''Round Room'' is the tenth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American rock band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended Jam session#Rock, jams, blending of Music genre, genres, and a dedicated Fandom, fan base. The band consists of guitari ...

released on December 10, 2002, by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

. The album was recorded over the span of four days in October 2002, and its release marked the end of the group's two year hiatus from touring and recording.

Production and release

Initially, Phish planned to record the album live at their December 31, 2002 concert at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

in New York City, their first concert since October 2000, but they decided instead to release the songs they had recorded that fall instead. As with previous Phish albums, the songs originated in collaborative writing sessions between frontman

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...

and lyricist Tom Marshall (with two songs contributed by bass guitarist

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano and guitar. He ...

). ''Round Room'' is unique, however, in that the final tracks were taken from the band's unedited rehearsal sessions at The Barn, Anastasio's studio in Vermont. ''Rolling Stone'' notes that this approach gives the album a "decidedly live" feeling, and "breathes with an anxious, edge-of-the-seat intensity that's missing from their previous studio efforts." Though largely positive, the review criticizes Anastasio's singing and the "Phishspeak" quality of the lyrics. In the liner notes for the album, ''Round Room'' is dedicated to the memory of

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

guitarist

Michael Houser Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on seven studio albums during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986 till 2002. He is also feature ...

, who died in August 2002, and Scott Schertzer, a Phish fan who was killed in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

in 2001. Phish appeared on TV twice before their official return to the stage on New Year's Eve 2002. "46 Days" was debuted live on the December 14, 2002, episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'', and "All of These Dreams" debuted five days later on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production c ...

''.Phish.net Setlists: 2002-12-19
Phish.net. Online. Accessed: Sept. 2, 2011. About a week after the release of ''Round Room'', Phish recorded an impromptu jam session in a studio in New York City, excerpts of which were later scheduled for release as ''

The Victor Disc ''The Victor Disc'' is an instrumental studio album by the American band Phish. The material was recorded December 19, 2002, at LoHo Studios in New York during an impromptu jam session after the band's appearance on the ''Late Show with David Lett ...

''. However, this instrumental album has not yet been officially released.

Track listing

Personnel

– guitars, lead vocals :

Page McConnell Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. In addition to having been a member of Phish since 1985, ...

– keyboards, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (tracks 6, 12) :

– bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (tracks 3, 5, 7) :

Jon Fishman Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer known for his work with the band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983, and which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo cre ...

– drums, backing vocals

References

External links

Phish's official website
{{Authority control 2002 albums Phish albums LivePhish.com Downloads Elektra Records albums