to me like Trey and Mike are trying so hard not to get in each others way that they end up doing nothing. And the lyrics. Yikes. Frequently a little loopy, here they are embarassingly hippy-dippy. I guess this is a glimpse into why it ended.