Phish - Junta

This is why they became so popular

It's easy to write how good this album is from a fan's perspective. If you're new to the band and decided to listen to Phish because of what you may have heard about them, now that they are no longer touring, I think it's best to approach this album with an open mind. Phish's reputation and hype has a way of preprogramming someone with an opinion about the music without listening to it objectively. In context of the times in which this album was made, the late 80's, when overproduced corporate electronic soulless pop and hair metal smear music ruled, this album was a complete oddity. Strange and senseless lyrics on top of complex fugue arrangements. Songs lasting longer than the typical 3 and a half minute pop song were a throwback to the experimental music from the 60's and 70's that were long gone by the 80's. As a whole I felt the album was familiar in it's sounds but completely novel in it's spirit and composition. Eclectic without being weird for weirds sake or art for arts sake. Serious musicianship, strong melodies and a sense of humor. The collection of songs on Junta encapsulates an era in their career that I think really defines their spirit and daring that made them so engaging. To me, every album since Junta is something of a variation of it. Not to say they didn't go on to write other great songs or even better albums (personally I can listen to Pictures of Nectar more than I can Junta) but Junta, their first proper album, seems to me to be as much a musical statement as a great collection of songs. As a statement I hear a band that's saying they are commited to song writing as an art form, to performance and to listeners who are willing to explore with them.

**side note- One thing that I don't think gets mentioned much if at all with Phish is the drumming. Jon Fishman is a very good drummer but it's his inventive drum patterns that I think makes him stand out. I hear his creative contribution in these songs and it's an original drum voice. There are better drummers but I think his playing is strong, interesting and adds to the songs in a way that makes the drums seem as important to the melody and the song as the guitar and keyboard. May 10, 2008

Masters of tonal and atonal melody

This is probably my second favorite Phish album, although it sometimes is my first favorite when I'm in the mood for it, just beating out Rift. It's their first officially released album, but their third unofficially. Nevertheless, what you hear on this album are the defining staples of Phish.

Many of the songs are quite long on this album, and usually, when performed live, end up becoming much longer. That is because a lot of this album is instrumental. Instrumentally Phish really is unsurpassed, and by the time they recorded this album they had already developed their chops to a point where they were instrumentally unapproachable by most of their peers.

Styles are diverse. While most of the songs can be described as prog rock, or jam rock, you also have elements of southern rock, country, psychedelic, and classical, particularly 20th century classical, like Stravinsky.

Phish experimented successfully with atonal music, and as a result it comes across as sounding quite beautiful throughout this album. Their secret was combining atonal melodies and harmonies that often build up slowly until finally reaching a tonal climax. I don't think any other band came close to pulling this off as well as Phish did, and this album, with it's many lengthy instrumental tracks, showcases this excellently with a polished studio sound.

Calling this a "jam album" is a bit of a misnomer though, since all of the songs are obviously meticulously composed with some room for improvisational soloing. The only exception is the bonus track "Union Federal" which was entirely improvised during one of their infamous Oh Kee Pa Ceremonies. The remaining live bonus tracks also showed how unpredictable and amusing Phish could be in concert.

The rest of the album is masterfully composedwell thought out practiced to precision. But most importantly, the music is simply beautiful. While the lyrics and vocals my seem nonsensical crazy to some, it is simply shows Phish's refusal to take life seriously, even though it's clear they take their music very seriously. And the lyrics do make sense at a very simplistic, yet at the same time, very philosophical level. It is one of the reasons Phish is such a great band. This album is definitely a must have for any student of music. November 9, 2007

This Album Lays the Foundation for Phish's Career

If there has been a band that has had the most success of being an "underground" band, it would have to be Phish This is a band that produces some of the most innovative music anywhere on the music scene.. Phish has long had the reputation of being a band with an "open audio taping" policy and as a result they built up a great following - especially as a live act. But their reputation as a live act goes well beyond the "open audio taping" policy - this band can completely back things up by putting on some of the most incredible live performances anywhere. As a result, many people consider Phish to be a stronger live act than a studio act. My feeling is that in order to become a powerful live act, the music performed has to come from somewhere. In this case, much of the music comes from Phish's outstanding library of music they released. The album that would start it all was actually Phish's third album, "Junta". This album really lays out the blueprint for what would become Phish's sound over the next decade and a half. This provides some outstanding music that would stay with them throughout their careers.

Phish is commonly called a "jam" band. In the live setting for many of their songs, Phish seems to follow a very simple formula. The songs have simple lyrics augmented with extensions of some very intricate instrumental pieces - "or jam" pieces.

The extended "jam" pieces are one way that Phish shows how they do things "their own way". What I mean by this is they concentrate on making good music as opposed to trying to formulate their music to be played on conventional radio. As a live band, Phish has been known for constructing "extended jams" of many of their tunes. These jams could easily be in excess of 10 minutes, and some have been known to go to 30 minutes. "Junta" includes a live track called "Union Station" that is over 25 minutes long. "Junta" is a prime example showing how Phish does things their own way. For starters it contains 11 studio tracks as well as three live bonus tracks. There are six tracks that are over 9 minutes long, including 5 studio tracks.

The other important thing to note is while Phish is considered a "Jam Band", they would eventually evolve into a top of the line improvisational Rock band. The improvisations that would be seen in Phish's music would include blending a variety of music genres, varying the lengths of songs, and adding things such as sound effects into their music. "Junta" also does a great job at showing these improvisational roots.

Here is a synopsis of the tracks.

"Fee": While I mentioned that many of Phish's lyrics have simple lyrics followed by the extended jam, its important to know that Phish "does things their own way". This is a great example of this as Phish "tells a story". Great vocals, terrific keyboards by Page McConnell and innovative percussion by Jon Fishman give this song a great edge.

"You Enjoy Myself": This song follows a closer model to the classic Phish jam, but the lyrics don't start until nearly 5 1/2 minutes into the song. Phish has a great build up to the beginning of the vocals. The jam instrumentals are top-notch.

"Esther": The Carnival sounds and spoken words show how Phish uses improvisation. Like "Fee" the lyrics tell a a story, however on this track Phish makes better use of the instrumental jam.

"Golgi Apparatus": While one of "Junta's" shorter tracks, it basically follows the Phish formula of simple lyrics and an extended jam. This is one of the catchier songs on the collection.

"Foam": This also follows the classic formula with simple lyrics and jam. Here we have Phish singing about a trivial subject - Foam. However Phish blends in harmonies that almost have a barber-shop quartet feel. Great use of improvisation to end the song.

"Dinner and a Movie": The lyrics are basically - "Let's go out to dinner and see a movie". Yet despite these simple lyrics, Phish assembles this into a song - and it works. While this is the shortest track at 3:43, Phish still finds time to put a short jam in.

"The Divided Sky": The lyrics are "Divided sky, the wind blows high". This song basically is a jam - and one of Phish's best ones (terrific guitar work by Trey Anastasio).

"David Bowie": Again very simple lyrics "David Bowie" and "UB40" - repeated many times with a jam that follows. A very simple song, yet one of Phish's best.

"Fluffhead"/"Fluffs Travels" While two songs, I really consider this a single track as there is a terrific segue. An outstanding set, this is highlighted by some great guitar work by Anastasio and great keyboard work by McConnell.

The last four tracks are interconnected.

"Contact": This is the last of the studio tracks. Mike Gordon penned this track. A jazzy start then takes a humorous and simple tone as the song basically is about "the tires are things on your car that make contact with the road". I liked this track.

"Union Station": The studio track "Contact" has a segue into this terrific live 25+ minute jam. While this is long - it certainly isn't drawn out.

"Sanity": "Union Station" segues into this track. This sounds like a gig that Phish did in front of an intimate audience. While not the best song, it certainly gives the feeling of an intimate performance.

"Icculus": "Sanity" flows into this last track. This also gives the feeling of an intimate performance, but the build up to who "Icculus" really is will be the highlight of this track.

The liner notes contain most of the lyrics (the live ones are not included) Overall, this is a superb collection. This album shows Phish's true roots - and is a great collection. I highly recommend it. August 12, 2007

JUNTA!~!!!!

I have all the Phish albums, and this is by far the greatest album ever created in music history. The album flows well, every song is fresh and dynamacially percise. Phish shows their true talent and muscianship through making Junta, and every song is beautfully put together and funky. I have been a Phish fan for a long long time, and heard every album a million time- this one, in my opinion, is just outstandingly dominant over the others! March 14, 2006

Phish Roots

This is IT right here. If you've heard about Phish and don't know if you'd like them or not....this is it, if you don't like this album you won't like Phish in general, though you may still like a few of their songs, but most "kids" I know don't skip through a phish cd....Junta was the first album I was exposed to extensively, mainly the first disc, and the fluffs, it sparked a heavy enough interest for me to see them play live....and well....the rest is history! I really didn't know that a band could be so good at what they do. I was used to bar bands and I had seen "Page & Plant" perform as the only large scale show. Phish however.....was different, and out of their whole process of evolution as musicians, this album holds strong!! everyone loves a good YEM, Bowie, Divided, Foam, golgi, Fee, Fluffs, I mean...I'd be happy with that as a part of a single set list....to summerise, Junta is a make or break album, a true "test" to see if you are Phriendly enough for Phish :) September 7, 2005

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