Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Trey Anastasio had a lot of pent up creativity locked up behind that pointy little beard. The Phish guitarist eschews his band's stripped down approach and gilds the jam-band lily with big-band aspirations, moving into the ferociously funky territory occupied by King Sunny Ade, and the mighty James Brown. Anastasio not only shows off some truly interstellar guitar playing, but also uses the instrument to subvert mathematical possibilities by whimsically changing time signatures as he fearlessly bobs and weaves between the blasts of soulful sounds from his inventive and frenetic five-person horn section. This two-CD live album was recorded over nine shows during the Anastasio's 2002 tour, exposing fans to Anastasio's more baroque groove-mongering sides as he takes them through a spirited two-hour-plus journey comprised of seven previously unreleased compositions, a cover of Bob Marley's "Small Axe," and three Phish tune, including the politically charged "Sand." --Jaan Uhelszki
Album Description
Double CD live album featuring over two hours of music, including seven previously unreleased tracks. 12 tracks. Elektra. 2003.
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Customer Reviews Read 12 more reviews...
four or five stars? November 15, 2006
broad spectrum music lover (Tiel, Netherlands)
I had never heard of Phish [they are not very well known in Europe] but sometime ago I stumbled across a review of this CD. The descriptions made me curious and I decided to buy the CD virtually unheard. At first I quite liked what I heard, but the music started to grow on me and now "liking" is too weak an expression for me. I think the whole musical performance is fantastic, a kind of Santana meets Gil Evans. BUT and it is a big BUT, I find the singing quite weak. That makes me hesitate to give five stars. So it is going to be four stars, because for me five stars means that I have no hesitations whatsoever. In my mind it would have been an immaculate album if he had brought in a real good singer. He could have followed the example of Bill Wyman, another notoriously weak singer, who is having other guys doing most of the vocals in his band. Still very worthwhile to listen to.
Having horns as a rythm section... March 19, 2005
Dante
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
In this case it works pretty well.The music flows and remains interesting from the beginning 'till the end.Recommended.
Plasma March 11, 2005
D. Triarsi
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you have ever experienced a Phish show and a Trey Anastasio Band show the difference in the 2 is obvious. Treys band definatly lacks the in show intensity Phish once had, and the unfortunate breakup this year was a real heart breaker for many young phans like myself, however the jazzier touch to Treys work sounds nice behind his pickin and I recommend this album to anyone who is still recovering from Phish's breakup.
very good January 7, 2005
Christopher Cordoni (Columbia, SC)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
Trey Anastasio's live album: Plasma is fantastic. To say phish's lyrics are bad is really an ignorant thing to say unless you've heard more than just a few songs. Although some of their more complex peices from their early career were accompanied by nonsensinsical lyrics written merely as inside jokes while the band members were in their teens, there are also a lot of beautiful thought provoking words in a lot of their songs.
On the track Sand, for example...
If you can heal the symptoms
but not affect the cause
it's quite a bit like trying to heal
the gunshot would with gauze
if you instead attempt to rest
the pistol from the hand
then I would not be able to
equate my life with sand
Flowing through the hourglass
pushing through the funnel
turn once more and racing
all your siblings for the tunnel
slide like the silicone
embrace you as you fall
then bounce around
and let your brothers
crush you to the wall
I would choose my own religion
worship my own spirit
but if he ever preached to me
I wouldn't want to hear it
I'd drop him a forgotten god
languishing in shame
and then if I hit stormy seas
I'd have myself to blame
If you can heal the symptoms,
but not affect the cause
you can't heal the symptoms
Look deeper into the lyrics, and you can see something that anyone can relate to.
Anyways... check out the album. It's Stellar.
exelent cd September 14, 2004
Marko Esquandolas (Evergreen, CO)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I would 100% disagree with the last review about the lyrics part. Tom Marshall is a complete genius, comparable to Robert Hunter just in much differnt ways. This 2 disk cd set is an exelent compilation of live songs. Now that Phish had broken up, if you wish to continue with Anastasio's work than this cd is a must. The highlight of the cd in my opinion is the " Night Speaks to a Women" very clean jamming. Buy this CD you will thank yourself next time you are on your way to go see Trey
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