Fuego

I have to say, I love Fuego. I'll go even further and say I feel it's Phish's best effort since Rift (in my humble opinion). I'm an early 90's Phish fan. Beginning with Hoist, I felt their artistic edge was being overwhelmed by expectations of having hit records (not that this is so, but just seems that way). Billy Breathes bored me (but I'm revisiting it after hearing THIS album!), and I kinda phased out (especially after discovering OK Computer). But with Fuego, I have to admit... I have missed out. It reminded me of the beauty, the happiness, the amazing songwriting abilities of the band I so very much loved and love. "Waiting All Night" is the song that drew me in, compelling me to play it over and over again. Then I heard the rest of the album. Sublime. The veritable joy of "Devotion to a Dream," the beautiful complexity of "Halfway to the Moon." I feel "Winterqueen" has a very Jerry-like guitar sound, and that's a great thing (even better, it comes from Trey!). "Sing Monica" is another joyous jamboree, making be bounce around both my room and my car! "555" is another Mike song that's just so damn cool. The ethereal, sad and wonderful "Waiting All Night" is the song I'm forcing people who claim they don't like Phish to listen to... and reassess. "Wombat" reminds me, for some crazy reason, of the funk and madness of "Split Open and Melt"... which I think I'm alone in that assessment, but I dig it all the same. The album ends with the Floydian "Wingsuit," which I think is an incredible conclusion to a great album. Page really comes to the forefront here (I always HAVE thought he was the second magical ingredient to Phish... a modern day Vince Guaraldi), but the band as a whole sounds as fresh and inspired as a newly-formed, still-have-something-to-prove band. I love it. Buy it :)

I'm not a phish fan, never have been. Possibly because the only bunk acid I ever bought was from a phish head (or whatever they’re called). But other than diggin one or two of their earlier songs I haven't listened to phish since the mid 90's. Nothing personal. Then I heard 'waiting all night' while driving the other day and it caught me. I was even more surprised when I looked up the song to find it was phish. Fuego is a deep, thoughtful and beautifully flowing album. I can’t play it enough. A truly great album from start to finish, and the free mp3 download with the vinyl purchase was a nice bonus. For vinyl buyers I will also add that the discs are black, not orange, as another reviewer noted. But something I found to be pretty sweet, this is a three sided album. Meaning that the fourth side is smooth and uncut. I personally dig the crap out of that. In an era where putting an album to vinyl is an afterthought, it's not uncommon that the set list and song length do not match up in a way to fit half the album on one side and on the other. But what's happened on some vinyl, like Awol Nation's first album, is they spread out the songs on four sides. So u get 57 min of music spread over 90 mins of disc space. The end result are album sides with as few as three songs, and you're flipping the record before you've had a chance to sit down.

Very well recorded (ok, I'm biased as I'm friend of the engineer, but being a recording engineer myself, I can honestly say it was VERY well done). High resolution digital multitrack mixed through a board to 1/2" analog at 30 in/sec (right from the engineer's mouth). Sweet mics like an AKG C24 and Neumann U67 were used in various places. Well mastered, if a bit compressed. A good cut, good plating, and good pressing. No stupid effects. Just compression, some EQ, and some reverb with creative pan automation. Uncomplicated sound very well executed. As for the material, itself, I'd give it 4 stars. Several songs we ok, others were great. Not a lot of long jam-outs like they're known for, but they're not too short either. I haven't heard the CD version, but the LP is a win, especially since we live in a time when LP quality is generally the lowest in history (I've heard some pressings from the 50s that sound better than ones today). Funny how that is. Now that we have the ability to computer-control presses with sensors and automation, things were still better 45 years ago. These guys were smarter than to have it pressed at United in Nashville, and smarter than to try to cram it on 1 LP. If you've got more than a passing interest in this band, check out this record.

I'm saving a star for the live versions. This IS great stuff ! I hear an lp worth of new platforms, solid bases to jump off of into improv jams. For me, the songs provide a kind of deja vu for future extended live renditions. I will feel familiarity but at the same time it'll all be different. This spring and early summer are special for me where jam bands are concerned. All my faves, Moe, Umphreys, SCI,& now Phish have released studio lps with all new material, fine tunes. Hey, and to cap it off, there's the 6 disc Live @ Fillmore East (Allmans) coming up soon. Thanx Phish for helping make this season a jambandfan dream!!!

Originally, I had bought this album back in 2014, and had listened to it over the course of a running camp in VT. I was in that relaxing mood for a lot of the songs, and enjoyed it immensely. Recently, I've been getting into vinyl, and really wanted this album on vinyl for my favorites (Fuego, Halfway to the Moon, 555, Wombat and Wingsuit). Unfortunately, and echoing others' comments, I had issues with the album on the first listen and more as time went on. My record player is relatively new, an Audio Technica AT-LP60X, and it hasn't had any issues on other new or used records. My album skipped on Fuego, Devotion to a Dream, 555 and Wombat. For those songs, it skipped several times per song. Disappointing for sure and I'm in the process of returning to get another. The record I received was black and not the special orange as shown in the pictures.

Il disco più sorprendente del 2014. I Phish, inutile che lo scriva, sono la mia rock band preferita, la cosa migliora capitata alla musica rock negli ultimi trent'anni. Punto. Detto questo, dopo qualche ascolto distratto, mi ritenevo piuttosto disgustato dal suono e dalla direzione che stavano prendendo con il nuovo disco, "Fuego", appunto. Si è acceso un dibattito piuttosto intenso, in rete, su chi era favorevole e chi era contro questo disco. Ho letto recensioni orribili e recensioni ottime. E l'ho comprato quasi per completezza. E invece, signori e signori, questo è un grande, grandissimo disco. E non lo dico perché sono i Phish, sono lontano da queste cretinate, ma perché era da tempo che non sentivo un disco così ben concepito, scritto, suonato e prodotto. Bob Ezrin, un produttore che ha lavorato con tutti i più grandi della musica pop, lista infinita, ha lasciato fluire gli strumenti in maniera perfetta, non ha aggiunto stronzate, il suono è rotondo, forte, e l'abilità agli strumenti dei phab phour si sente tutta. Poi ci sono le canzoni, che se è vero che ogni tanto eccedono in qualche coretto di troppo, ma poca cosa, in realtà sono una più bella dell'altra, scorrono perfette fra ballate, brani felicemente rock, errebì sudisti e qualche piccolo non-sense alla Phish. Tanta è la cura e la meticolosità del lavoro in studio, generalmente estraneo e controproducente in gruppi similari ai Phish, che paradossalmente non so come renderanno dal vivo, vera e propria zona di guerra, in cui i ragazzi del Vermont non temono paragoni. C'è poco altro da aggiungere, se non da raccogliere il mio scetticismo e la mia mascella dal pavimento. I Phish hanno accompagnato la mia vita ed è bello, e anche un po' commovente, che ancora oggi riescano a regalare dischi del genere. Fra i migliori del 2014, assolutamente.

Another great Phish LP

Muy bueno

I'm a long term Phish fan who fully appreciates that it is in the live arena where this band shines really comes alive. However, I have always bought their studio albums and enjoyed every one to varying degrees - this one I think is a cracker. Obviously there are extended jams like their live performances although the title track does run to over 9 minutes. The band take through a selection of tempos and moods which makes for an interesting mix, needless to say the playing and recording is superb all the way through. It's been 5 years since Joy was released, although there has been plenty of live material around so this is a welcomed addition to my library. I've given this album 5 stars as I love it plus if you're a fan of the band, I consider it an essential buy. Packaging is similar to their last, namely a fold-out cardboard slipcase with the CD one side and the booklet with lyrics on the other - suits me perfectly as no plastic!

Phish ,le groupe de Trey Anastasio nous gratifie d'un très bon album avec des résonances latinos et les bruits de congas .Phish surprend toujours avec des recherches musicales variées et des explorations de divers types de musique :parfois expérimentales et souvent dans un style rock progressif ,parfois jazzy et toujours travaillée Que du bonheur ,une musique à savourer calmement jusqu'à la dernière note A recommander pour une évasion sonore ,une vraie thérapie que cet opus !!!!