Back by popular demand this week: Phish content!
I'll preface this installment by outing myself as an unapologetic fan of The Phish Ballad. I love the band's approach to the song form over the decades. I love the punctuation they provide in the right context. And I love the way Phish's ballads show off the band's grasp of harmonic movement and dynamics.
We gave the staff here at Phish.net an opportunity to rank their favorite original Phish ballads across the breadth of the catalog, and below the fold you'll find our top 10. As usual, please feel free to add your own over at Ranker.com (instructions below the fold).
Phishing Poll Thursday, Vol. 3: Favorite Phish Ballad
Here are some versions for your listening pleasure, courtesy of Phish Tracks.
Lifeboy 10.18.94 (with Bela Fleck)
Roggae 06.20.10
Billy Breathes 10.29.96
If I Could 05.03.94 (with Alison Krauss)
Fast Enough For You 11.19.92 (with Gordon Stone)
Mountains In the Mist 08.09.10
Horn 07.16.93
Brian and Robert 10.06.00
Dirt 06.14.97
Sleeping Monkey 07.02.11
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http://www.ranker.com/list/phishing-poll-thursday-vol-3-favorite-phish-ballad/phishingpoll
As noted above, the "starter" list was the top ten as voted on by the staff. (I, for one, would agree if Strange Design was on the list.)
Not your average Roggae, eh?
That being said....what about Joy?
Dog Faced Boy IS penultimate Phish ballad, if you're going to stay in the context of pure Phishiness. Second would be Horn, I think.
Last, how about Weigh? That's not a ballad either, so it qualifies, doesn't it?
I'd say if you don't think Horn is a ballad then abstain. But that conundrum speaks to Ranker's inadequacies; for as much as I'm grateful for these polls and the work of @jwelsh8 et al, this system does not work well.
For my money:
If I could
Waste
Dirt
8/17/93 and 10/19/10 are personal favorites, both with very soulful Trey solos
Sure, it's not statistically pure. It doesn't pretend to be. It's social, and it's fun, and it's certainly "directionally correct." Moreover, Clark and Elise and Ravi at Ranker are giving us a lot of TLC, and soon thanks to them we're gonna start to share some cross-tabs and analytics that I think you'll find fascinating, starting with what the first poll revealed. [HINT: There's no such thing as objectivity in a "best jams of summer" exercise.]
There's potential to actually learn something about our community through this feature, which I think is gold. Stay tuned.
All that ultimately matters of course is what you believe Phish's "top" ballads to be.
That said, you're a deaf noob if you think Let Me Lie and Weird Design are worth a damn. They are turds nesting in a puddle of diarrhea vomit.
FWIW, I wonder what it would be like for users to submit their own top ten lists and let a simple program sort it out with weights, like college football polls, or something less corrupt. If, for example, I have Secret Smile at my number two, it seems counter-intuitive to simply up-vote it, whilst down-voting whatever's ahead of it, and then hoping for the best. Perhaps the aforementioned analytics will proove to be a Strange Design-loving "deaf noob" in this regard?
Finally, yes, best jam exercises lack objectivity, but a favorite jam, ballad, effect, tour, etc. would suffice. Staying tuned; I like where .net has gone and continues to go, thanks.
My vote is If I Could which they should play a hell of a lot more.
Objectively speaking, of course.
And, while it isn't a Phish original, honorable mention for "The Ballad Of Curtis Loew," which is, as far as I know, the only song Phish plays with the word ballad anywhere in it.
btw, anyone else seeing selena gomez's upcoming tour? we're 15th row center in LA, baby!
(btw, thumbsdowning netters who take their kids to see lots of live music, is a diss on kids, music, and parents, thpfffft!)
-one more gamehendge performance, please-
I just shot milk out of my nose.
Also, while I was at least prepared for all the anti-Friday vitriol, I am shocked how low every single Round Room ballad is ranked. That the title track is ranked so low must mean either: (a) people don't know it because it's not really played anymore, or (b) people summarily dismiss everything 2.0 because of deaf/prejudice.
Arguably, with Phish, it's difficult to separate the them because often their deepest valleys become fathomless peaks.
Nonetheless, the top ten ballads (authored by Phish--no side projects) that really mellow me out and rock me in the arms of mother infinity's tender arms are: Secret Smile, Driver, Talk, Sleep, Thunderhead, Billy Breates, Fast Enough for You, Dog Faced Boy, and Train Song.
Top ten power ballads: If I Could, Lifeboy, Bittersweet Motel, Tela, Roggae, Bug, All of These Dream, Twenty Years Later, Waste, and Dirt.