Farmhouse [Vinyl]

Phish | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (May 16, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B00004WNOK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,706 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Farmhouse

2. Twist

3. Bug

4. Back on the Train

5. Heavy Things

6. Gotta Jibboo

7. Dirt

8. Piper

9. Sleep

10. The Inlaw Josie Wales

11. Sand

12. First Tube

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best since Rift!, May 18, 2000

By 

Nathan Coblentz (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Farmhouse (Audio CD)

While this album is definately "song phish" as opposed to "live phish," this may be their best "song" album to date. After playing epic (or mind numbing, depending on your perspective) 10 to 20-something minute long versions of songs like "sand," "piper," or "gotta jiboo," it is pretty amazing to me that the band managed to break them down into bite-sized gems that can accomodate the attention span of my 10-year-old, boy band loving little sister.

While most people complain that the rest of the band just stepped back and let Trey take the reins, I could care less; the songs speak for themselves. "Farmhouse" and "Bug" have a singer-songwriter quality to them that few other phish songs have achieved. "back on the train" is a look back to the summer '99 shows; "Heavy Things" is blissfully sugar sweet, yet equally satisfying. The subtle horn arrangements are perfect for a grooving "Gotta Jibboo," and the string-enhanced "Dirt" reminds us of "fast enough for you" or "if I could." The acoustic "sleep" and "josie wales" are delicate and sweet, and they manage to set off the dynamic "sand" and "first tube" from the rest of the album. "first tube" and "piper" sound so live that, as with junta or lawn boy, you may forget you're listening to a studio album.

While my favorite thing about phish will always be Trey's epic but intricate compositions like "guyute," "divided sky," "david bowie," "yem," etc, this album will be remembered in my mind as the one where phish finally managed write a cohesive album based not on extensive jams or compositions, but on songs.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The import is where its at phishheads..., June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Farmhouse (Audio CD)

Wow, It starts from the whimsical twang of Farmhouse and sets us into motion, dragging us under the water to the bottom of the sea, where a barn sits. Twist will spin you around and around until it lets you go. This spins you into a corner called BUG! The first and hopefully not last attempt at an alterna rock song straight from the backwoods of Vermont. This gives us a boost into the train, where we start to ride the rails...Back on the Train. WOW is all I can say for Heavy Things, it starts off like...BOOM! and just doesn't stop from there. Gotta Jiboo is a great song in the memory of Dr Seuss rhymes, how it makes you move... you just can't help it! Dirt, slows us down a bit to a beautifully orchestrated piece, that definitley shines above any of the slow songs from Billy Breathes. Piper might be my surprise favorite, after seeing it live I was afraid to hear the short version, but they made it well worth the 5 minutes. Sleep is probably another good quiet song, but for this album it has been placed merely as a space to blend Piper and the next song, The Inlaw Josie Wales, with Jerry Douglas on Dobro and Bela Fleck on banjo, WOW! Our next two installments are Sand and First Tube, get your dancin' shoes on, it is the closest i have heard PHISH come to recreating a live show in the studio. Driver is awesome, it makes me feel happy and fuzzy and warm inside. And finally Mist, this is the reason to buy the import...TRUST ME!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun disc! Adds another dimension to multi-faceted group., May 19, 2000

By 

"jovaldo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Farmhouse (Audio CD)

This disc continues in the studio tradition of "Billy Breathes" & "Story of the Ghost." The songs are short (longest one at about six minutes), there is an irresistable pop hook, and the band shows that they're more versatile than just monster grooves in concert. I think its nice to have two totally different aspects of the same band: 1] Amazing live band that does incredible improv (and thankfully releases splendid live albums) & 2] Band that is beginning to mature in the studio. I like the shorter studio stuff on recordings. Studio jams get old after a while, plus its nice to have a disc where you can finish 4 or 5 songs while driving to work!

My first reaction when I head "Farmhouse" was that I couldn't believe how pop-ish it sounded. But I think we have to realize that pop-ish for Phish is quite different than the pop market in general. And even if it does crossover, is that so bad? (This argument has been going on since "Hoist" and if you notice they're still not on the radio, MTV, etc.) If a band is great, then people are going to find out! Something as great Phish can't be a secret forever.

"Bug," "Dirt," "Heavy Things," & "Twist" are catchy, but good (the two can co-exist...even Frank Zappa had catchy songs.) "Gotta Jiboo" captures a lot of the old-school Phish silliness (always a plus)...and "Piper," "Sand," & "First Tube" just have the groove! I like the looping effects they use too, its nice to see those outside of the concert stage (I've seen Phish over 20 times since the early 90's for those of you that are wondering.)

Its not the greatest Phish album ever (which is tie amongst the following: "Rift," "Billy Breathes," & "Lawnboy"), but it does have an incredibly varied group of well crafted songs.

I commend Phish for their studio efforts!