Albums2010 #88: A Picture of Nectar

(Wiki-Tangent: they've been kicking since December 1983, three months after I was born. And in a weird twist of something- fate, perhaps? My family would begin our long, strange American odyssey the next year just 90 miles away in Hanover, New Hampshire.)
First impressions: well, it's... good. It's not, 'where has this been all my life good' but it's good. I dig it. I can see why so many people gravitated to Phish from bands like the Grateful Dead-(though actually, upon further reflection, I hear more Santana in this album than the 'Dead) very much a jam band, sounds- there's elements of all kinds of music at play here- from rock n'roll to jazz and jazz fusion and genres and sub-genres I haven't even heard of, much less explored in any meaningful way. 'Poor Heart' is the first track that really sort of changes things up in the album- going from a jam band to sort of an old school, bluegrass kind of sound. Then things get a little jazzier with 'Stash'- the next track is a Dizzy Gillespie cover ('Manteca').
I also dig the Latin flavor on this album- there's more and more Santana flavor to it the deeper you get. So while 'Guelah Papyrus' was more of a jam/jazz track, 'Magilla' seems to serve as a nice instrumental bridge to 'The Landlady' which turns into a jam, but not after some nice Latin beats. (And by the way: if it sounds like I'm talking out of my ass about this stuff, it's because I am. Once I hit #100 on this ludicrous adventure, I'm tapping out and leaving music commentary to the experts, because I am not it.)
'Glide' sort of jumped out at me late in the album. It's got a nice beat. I dig it. 'Tweezer' on the other hand lost me a little bit- I mean, I get it, they're a jam band, so jams are to be expected, but there's such a thing as a wee bit much of a good thing and after awhile this just sort of faded into randomized noise and I just lost interest. 'The Mango Song' was pretty good and didn't meander as much as 'Tweezer' did. 'Chalkdust Torture' changes things up again with more of a rock beat. If there's a jam/instrumental track that I like the best on this entire album, it's probably the last one, 'Tweezer-Reprise' which is one hell of a culmination of a wild, crazy trip of an album.
Overall: First Phish was a good Phish experience. I loved how eclectic this album managed to be and while some of the jams lost me a little bit, others kept me fully engaged and on board. Will I try more Phish in the future? I think there's a pretty good chance of that. *** out of ****.
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