Top 20 Phish Songs for Rock Band DLC (extremely long)

[jr174200]

WE DID IT!

WILSON CAME OUT AS DLC ON 6/2/09!

UPDATED: 11/4/08 - Added Top 5 Live Phish Songs - http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1528941#post1528941

Harmonies, Keys and Live songs have all joined Rock Band since I originally wrote this post. All three are phenomenal reasons to add more Phish to the game!!!

Original Post: 1/03/08

I am obsessed with Rock Band.

Every song I hear I imagine how it would play in Rock Band; I stay up all night on Monday waiting for DLC announcements; every conversation with a stranger quickly turns into “have you played Rock Band yet?”

As a casual Guitar Hero player who was planning to finally buy my own guitar with GHIII, I was absolutely blown-away when I heard the announcement for Rock Band. You mean I can also play drums and sing? You mean I can pretend to be Jonny Greenwood, Keith Moon or Ozzy Osbourne in the same game? This game was made for me and I couldn’t wait. I bought a 360 so I’d be ready for release.

Then it came: HMX struck a deal with The Grateful Dead for 18 songs. Now let me be clear that I would’ve bought the game anyway and enjoy a diverse array of music (just last night I was shocked by how much fun Move Along was to play) but when your bread and butter whose been largely ignored by other rhythm games announces they’re on the Rock Band bandwagon you get excited. The Dead was coming to Rock Band and my friends and I were stoked.

This isn’t a post about “where are the Dead songs?” however, but about the logical question that follows from any late-20’s fan of jam music: “where are the Phish songs?”

Phish would be unequivocally great for the game Rock Band. They’re musicianship is first rate, Trey plays a killer guitar solo on virtually every song and unlike many other jam bands, they took studio recording quite seriously and have recorded some phenomenal studio tracks that would translate perfectly to the game.

For awhile I accepted that Phish probably wouldn’t be in the game but then I came to my senses. They have to be in the game. They’re one of the most successful touring bands of all-time, they write amazing songs and most importantly, they are one of the only bands that could literally sell consoles with their inclusion. Outside of Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, how many bands could truly claim that sort of fan obsession? For evidence see this post!

Adding to that, that the game already has a built-in reference to Phish under the clothing feature, where it says “you can feel good about this hoodie” a blatant reference to my favorite song of all-time, Harry Hood, it is officially time for Phish to join the band roster of Rock Band.

Since I’ve seen a few casual requests for Phish before, but nothing huge, I have decided to truly breakdown their music and detail one fan’s opinion of which songs would best fit the game.

I have spent countless hours listening to their albums and discussing with friends what songs should be included and I feel confident in my choices. I plan to send these to HMX as well, but figured I should also post them on the boards for discussion.

I say that because I would love for this thread to become grounds for other Phish fans to voice their love of the band and their hopes of getting to play Phish live at ESG just once.

So without any further adieu, I’m going to strap on the old developer’s hat and truly breakdown Phish’s studio recording and decide which make the most sense for the game.

Obviously, with a band as musically unique as Phish, I needed to set some ground rules and here they are:

(i) The song has to be a studio recording to be considered. In order to have original mastered versions, which we all prefer, this simply has to be a rule with no questions asked. Along those lines, I’ve also outlawed non-official studio recordings, such as the Bearsville Session, the Wendell Studio sessions and Trey’s Senior Thesis, just because I have no idea the state of those master recordings.

This disqualifies many would-be great songs including: NICU, Runaway Jim, Mike’s>Hydrogen>Weekapaug, Halley’s Comet, Suzie Greenberg, All of Gamehendge, etc.

(ii) As painful as it is to say, instrumentals or near-instrumentals are highly penalized. As much as I’d like to say that David Bowie, Divided Sky, Run Like An Antelope, YEM, Harry Hood, Slave to the Traffic Light, First Tube, Piper and Guyute are all in the top-10 (wow, this list is more daunting than I expected), they simply wouldn’t work for Rock Band. They would be great for Guitar Hero, but not Rock Band. What is the vocalist supposed to do during these songs? Unless you’re playing/singing, these would be painfully boring, and a huge disappointment for non-phans.

Yes, you could say that non-phans shouldn’t download them, but that just doesn’t work in a commercial market. Many people buy all the DLC and after two plays, would be extremely disappointed every time Divided Sky or Slave came up in BWT.

Even songs like Reba that have enough phrases to make a vocal track, have huge sections with no lyrics that would bore everyone who hasn’t shared a tent with you at Deer Creek. If you don’t agree with me, throw in Lawn Boy, and honestly listen to Reba with a discerning ear for Rock Band. It just isn’t ideal for the game.

I’m sorry fellow fans, but these songs are either outlawed or penalized harshly (some of them, still might make the top 20, just not top 5) simply because I would expect HMX to do the exact same thing when selecting songs.

(iii) Page McConnell is my favorite member of Phish. Always has been and always will be. He has the best voice, is a phenomenal pianist and nothing hits me emotionally harder at a show than the end of Coil, Strange Design or the tearjerker that was Coventry’s Velvet Sea.

That said, songs where you feel like you’re truly missing his keys get docked. Obviously, he’s on every track and I actually like when he has isolated sections to relax to but sometimes it will just be too frustrating that you can’t play as him. The game is supposed to make you feel like you’re playing the song, not make you long for Rock Band 2 when you can play the piano sections. Listen to Bathtub Gin for the best example of what I refer to throughout this post as the “Page Penalty”.

(iv) Vocal harmonies also caused penalties of varying degrees for certain song, as I didn’t feel they’d translate well to the game. Songs like Rift and Limb by Limb were hurt badly by their responsive Trey/Page verses that I felt would hinder gameplay.

(v) The following rule was the most difficult for me but something I had to follow while making the list: throw out all baggage and misconceptions about the songs and just listen to them for Rock Band.

I spent twenty minutes the other night trying to convince my buddy Piper was in the top-5 songs for Rock Band. I mean, it has great drums, enough lyrics, and is one of my favorite songs, right? People will love it. Not so fast.

The next day I listened to it again and realized he was right. It takes forever to build, is partly mixed from a live version and even if I want to sing it most people won’t. No matter how much I prefer one song against another under different circumstances, this list is simply regarding the game and what would fit best. Nothing else applies.

So on that note, let’s start this bad boy off.

[jr174200]

First up are 5 songs that almost made the cut but for various reasons were left off.

5. Glide – A Picture of Nectar

Glide can’t really be in Rock Band, can it? The lyrics are basically non-existent, although there are enough for a vocal track and the drums are very repetitive, although quite interesting.

Seriously, Glide just can’t be in Rock Band. But WOW would that guitar part be awesome. Like really, really, really, really awesome.

4. Contact – Junta

When people would make fun of you for liking Phish, especially ten years ago, Contact was always the song they brought up. “The tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road?” they would scoff. Yes, they are. It’s a silly song, I know. It also explodes musically for a few minutes and if you’re not careful will kick your ass and take names.

That said, the “get made fun of factor” can’t be ignored. On one hand it’s a good thing but it’s also going to turn off a lot of gamers. It would be a love/hate song for many people and therefore not an ideal fit for the game.

Also, the guitar’s kinda boring and the Page Penalty is huge.


3. Tweezer Reprise – A Picture of Nectar

Tweezer is too long and a terrible fit for Rock Band. It’s also debatably vulgar and doesn’t really go anywhere in the studio version.

Tweezer Reprise however is a completely different story. It’s short, succinct and has a hypnotic building drive throughout. Unfortunately, it also has no real lyrics besides a few “won’t you step into the freezers at the end” (a total of four). Oh well.


2. Sparkle - Rift

Sparkle would be an absolute blast to play on drums. It would be a test of speed and accurarcy and simply a hoot. That said it would border on painful for the guitarist and I just can’t imagine it being much more fun on the bass either.

Also, the lyrics get very repetitive, and although one of Phish’s catchiest tunes, it’s simply too much for Rock Band.


1. Fluffhead – Junta

I wanted Fluffhead to make the list, I truly did. Unfortunately when I broke it all down it simply wasn’t better than any of the songs in the Top 20, despite it being a perennial favorite and eagerly sought after song (especially toward the end).

For outside of Bathtub Gin, Fluffhead probably had the harshest Page Penalty of any song. He is all over it. Seriously, listen to it and tell me what instrument you want to play? Coupled with the fact that it ends abruptly before the 11-minute Fluff’s Travels (which can’t be included) I just don’t think Fluffhead would work.

[jr174200]

The top-20 Phish songs for inclusion as DLC in Rock Band:


20. Taste – Billy Breathes

While listening back to the studio version of Taste, there was little question whose track it was. John Fishman is absolutely on fire on the drums, and for that alone there was no question Taste belonged in the top-20.

There is also a clapping sort of thing in the mix as well for the vocalist, and as always great axe work for both lead and bass guitarists.

This would also be one of the better singing tracks for the game as well. Although when it's all said and done, it’s about that drum kit.

19. Axilla (Pt. 2) – Hoist

This song was incredibly tricky to rank, since Axilla (Pt. 1) has become the standard for concerts and thusly, would be preferred by most fans. That said, only the lyrics are different and this song freaking ROCKS.

It would be awesome to play with a group on all instruments and is a great example of Phish’s diversity. Axilla is really nothing more than a very well-written hard rock tune. HMX would however have to cut off the last minute, which I’m sure would be fine by them.


18. Guyute – The Story of the Ghost

If I was making this list for guitar hero, Guyute would skyrocket to the top. If I was a making a list for Drum hero or Keyboard hero? Right to the top. Unfortunately, it’s an 8 and a half minute song, with no vocalist for 5 minutes in the middle.

But WOW, those minutes are glorious and would immediately become one of the most challenging guitar sections ever. Seriously, EVER!

If you play guitar and don’t know Trey Anastasio as a guitarist, download this song and listen to it. Whenever I have friends whose favorite musicians are “music gods” but don’t know Phish well (see Dream Theater, Rush etc.), I play them Guyute. It’s just nasty.

Honestly, I’m frightened of what they would do with Guyute on expert guitar from minute 3 to minute 7, not to mention playing drums while watching your buddy’s face turn red.

Guyute would be my personal first choice for the game as a Phish fan, although I know it isn’t the best fit. But man, it would be a blast to play!


17. Back on the Train – Farmhouse

Talk about songs that surprised me. I certainly wasn’t expecting it but Back on the Train would be a great song for Rock Band. All four elements are strong and present throughout and this song would lend itself to a great party vibe due to its three-minute length and upbeat nature.

The best thing Back on the Train has going for it though, is its universal appeal. There’s no element I secretly know would suck, (e.g. it’s short on words, has too many keys, or doesn’t have drums for four minutes), as I can simply say Back on the Train would be great for Rock Band. Even if it is simple.

16. Mexican Cousin – Round Room

This song is about drinking. It could also be construed as subtly racist by some. EA probably wouldn’t let it in the game. But if they would …

Singing Mexican Cousin drunkenly with a group of friends would be the single funnest Rock Band Phish experience I can think of.

Look at the lyrics:

“Oh Tequila, I turn to you like a long lost friend
I want to kiss my Mexican Cousin once again
We'll cover every emotion from happiness to sorrow,
And the conversations I forget, you'll tell me about tomorrow
When the phone calls start, am I in bed or in a hearse?
The things you tell me about myself can't make me feel any worse

Well I'm awful sorry you got pissed
Just have to cross you off the list
Of my true friends...
And Tequila's where that starts and where it ends”

And then immediately after those lyrics? Trey goes into a mind-numbing solo to literally rock your drunk socks off. Should this maybe be higher on the list? Probably not. Damn moral code in America.

Bonus Song #1 - Harpua – No Album

For those of you who don’t know Harpua, it’s one of those songs whose legend has become bigger than the song. Unlike its other sought-after compadre Destiny Unbound, Harpua deserved all of its attention and then some, because it meant you were in for a memorable show. When you heard “oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa” you went nuts.

The thing that made Harpua so interesting was that absolute lunacy would occur in the middle of the song. That’s no exaggeration. The general rule was established that Harpua meant all bets were off and anything could be covered in the middle section of the song. One time, Phish literally played the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon right in the middle. Harpua was that ridiculous.

My idea is that you would start Harpua and then within the song the game would random setlist you a song or four. Just think about playing a Harpua > Foreplay/Longtime > Hard to Handle > War Pigs > Joe’s Garage (one can dream) > Harpua.

That would be amazing. Impossible but amazing.


15. You Enjoy Myself - Junta

Damn Rule #2!!!

By far Phish’s most played live song, You Enjoy Myself is a true testament to how wonderful of a band Phish truly was. The studio version is incredibly strong and simply an amazing showcase of their unique talent. If you don’t know this song, seriously listen to it sometime, it’s gorgeous.

Unfortunately, Rule II strikes with a fatal blow to You Enjoy Myself’s head, as I can only make out about 16 vocal phrases, all nonsense, in a ten-minute song. Seriously, what is my niece going to do with “Wash Uffizi, Drive Me to Firenze” over-and-over again? Also, as an added hilarity one of those phrases is a “bad” word.

But with all that said … MAN, it would be fun to play!

14. Cavern – A Picture of Nectar

One of Phish’s most popular rockers, Cavern has long been a fan favorite second set closer. It’s pretty straight-forward and would be quite fun on just about everything.

The thing holding it back the most for me is the vocal track, as it’s really just Trey talking at a constant pitch the whole time. There are a whole lot of lyrics but they would probably only be fun for diehard fans until the end.

Also, the lack of keys borders on becoming a problem at certain points.

13. Golgi Apparatus – Junta

Trey wrote this song in middle school and the rest is history.

For an early recording, Trey’s voice actually sounds decent although it does disappear from the song for awhile. The rest of the parts are strong, especially drums who have a great role in the final climactic build which would lead to a great unison bonus.

Also, do you think they could get Chris to do the lighting design for the DLC? That would be awesome!


12. Scents and Subtle Sounds – Undermind

The last truly great thing Phish did, Scents and Subtle Sounds is far and away the standout track on an otherwise underwhelming album (although Army of One is also strong, it wouldn’t work for Rock Band). The tone of Trey’s guitar reminds me of Hood (a great thing) and the drum part is one of the best.

Add to that well-sung lyrics and Scents and Subtle Sounds would fit greatly into any Phish DLC pack, although it comes from a period many fans want to forget.


11. Heavy Things – Farmhouse

It’s the third highest downloaded song on iTunes, and an obvious option for the game. It’s catchy, well-written and that guitar solo would be one of the best.

That said, I still don’t think it’s the best choice for the game, simply because the bass, vocals and drums get fairly boring for the second half of the song as Trey noodles his way into the history books.

It’s a good song for the game, just not good enough for the top-10.


Bonus Track #2 - Wilson – No Album

If a solid studio version existed of Wilson it would be in the top 3. No questions asked. Probably No. 1.

Just imagine the crowd screaming “WILSON” as you played the intro, and then BAM! The song simply explodes! Then at the end of the song they could have a fake Big Rock Ending, and then the song comes back, before the real Big Rock Ending.

Listen to A Live One’s version and just imagine.

It would be glorious. Simply glorious.

[jr174200]

10. Bouncing Around the Room – Lawn Boy

Being the most popular Phish song gets you a lot of points in my book, and Bouncing Around the Room is their most popular song (#2 and #5 on iTunes). It’s kind of slow, not that interesting musically and I have no idea whose part you would sing in the ending harmonies (Page’s has the most melody but Trey is the “lead singer”).

But again, it’s Phish most popular song. So, it’s number Ten.

9. Ghost – The Story of the Ghost

Ah, the sweet nasty funk of Fall ’97. Man, this song has such a nasty groove to it and represents the #1 thing Phish could bring to Rock Band: awesome bass parts! Seriously, if I was only allowed one instrument on this song it would be bass.

Coupled with the obviously awesome guitar and drums, plus a good vocal track, Ghost would be a great choice for the game. Too bad, the song just fades in and out though.

8. Character Zero – Billy Breathes

Before further analysis, I was quite worried that the opening section would be too long for the drummer to wait and that the repetition of the asinine lyric “I ought to see the Man Mulcahey” would be mocked by people. Upon further analysis, I sort of agree with both concerns, but decided that neither really matter. Because ...

Character Zero rocks really hard. After the first minute, which would still be fun for vocals and bass (depending how they chart it), this song is an absolute arena rock anthem and would be awesome to play for a fake crowd of loving phans.

Last but not the least, the guitar solo on Zero just might be the most fun Rock Band Trey solo in the entire catalogue. Seriously, sit down and listen to this song, imagining the whole room singing along to the chorus and you’re on lead guitar. You’re playing along, taking a back seat for most of the song, when suddenly the song just absolutely explodes and you’re right in the middle of it. That note at 2:43 would be AMAZING! Simply amazing.

7. Birds of a Feather – Story of the Ghost

I have to admit, ever since its debut on the ’98 Island Tour, I’ve just never really “loved” this song. I like it, I just don’t love it. I guess I’ve just never really liked the lyrics or the intro that much.

But I had to remind myself of Rule V and listen to it again with Rock Band in mind. What did I find? An almost perfect song for Rock Band., as the vocals would be fun to sing, cheesy or not, and all the instruments are solid.

The only problem is that I wish the song ended with a refrain of the intro for gaming purpose, but otherwise it’s great.

6. Chalk Dust Torture – A Picture of Nectar

Take everything I said about Cavern and you basically have the same problems with Chalk Dust: a great straight-forward rocker with an unfortunately rough vocal track, this one even having a wacky voice effect to boot.

But unlike Cavern, Chalk Dust Torture has what would immediately become one of the sickest guitar solos in rhythm game history. That solo is seriously evil and would be a blast even for the best players. Although it’s not the insanity of a Guyute, it’s a great, great solo that would be amazingly fun to play.

5. - Stash – A Picture of Nectar

Surrounded by radio hits and rock anthems, Stash was the longest song to crack the top 10, at just about 7 minutes (not too bad). It is also by far the most complex and intricate song in Phish’s catalog that still has a decent enough vocal track to be great for Rock Band.

And don’t get me wrong when I say radio hits and rock anthems, Stash is extremely popular in its own right and well-known by casual fans. The guitar part would be great for the game, possessing both an awesome riff throughout and a great emotional solo at the end. Plus, the drums would be awesome too.

4 - Sample in a Jar – Hoist

On December 8th, 1995 at the age of 14, I saw my first of 40 Phish shows. At the time, I was just discovering the band and was young, naïve and “anti-posers”. So, as you might expect, when they opened with Sample, I was disappointed. Where was YEM, Hood or Bowie?

Twelve years later, I find that story fairly hilarious, having now seen many other “sell-out songs” come and go. But now? Having gone back and broken down all of the studio albums, there is little surprise that Sample is one of the best songs for Rock Band.

It’s actually an interesting correlation for almost every band; the best songs for Rock Band are almost always the most popular songs. Music executives and casual fans aren’t idiots and generally speaking they flock toward well-structured, well-written songs. These types of songs work perfect in the game for a reason. While us diehard fans like to deny it and call for the more obscure tracks, it’s usually the singles that work the best in the game.

And on that note … Sample’s got a big rock ending!

3. Farmhouse – Farmhouse

Debuted on the Conan O’ Brian show, causing a big “what’s this song?” from many people watching at home, Farmhouse has now become a serious fan favorite from casual fans and friends of fans alike. Hell, it’s the number one downloaded song on iTunes (trying to not talk about this too much, but it is an important factor).

The thing that sets Farmhouse apart from other songs is that the vocal track would be great. It has a smooth tone to it and would allow lead vocalists to open it up a little more than other Phish songs.

Farmhouse is also a great example of why Phish would be GREAT for Rock Band players who like to sing and play guitar at the same time, just like Trey. The passing back and forth of focus from vocals to guitar would work extremely well and would be a blast to master.


2- Down With Disease – Hoist

Possessing what is generally regarded as Trey’s best Rock riff, Down With Disease is an obvious top-5 choice with a strong debate for first place. All the instruments play a large role on this powerhouse and did I mention the guitar riff at the end?

I know this video is cheesy and dated, as Mike Gordon (bassist) directed it, but since this might be the only way I get non-phans to check them out (I do the same on other threads, so no worries) here is the one and only music video Phish ever made.

If you have narrow attention spans or dislike the band, fast forward to 3:05 and listen for the guitar part. Now honestly tell me this song wouldn’t be awesome in Rock Band?

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FNt1IdNEJ-c&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FNt1IdNEJ-c&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

1 - Free – Billy Breathes

After it was all said and done, I decided that Free would be the single best Phish song for Rock Band. While already a concert favorite for many fans, Free was the first Phish song to really hit mainstream radio in 1996. I can still remember non-phans walking around school with Free patches and hearing the song play on the local rock station.

Musically, it is simply perfect for the game. It has great sections for all three instruments and probably the best vocal track in their whole catalogue. The guitar riff is catchy and fun to play, there is a sick bass grove in the middle and Page’s part would actually be enjoyable as an aside.

There is nothing bad I can say about Free, as I think it would be one of many great DLC Phish additions to the game that everyone could enjoy.

So, I guess that’s it.

I was not expecting this post to get this long, and am mildly embarrassed by it, but I know if I saw it on the internet I would read every word, so I’m giving that as an option to other phans.

And please, if you read this and do enjoy it let me know, so my girlfriend doesn’t kill me for “wasting so much time”.

Happy Holidays,

Jeff

[utahlasvegas]

If the Grateful Dead stuff sells well, which it should, Phish songs will be inevitable.

[hammy7971]

Greatest list...ever. Definitely wish that at least some Phish would make it into the game, cause that'd be awesome.

[CSPJAMZ]

Now i am for the Phish downloads!
Great list!

[RyanAbrams77]

F the rules. Reba needs to be in this game.

[RyanAbrams77]

Bump for justice

[jr174200]

Hey Ryan, thanks for the bump! I've been quite tempted to do some bumpage myself, but felt bad since I started the thread (although they disappear so fast around these parts).

Since you brought up Reba, I just went back and re-listened and stand by my claim that it wouldn't work well in the game. While it's a phenomenal song, I just think the middle would sorta wander for the non-phan, unlike a song like Guyute that continually drives toward a climax. Although that final guitar solo is nothing short of unbelievable.

Also, as silly as it sounds I don't trust little kids with the lyrics "bag it, tag it" over and over again, as that could turn into some seriously inappropriate hate mongering.

That said, I know where you're coming from because if an official studio version of Harry Hood existed it would've cracked the top-5 on principle. Screw the rules, it's my favorite song and I would kill somebody to play virtual Trey on a monster Hood.

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Great list.
I don't think these could happen because they weren't studio recorded, but gotta give consideration to:

Divided Sky
Mike's Song
You Enjoy Myself
Weekapuag Groove


Yeah, Wilson would be sick :D

[RyanAbrams77]

My little list.

Weekapaugh Groove.
Julius would be fun...big band jazz comes to Rock Band =)
Gotta Jibboo would be perfect.

I agree heartily with everything else. Taste, Free, DWD, Sample, Character Zero.....I think I would simply quit life and devote myself to RB.

[jr174200]

Yeah, I've always planned to have Weekapaug play at my wedding, so that would be awesome.

Alas, there is no studio version, but it is on the Wendell Studio sessions, an collection of unreleased studio tracks that you'll need to find a torrent of it. If you don't have these sessions get them, it has raw studio versions of Mike's > Hydrogen > Weekapaug, Suzy Greenberg, Possum, Harry Hood, Runaway Jim etc.

In listening to the Weekapaug right now, it is fairly clean and if they have the masters it could definetly work for Rock Band.

A Harmonix Weekapaug exclusive anyone? Ha, that would be amazing.

[RyanAbrams77]

I think the biggest problem us Phanatics are going to encounter in trying to get Phish into RB is the fact that they are an acquired taste. I've tried to get many people into the band with no success, but every once an a while I catch someone with them on a mix or something and then a few months after that they are purchasing albums. It takes time to attune yourself to this kind of music.

That being said, I think the medium of rhythm games would speed up the process significantly. I can only imagine how quickly I would have become so devoted to Phish if I could play Down With Disease with 3 of my friends.

On another note, I loved seeing them live and listening to live recordings, but I am one of the minority guys who really likes the studio efforts. While the free form jazzy element of Phish is what makes them so special, a studio recording is as close as you're going to get to artist intention. I'd say I like different versions of some songs, but overall I always turn to the studios as the "master" recording of the song. Any thoughts?

[hammy7971]

Yeah, although I perhaps my like to rock out to a 30 minute Tweezer recording or You Enjoy Myself, I think the only way for Phish to actually get into the game would be to use studio recordings. As far as acquired taste goes, however, they do have a ton of songs, as listed in the original post, that would be very rock band-esque, such as Down With Disease. Plus, the great thing about Phish is that not only would the songs be incredibly fun to sing, they all have amazing drum, bass and guitar parts...if only the game had a keyboard peripheral/backup vocals. My personal top songs for Rock Band would have to be, in no particular order:
Free, Character Zero, Down With Disease, Axilla Part II, Sample In A Jar, Golgi Apparatus, Llama, Cavern, Chalkdust Torture, Birds of a Feather, and The Connection

For Rock Band, I think the stuff from Hoist and Billy Breathes would work the best for that Rock sound.

I would add You Enjoy Myself, David Bowie, Stash, and Guelah Papyrus, but those all probably have too much jam, not enough vocals.

As for Reba, I'm pretty sure my friends and I couldn't help ourselves from singing "Wrap it, Tap it, Leave it at the clinic at the door"

[DasBoba]

I'm not even a "phanatic", but I can say this is the greatest forum post in the history of rhythm gaming. Every time I hear Phish, I listen to all the parts individually, and think about how much fun these songs would be to play for everyone involved. Great list, lets keep this bumped.

[jr174200]

I'm not even a "phanatic", but I can say this is the greatest forum post in the history of rhythm gaming. Every time I hear Phish, I listen to all the parts individually, and think about how much fun these songs would be to play for everyone involved. Great list, lets keep this bumped.

Thanks Das!

Posts like this make me feel like my hard work wasn't for naught and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Now, I'll just cross my fingers that the Dead DLC sells well and someone from HMX sees this thread!

[MultiBeast]

Yes!!! Phish would be awesome for Rock Band. I know that even those that aren't familiar with Phish will have a lot of fun playing their songs. All four instruments are a guaranteed great time. Can you imagine playing songs like "Poor Heart" or "Scent of a Mule"?!?

One thing to consider is that a few of the songs already in Rock Band are long songs with lengthy instrumental parts (Green grasses, Foreplay/Long Time, etc.) are there haven't been any complaints so I don't think that's a problem there. I mean check out "And Justice for All." It's a 10 min. song with a lot of long instrumental sections. So, bring on songs like "Guyute" and "Maze." They can throw some tamborine sections in there anyway.

Another thing is I believe all the master recordings of Lawn Boy have been lost so that would rule out any of those songs unless its a cover (yikes!). I may be wrong but I believe that's what I heard.

Until then, I'm eagerly looking forward to the Dead pack (Franklin's Tower please!). I'm glad to see that there are people out there who share my obsession with Rock Band (and with Phish!) Rock on!

[MultiBeast]

Oh, my 20 Phish picks (in no particular order)

1. Down with Disease
2. Sample in a Jar
3. Foam
4. Cavern
5. Stash
6. It's Ice
7. Scent of a Mule
8. Free
9. Guyute
10. Taste
11. Poor Heart
12. Mango Song
13. Maze
14. Rift
15. Limb by Limb
16. Golgi Apparatus
17. Chalkdust Torture
18. Character Zero
19. Billy Breathers (awesome solo)
20. The Wedge

[samthar]

...though I'd love to see a Phish release.

Off the top of my head, here's a few shorter songs I'd like to see.

Punch You in the Eye
Famous Mockingbird
AC/DC Bag
My Friend, My Friend
Mango Song
Taste
Glide
Weigh
Down With Disease
Rift


In an ideal world, REBA would be available. While I can do without the first 5-6 minutes (of any given live performance), everything from the slow, middle portion to the build-up and release into solo epitomize the beauty of Phish in my mind.

[thakswet]

Read the whole thing and agree 99%, we need You Enjoy Myself no matter what, just take out the bad word.

I can't wait to play the Dead songs and would invest more than $1.99 in any Phish tune.

[Ch0mpz]

The best thread in the entire forums by far

[bisq]

Great thread! This makes me want to go through their catalog and come up with a list as well. One thing that was mentioned and is true is that I don't think it really matters if there is a large instrumental section because honestly, I don't think the vocals are as important as the rest of the instruments in the band. Yes there should be some vocals, but if there is a lengthy instrumental break it shouldn't be a deal breaker. There are already a few songs with long instrumental sections in the game and nobody really complains (except people that can't beat GGAHT on guitar!). Plus if we are talking studio recordings, most of the these sections are really interesting throughout for all instruments involved and most any song will be under ten minutes. I know there are some longer live versions which have repetitive/boring sections for one or more instruments while one person takes the lead but for the most part the studio versions are tight. Plus, I noticed when doing solo vocal tour that the long ending of GGAHT was edited so I mean if people want to sing a song the developers could always do something like that. I guess this is really just a long reason to try to get Antelope in the game which would be sick but the fast build up at the end might not really be easy to chart or work that well. Even if it's not my favorite, I have to admit that Divided Sky would be the best near instrumental for the game. Maze would be good and isn't too long but relies on page a little too much. Limb by limb would work great but the call and response vocals would be kind of weird for one person to sing.


To get right down to it, though, if you want my opinion as to what songs would work best overall and fit in with the spirit of the game it would EASILY be Down with Disease and Chalkdust Torture. Free would work, granted, but these songs are fun uptempo straight ahead rock with good guitar work. Once again, I think you are putting WAY too much weight on vocals. But on top of that, chalkdust's vocal track isn't really that weird or as difficult as you make it out to be...I mean look at some of the weird vocals in the game already (I get by, Timmy, etc.) I can get with most of the rest of your top 10 except I don't think bouncin' would work at all or be very fun play (or sing? Like you said how would that ending part work). As much as I love ghost, I'm just not sure the studio version is interesting enough and probably wouldn't be on my list. Character zero would work for the same reasons as DWD and chalkdust, I would just put it lower because I just don't think it's as good of a song. Sample works well and would get put just a notch above zero because of an excellent vocal part that is catchy and fun to sing. Birds is ok but not distinctive enough to put in front of zero, DWD, or chalkdust. Farmhouse is also overrated on your list, it wouldn't make my top 10 for various reasons. I just don't think it would be all that fun to play most importantly. Stash I LOVE and would probably put number three behind chalkdust and down with disease. It's a little long, a little weird, but the guitar part would instantly become one of the best and most difficult in the entire game as you kind of mentioned.

Overall great post and interesting discussion... My vote is for Phish 3 pack of Down with disease, chalkdust, and stash with character zero and possibly golgi being honorable mentions. These aren't even close to my top 5 favorite phish songs (none of these are even in my top 5 except maybe dwd) but I do feel they would work best in the game.

[Shados]

Someone really likes typing. o_O Good list, and I believe that writeups like these are what Harmonix really wanted when people are posting suggestions. While I'm not fully backing Phish, because I have tons of other bands to back for getting in, it'd be cool if they got in for the people who like them.

[jr174200]

Great thread! This makes me want to go through their catalog and come up with a list as well. One thing that was mentioned and is true is that I don't think it really matters if there is a large instrumental section because honestly, I don't think the vocals are as important as the rest of the instruments in the band. Yes there should be some vocals, but if there is a lengthy instrumental break it shouldn't be a deal breaker. There are already a few songs with long instrumental sections in the game and nobody really complains (except people that can't beat GGAHT on guitar!). Plus if we are talking studio recordings, most of the these sections are really interesting throughout for all instruments involved and most any song will be under ten minutes. I know there are some longer live versions which have repetitive/boring sections for one or more instruments while one person takes the lead but for the most part the studio versions are tight. Plus, I noticed when doing solo vocal tour that the long ending of GGAHT was edited so I mean if people want to sing a song the developers could always do something like that. I guess this is really just a long reason to try to get Antelope in the game which would be sick but the fast build up at the end might not really be easy to chart or work that well. Even if it's not my favorite, I have to admit that Divided Sky would be the best near instrumental for the game. Maze would be good and isn't too long but relies on page a little too much. Limb by limb would work great but the call and response vocals would be kind of weird for one person to sing.


To get right down to it, though, if you want my opinion as to what songs would work best overall and fit in with the spirit of the game it would EASILY be Down with Disease and Chalkdust Torture. Free would work, granted, but these songs are fun uptempo straight ahead rock with good guitar work. Once again, I think you are putting WAY too much weight on vocals. But on top of that, chalkdust's vocal track isn't really that weird or as difficult as you make it out to be...I mean look at some of the weird vocals in the game already (I get by, Timmy, etc.) I can get with most of the rest of your top 10 except I don't think bouncin' would work at all or be very fun play (or sing? Like you said how would that ending part work). As much as I love ghost, I'm just not sure the studio version is interesting enough and probably wouldn't be on my list. Character zero would work for the same reasons as DWD and chalkdust, I would just put it lower because I just don't think it's as good of a song. Sample works well and would get put just a notch above zero because of an excellent vocal part that is catchy and fun to sing. Birds is ok but not distinctive enough to put in front of zero, DWD, or chalkdust. Farmhouse is also overrated on your list, it wouldn't make my top 10 for various reasons. I just don't think it would be all that fun to play most importantly. Stash I LOVE and would probably put number three behind chalkdust and down with disease. It's a little long, a little weird, but the guitar part would instantly become one of the best and most difficult in the entire game as you kind of mentioned.

Overall great post and interesting discussion... My vote is for Phish 3 pack of Down with disease, chalkdust, and stash with character zero and possibly golgi being honorable mentions. These aren't even close to my top 5 favorite phish songs (none of these are even in my top 5 except maybe dwd) but I do feel they would work best in the game.

Nice!

I made this post hoping someone would break it down and critique it, and I'm so glad you did. Not to mention your voted 3 pack came in 2nd, 5th and 6th in my list, so I think we're in a similar mindset for how it would work.

Just a few reactions:

- I agree that Boucin' would not be good for Rock Band. It's also the only song I've seen in non-phans giant song list requests and I've seen it twice. It's there most famous song and for that reason alone it's a possibility. Think of tenth place, as last in my the top-10, having already decided I couldn't leave it out of the top-10 due to it's recognizability.

- Maybe I am overrating Phish's vocal track, but I think you're underrating 'popularity'. If you go through what DLC has been picked for bands, it's almost always their top downloaded songs on iTunes. Those are the songs that other people would buy. Obviously as phans, we would both buy Farmhouse (which is admittedly slow) but so would everyone that made it the #1 downloaded Phish song on iTunes.

- Free would be amazing to play. It's got "good guitar work" like the "rockers", but it's also got this visceral feeling that would translate great to the game. The lights, the fake characters etc. it's just much easier to picture the animations for "Free" than a song like "Chalkdust". Seriously, go listen to the studio version while picturing that Tokyo venue and tell me "Free" wouldn't be awesome.

Finally, if the songs ever do come out for download, millions of people will judge Phish solely on their DLC tracks. It will be the only songs by them they know and I think it's important that the DLC paints my favorite band in a positive light. I want the doubters to be surprised by how good the music is and I just think as far as studio recordings go, "Free" paints Phish in a better light than "Chalkdust".

[HanksNBeanz]

I didn't think there was a market for my favorite band of all time but now I can see there are other heads out there that wanta keep phishing. I hope someday Harmonix will get them onboard. I've seen Phish prob 25 or so times in my life and been to all the late summer festivals. I totally agree that this could sell way more units like he says cause.... honestly....... we can't tour anymore...... and we all had to go out and actually get jobs. What a bummer that was.


But, seriously Harmonix.... if you bring them... they will come! Keep on Phishin guys!
P.S. We just need some more jamband's in general..... or at all really.

[billsbaker14]

Chalkdust Torture!

[MultiBeast]

great discussion! I really believe non-phans would eat up Phish DLC. A lot of people complain about repetitive guitar parts and chords on the songs that are out there. As soon as these people see the youtube videos of the rock band charts for songs like "stash" or "you enjoy myself" (if these songs were ever released), they would go nuts and snatch 'em up in an instant. Not only do these songs provide challenges for people who like riffs and soloing (on any instrument), but they are also fun.

[cdoe001]

PHAN OR NOT... LISTEN AND IT'S GREAT.... Farmhouse is a song about a note left in a cabin from a maid.... I had to read that in the book of Phish cause you would never guess that song was writen about some thing so simple... FARMHOUSE Should come out before any of the dead other then uncle johns band.... (My favorite Jam Band Song Ever.....)

How bout some TEA LEAF GREEN TOO....

[MultiBeast]

Bring on "farmhouse"! bring on "stash"! bring on "bouncin"! I don't care. As long as its got the name phish attached to it, i'll be happy. :)

[jr174200]

Multi, every single time I see a post from you I unconsciously start singing "Tela". Thought you'd get a kick out of that.

[MultiBeast]

awesome! :D

[dmaximus]

This is the greatest thread possible in a rock band forum. Thanks to jr174200 for the excellent, in depth opening post. I tend to agree with much of what bisq said in his post. I think you may have put too much of a penalty on long instrumental sections and maybe too much emphasis on the quality of vocals. (Is it really a detrement to Character Zero that it contains the Mulkaey line?) Also you might put a lilttle too much emphasis on the popularity of the songs and its signifigance. It's a valid point that for most other bands you'd want the most popular songs because the most number of people will know those songs and then want to download them. I'm not sure that holds true for a band like phish, where their most popular song ever barely cracked the top 20 on the rock chart... in the case of phish I don't see the names (or name-recgonition) of the songs being the biggest draw. The quality of the songs and the quality of the note chart is going to be the biggest draw.

I don't have enough time to break down your list of 20, hopefully I will find some time to sit down and make something similar to what you did. Let's just say I don't know how you could not include a single track from Rift (The Wedge, Mound, It's Ice, My Friend My Friend)

But let's focus on the impossible task of making a Phish 3 Pack. First we need to decide what the best mix of songs would be that gives people the best overall representation of phish. I think there should be one song from the following three categories:
1)Popular - Obviously this would be the popular songs that non fans maybe recgonize by name or it least by hearing a short clip of the song. Included in here would be:
Fee
Bouncin
Sparkle
Down w/ Disease
Free
Birds of a Feather
Heavy Things
Scents and Subtle Sounds (maybe, I mean they did play it on Letterman... ultimately it's a moot point anyway, because it's not making the cut to the 3 pack)


2) Rockers - the name of the category is self explanatory. The songs we all know where they just rock. Bonus points for memorable Trey solos (i.e. the beginning to the DwD solo or the beginning to the Character Zero solo). Songs include:
David Bowie
Antelope
Cavern
Chalkdust
Maze
Julius
Down w/ Disease (songs can be both rocking and popular)
Sample in a Jar
Axilla (although it would just not be the same with Part 2's lyrics...)
Character Zero
Prince Caspian
Piper
First Tube
Mexican Cousin
46 Days


3) Impressive - the songs that showcase Phish technical mastery.
You Enjoy Myself
Divided Sky
Foam
David Bowie
Fluffhead + Travels
Reba
Stash
It's Ice
Guyute

I probably could have added a couple more in here, songs that don't have as much drawn out instrumental sequences and that aren't straight rockers, but are impressive to listen to like Golgi, Glide, Taste, Theme From the Bottom, Limb by Limb... etc... (actually pretty much every song that doesn't fall into one of the two categories above)

So ok, let's take one from each category and make a 3 pack. I think you have to take Down with Disease from the first group, it has the most memorable Trey solo, plus the bass and the funness of the singing all the falsetto "Stop Stop Stop". The 2nd group is the toughest selection out of them all. I think I have to go with Character Zero, just edging out over Chalkdust. I could really go either way with this one but to me it just seems like Character Zero is a more accessible song to play (easier lyrics that you sing instead of speak, fun group build up in the beginning, great solo). And then to me there's really no debate in the third group. If you're going to have a group of Phish songs that you want to showcase their talent with, you have to include You Enjoy Myself, there's just no way around it, sure the singer might get bored... but they'll be able to sit back and just enjoy the music.

So my three pack is Down with Disease, Character Zero, and You Enjoy Myself

[jr174200]

Dmaximus,

Ha, I have no idea how I skipped all of Rift since it's my favorite album but alas that happened. At one point I had My Friend, My Friend very high, but it just kept falling on the list as I went along. Obviously Mound, Wedge, Maze and Sparkle could work as well, but alas they just didn't make the cut which was far more restrictive than I anticipated.

In terms of this concept of my list overrating vocals, there probably is something to that. While I'm not that great at them, I usually have to sing vocals in our band and probably do possess some bias. However, I didn't outlaw songs simply because of the vocals (see Zero and Chalkdust, which are both still highly ranked) I just needed to articulate my concerns about certain songs while trying to figure out which ones were "best". And in the end, Free and DwD had by far the least concerns.

I only outlawed songs when I truly didn't think the songs would work for Rock Band. If you take songs like Won't Get Fooled Again, Green Grass and High Tides or my personal favorite Foreplay/Long Time, while they have large instrumental sections they still have a lot of sensible singable phrases. Obviously the epic Phish songs wouldn't have that many phrases or make nearly as much sense, but you literally can't play songs like Slave or Divided Sky, and songs like Guyute or YEM, while musically amazing, are simply terrible for the vocalists. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, YEM was number three on my list at first, they are.

That said, would I be happier with YEM as DLC than Farmhouse? HELL YES! There is no studio track, I'd rather play in Rock Band that Phish's most played live song. I was just trying to honestly rank the songs using criteria I would expect the developers at HMX to use.

My completely selfish top-5 would probably be Guyute, DwD, Antelope, YEM and Piper. Unfortunately, I know that would never ever happen, so I wanted to articulate why DwD or Free would be a much better fit than Bouncin' or Heavy Things.

[dmaximus]

I know, you're right, you just can't have YEM in there. It doesn't make any sense from a Rock Band standpoint. And most of the songs like that have very little lyrical content so you do have to throw some of them out. But I think out of the complex-type song group, there's a couple that have enough lyrical content that they would work in rock band. (Because when you have a song like Green Grass, which consists of 1:30 opening instrumental -> 1 min of singing-> 2:30 instrumental -> 1 min of singing -> 4 minute instrumental, that's 8 minutes of playing and 2 minutes of singing... like And Justice for all which has 2:15 of instrumental -> 2:30 of singing -> 3 min instrumental -> 2 min of singing... 5:15 instrumental, 4:30 singing... it shows they're not afraid to put in long songs that have just some lyrical content)

So what I'm saying is I think there's a couple of epics that can get in, you have songs like:
Reba (2:30 Singing -> 8:30 instrumental -> 1:30 singing)
Maybe the instrumental in the middle is too much to get this one in, but I'm still voting for it, because it's pretty much my favorite phish song. Plus they actually jam this out in the studio, which doesn't happen on too many other tracks...
Stash (1:45 instrumental -> :40 singing -> 1:45 instrumental -> 1:15 singing -> 1:30 instrumental -> :30 singing)
This might have the best chance out of all the songs to get in. It was listed on Rolling Stones 100 greatest guitar solos, so it has musical acclaim behind it.
It's Ice ( :30 instrumental -> 2:15 singing -> 5 min instrumental -> :30 singing)
A bit of an underdog in this category, but man this song is so insane on everyone's part, especially mike's bass. Plus with page singing, this could be one of the tougher singing songs in Phish's catalog. This would be a beast of a song just because there's no easy parts. I really, really like this song and it never gets enough respect. This would be the ultimate respect booster, let the whole world realize just how amazing phish was. I'm going with this song.

Guyute (1 min singing -> 6 min instrumental -> :45 singing -> :45 instrumental)
Originally I thought this was a great candidate, but that is a pretty long middle section. But as you spoke about earlier, it would be so sweet if this was in... man I could imagine hitting the climax note, man that would be awesome...

But ok out of all these, Stash is the most balanced song, plus the great guitar work probably makes it the most likely epic candidate. However my vote goes with It's Ice.

Here's a couple more three packs:
My Dream 3 Pack: YEM, Divided Sky, Reba
My Ideal 3 Pack (from songs that are likely Rock Band canidates): Down with Disease, Character Zero, It's Ice
My "If I worked at Harmonix, this is what I would push for, because it is the most likely to be accepted" 3 Pack: Down with Disease, Character Zero, Stash

haha, I spent way to much time on this post... I can't believe I just brought out my studio Phish CD's and timed songs... only Phish could get me to do that, what a great band... which is precisely why they need to be in the game!

[jr174200]

Great breakdowns of the epic songs! I did similar work on the Phish tunes, but not on other Rock Band songs which is definitely helpful.

Clearly, you now see where I was coming from with some of my choices, as I also found Stash to be by far the most accessible of the complex-type songs.

In terms of It's Ice, I'll be honest when I say that I was initially threatened by it's length and never really gave it a fair shot. While I love the song, I just didn't think of it in the same breath as the heaviest of heavy-hitters and passed it off due to the lull from 5:22 to 6:22 (exactly one minute, that's weird).

That said, I re-listened and I was wrong. It should have been in the top 20. The "lull" would work like Won't Get Fooled Again, with a better lift-off, and it would allow the vocalist to do a mean percussive solo. The moments before the "lull" are just plain evil and Page is simply a stronger vocalist than Trey.



haha, I spent way to much time on this post... I can't believe I just brought out my studio Phish CD's and timed songs... only Phish could get me to do that, what a great band... which is precisely why they need to be in the game!


Dude, imagine how long I took on the first post! My girlfriend was ready to kill me by the time I finally posted it.

My process was as follows:

- Listen to Phish studio albums on ipod shuffle for over a week while thinking about Rock Band
- Go through the entire catalouge of studio songs and pick my favorites
- Write individual paragraphs for the 30-35 best fits, while listening to the song on repeat
- Actually ranking the songs by playing songs back to back to compare them
- Sending it to friends for feedback
- Posting it on the boards
- Hit refresh on the thread every two mintues to see if anyone responded

Viva la Phish!

[DethBoxx]

I would like Maze and Stash and Llama. These three would be perfect for RB. Mound would be pretty awesome as well.

[MultiBeast]

In an ideal world, this is what would happen...

After the Grateful Dead pack sells through the roof (everyone posting in here better support it!), Harmonix green lights a Phish pack and they convince Phish to record some of their songs (at the Barn) and make them Rock Band-friendly. I'm talking about songs like "Punch You in the Eye", "Runaway Jim", "NICU"...stuff like that. Maybe even re-record a couple songs like "Chalkdust Torture" and "Bouncin'" so they better fit the mould. That's what needs to happen. Just imagine the possibilities...

I mean crazier things have happened...Activision got the Sex Pistols into the studio to re-record "Anarchy in the UK" for GHIII.

[kanrei]

The big problem will be getting masters. Phish did not do track recording until Hoist so earlier songs (Picture, Junta, Rift, etc) will have to be covers. Phish covers will not cut it IMHO.

[pmpboarder]

Dude, imagine how long I took on the first post! My girlfriend was ready to kill me by the time I finally posted it.

My process was as follows:

- Listen to Phish studio albums on ipod shuffle for over a week while thinking about Rock Band
- Go through the entire catalouge of studio songs and pick my favorites
- Write individual paragraphs for the 30-35 best fits, while listening to the song on repeat
- Actually ranking the songs by playing songs back to back to compare them
- Sending it to friends for feedback
- Posting it on the boards
- Hit refresh on the thread every two mintues to see if anyone responded

Viva la Phish!

That's badass! I saw this thread back when you first posted it, and was tempted to reply, but I honestly am not that into Phish. I have a friend who really is, though. (Ha, much like your friend who likes CAKE.) Anyway, she's made some mixes with Phish songs, which I love, but I just haven't taken the time to get the rest of their catalogue in my hands and in my head. Admit it - it's a daunting amount of songs! But I'm gonna let your list guide me, because you, sir, know your Phish.

Anyway, my point is: I appreciate this post a lot more now, as I'm sorta-kinda working on one for CAKE. It is harder work than I though, but now that I see what your process was, I'm encouraged. So, thanks for such an excellent thread and all your hard work that went into it!

Seriously. If a post like this doesn't convince Harmonix to at least seriously consider Phish, then everyone on these forums is wasting their time, as this is the best "I Want, Here's Why" post of them all. :cool:

[KillAutumn]

I would definately dig some Phish. Especially with our number 1 being Free

So there ya go, add me onto the "I want Phish on Rock band" list

[DethBoxx]

The big problem will be getting masters. Phish did not do track recording until Hoist so earlier songs (Picture, Junta, Rift, etc) will have to be covers. Phish covers will not cut it IMHO.

Eh? Source please, I seriously doubt this is true.

[kanrei]

Eh? Source please, I seriously doubt this is true.

I am not going to source common knowledge. It is commonly known that Phish recorded their first few albums "jam style" where they were all in the same room at the same time. Hoist was the first album where they came in at different times to record their tracks. Look up the "Helping Phriendly Book" sometime and it will give you tons of Phish trivia.

[bisq]

You know after thinking about it some more, I might actually choose free over down with disease IF we are solely talking about studio versions. I kind of forgot how lame the DWD studio version is. I mean I really liked it when I first heard it but now I'm like 'dude where's the solo?'. Its like they tried too hard to make it short and radio friendly. Free's studio version does have a nice little solo in it though so perhaps you were onto something. I still like DWD, but I think stash might be a better choice despite its length.

And I also keep thinking about guyute and how it wouldn't really be a bad choice. It's kind of a weird song but it would instantly become one of the ultimate challenge songs for guitar players (and it seems many of them want more challenging songs). Plus its not TOO long and has a decent vocal melody. Plus we need to get them to implement the whistling :D

[dmaximus]

I'm not so sure that's "common knowledge"... I'm not going to claim to know how they recorded any of their studio albums or exactly what harmonix needs in terms of masters to make songs. But what I thought was they needed was at least 4 tracks (one for each of the instruments) and that 4 track recording was the norm since the 70's. (Again, I don't really know this, I'm just guessing... but heck Poor Heart was written by Gordo back in college because someone stole his 4-track recorder...) So even if they were in the same room when they recorded, I'm not sure that makes the masters unusable. And even if that is the case that we can only use Hoist and after songs... well I'm ok with that too

So a new "Hoist and after only" 3-Pack:
Down with Disease (but honestly I'm liking this as a selection less and less... the album version is just so blah)
Character Zero
Free (big shout out to jr174200 on this one... you're right man this is a fantastic rock band song)

and maybe a "I'm sick of the album version of DwD, so a post Hoist pack without DwD" 3 Pack:
Free
Character Zero
46 Days (man this last one is really tough... I really wanted to put Limb by Limb in there, it's such a complex, compact song... I mean so what if they trade off the vocals, I sing both parts when I listen to the song... also Julius could be here, but there might be a little too much background stuff going on with that song... and Sample could probably be here as well)
You know what 46 Days and Character Zero are very similar song types... and we don't need the same types of songs in a three pack because Phish is way more diverse than that... So I'm putting Limb by Limb in as the third song, and that's final there

[kanrei]

The main reason it is "common knowledge" is that the members of the group often speak of Hoist as a turning point in the band's evolution. It was the first album that they did not record together at the same time. Fishman spoke often of how weird it was to lay down drum tracks without the others around. Trey would do his late at night.

Speaking of Phish, did anyone else hear Trey was in jail last week for two nights?

POst Hoist 3 pack for me:

Limb By Limb (great call on that often forgotten by me song)
Julius
Character Zero

[jr174200]

I'm glad to hear people went and listened to the tracks, 'cause there was a reason I chose "Free" over "Down With Disease". As a standalone studio track, it's simply better for Rock Band.

I would also absolutely love to play Guyute and within this new 'post-Hoist" rule, it is the only real epic option. Guitar players would LOVE it and it's by far my favorite Phish tune to air-drum. If I had my say I'd pick two of the higher numbered commercial tracks and then give us phans Guyute as a present.

Just yesterday I was watching the unaired version that was recorded for Sessions at W. 54th. Check it out below, it's amazing.

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In terms of 46 Days, I know I swore I wouldn't be bias, but that It version wouldn't end! Seriously that jam just bothered the hell out of me and represented the worst of the end for me, along with any time Trey went to the auxillary keys during a long Sand. I always strived to not be a musical snob about it, but when you have over 500 tapes and know their capabilities, you can't help but get frustrated occasionally when you know how truly great Phish can be and they're just sorta going through the motions.

Of course those moments both pale in depressive reminising to the Halley's Jam on 9/18/00, when Trey just left the stage in the middle of the show while the rest of the band just looked at each other confused. That was a different type of frustration and that sucked.

Oh jeez, why am I remembering the worst times? Damn nostalgic tendencies.

Time to be positive.

11/9/96, my second show, they played Divided Sky, David Bowie, You Enjoy Myself and Harry Hood! That was amazing.

Moby Dick-Fest at Deer Creek 2000? That was amazing.

And the 40 shows I did get to see? The greatest times of my life.

MORE SHOWS! I WANT MORE SHOWS!!!

[DethBoxx]

I am not going to source common knowledge. It is commonly known that Phish recorded their first few albums "jam style" where they were all in the same room at the same time. Hoist was the first album where they came in at different times to record their tracks. Look up the "Helping Phriendly Book" sometime and it will give you tons of Phish trivia.

Yeah I'm sure they did record that way but that has nothing to do with the state of the multitracks.

[kanrei]

Yeah I'm sure they did record that way but that has nothing to do with the state of the multitracks.

Actually, yea it does. It means there are no clean tracks. Each track (Trey, Page, Mike, Fishman) will have bleed-over from the other instruments. "Jam style" recording usually (Not always, but most often) involves the room being miked as opposed to the instruments going directly into a master board. Rock Band would require clean master tracks so that the drums would only have the drums, the guitar track only have guitar, and so on.

If given the choice of Phish covers or no Phish, I choose no Phish. I would love moe on Rock Band, but think they recorded the same way.

[MultiBeast]

Like I said earlier...get them back in the studio and re-record some songs!!! That would fix all these problems everyone is talking about. They can add an extended solo to "down with disease". Put a better vocal track on "chalkdust". maybe record "lizards"...the sky's the limit!

come on, Harmonix. Make this happen!

[opence]

Top 20....Hey Jr. check these out. I know that it may be breakin a rule (no master) but there is always the soundboard. I think a track (or 100) from a live show would be great for any band IMO, it would really feel like you are playing a live show.

20. Cavern - great drum intro
19. Dirt- short and sweet
18. stash - OOH OOH OH OH OOH OOH OHOOOHOOOOOO
17. Tube - Lyrics>JAM>Lyrics
16. LLAMA - taboot taboot
15. Mcgrupp - gamehenge gotta have at least 1
14. Possum - great build up
13. character zero - just plain energy
12. gotta jiboo- gotta jiboo
11. sanity- just wanna scream BOOOM POWW
10. Free - havent heard the BB version lately but I know it has great lyrics
9. Split open and melt - drums is as good as it gets
8. Prince Caspian ------
--- Deer creek 07-12-2000 versions maybe my favs of all time
7. Birds of a feather-----
6. Gumbo- great bass session at the end...i mean the whole time
5. Bug - it doesnt matter
4. 1st tube- I agree its for guitar hero,but guitar hero never comes out for any new DLC
3. Carini - just my favorite song, i really dont know if it would work
2. Moma Dance - good lyrics, awe inspiring guitar, funky drums, the most unreal bass youve ever heard.
1. Theme from the bottom, because I just want to be Trey at 2/16/1997 at 3:43 in.

Thanks a lot for doing this. I love phish and I probably wouldnt be so into this thread if they were still around. I think rock band would be the perfect place to feel like Im actually there again. At Alpine valley blowin away by the DWD. Crank that volume and explode to the 5 low frets on my strat and just go to that other level. Thats what its all about.

REUNION 2009

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[opence]

The big problem will be getting masters. Phish did not do track recording until Hoist so earlier songs (Picture, Junta, Rift, etc) will have to be covers. Phish covers will not cut it IMHO.

I totally agree about the covers, but there is a great version of The divided sky on you tube. and I doubt this guy got the master. I think it just takes some good programming. Really I dont know how they do it. It doesnt have to be perfect though. I vote live shows from sound board recordings...Think of it never ending songs.......What they should do is come out with a rock band phish version where you can make your own setlist, and be able to segue from song to song like a real show.

forgive me for posting a guitar hero video on this website.

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[DethBoxx]

Actually, yea it does. It means there are no clean tracks. Each track (Trey, Page, Mike, Fishman) will have bleed-over from the other instruments. "Jam style" recording usually (Not always, but most often) involves the room being miked as opposed to the instruments going directly into a master board. Rock Band would require clean master tracks so that the drums would only have the drums, the guitar track only have guitar, and so on.


No it doesn't actually. A band can record live and still have sound isolation.
Happens all the time. Live albums are recorded this way too you know.

Overdubbing and multitrack recording are not the same thing.

[Monktanius]

I would say that list contains 15 of the songs I'd like to hear least if they included Phish in Rock Band.:(

[celtsfan75]

Great post. You obviously spent a good deal of effort and as a fellow phan I thank you. I would also like to add a few things.
1) When listening with Rock Band in mind your list is a very good.
2) Vocalists have to deal with Guyute's lack of lyrics, this song must be available.
3) A couple of posts talked about the variety of problems with Phish master recordings. No matter what, do not use covers!
4) I have been to many shows and when you heard "om-pa-pa" you did know that you were in for something special.
Now we can only hope that Harmonix hears us and gives us some Phish. Please.

[challgren]

A bump phor the phans!!!!!

[iM3LTYOURFACE]

awesome thread. I agree with pretty much all of it.

[jr174200]

The events of the last few days have definetly helped our case for Phish on Rock Band.

Not only did the first wave of Dead songs come out, but they were extremely well recieved. I myself, have barely been able to stop playing them since I downloaded the pack last night.

Here's to hoping that this is a sign of great things to come!

[pmpboarder]

The events of the last few days have definetly helped our case for Phish on Rock Band.

Not only did the first wave of Dead songs come out, but they were extremely well recieved. I myself, have barely been able to stop playing them since I downloaded the pack last night.

Here's to hoping that this is a sign of great things to come!

Hell yeah! I can't wait! I would be playing them endlessly, too, had my 360 not bit the dust. :mad:

We'll get some Phish eventually.

[menoarenoniceguy]

Best Thread Ever!!!!

Do It! Do It!

[tatertot]

I would buy the 100 pack in it's entirety if it were put out. I think some Phish tunes would be fantastic on Rock Band. My 6 pack would be:

Llama (killer drums, would be fun)
The Wedge (Bass would be fun)
Stash (could the hand clap be added? Here you could really channel your inner Trey)
Mound (come on, IT'S MOUND!)
Walls of the Cave (weird choice? maybe, but I think it would translate beautifully to RB)
Golgi Apparatus (for the mere fact that screaming " I saw you, with a chicken sub in your hand" would crack me up every time)

Harmonix. Make it happen. To quote Rob Schneider "You can do it".

[dutchy]

Man I used to love Phish is the 90's. I've seen them about 50-60 times starting from 93. Lemon Wheel, Great Went, Amsterdam. But there came a time where I hateted them. I think I just had a couple of bad incidents at shows and took a break from seeing them.
These days I find myself wishing I had not givin up on them so quickly. I have a friend who loves Phish. We talk about them alot and he's got me back into them.
I would love to see a Phish pack on RockBand. A jamband pack would be a great start. Maybe Phish, Panic, & Mule pack. A Gov't Mule pack would work well in RockBand. But, we'll prob. end up with a Dave Matthews Band pack.

5. Down with Disease
4. Divided Sky ( just for the guitar solo)
3. Chalk Dust
2. Sample in a Jar
1. Bouncing Around the Room

This is a great thread. I just lost like a hour reading everyones posts.

GamerTag - Dutchyalldaylon
Guitar - med/hard
Bass - med/ hard
Drums - easy/med

If anyone whats to pay more rock / less EMO. I have most of the DLC.

[Kronikken]

sounds good!

[hammy7971]

I totally agree about the covers, but there is a great version of The divided sky on you tube. and I doubt this guy got the master. I think it just takes some good programming.

The problem is that with that guitar hero video, as with all of the other user-created songs on guitar hero, if you miss a note, the entire soundtrack cuts out, not just the guitar part. But I would be all for trying to get live versions of songs, or even songs made after Hoist....

[Jordashebasics]

As cool as it would be to do NICU.... or Punch You In The Eye

I also had been thinking that Free would be an excellent song.
Down With Disease would also be useful in encouraging others to enjoy Phish.
I would absolutely love to have Strange Design, but I don't know how well it could translate to Rock Band.

Axilla II is actually a very good choice. It might be a little hard to sing, but it's fun for everyone involved.

Character Zero is also a find choice, along the same lines as DwD.

Chalkdust Torture would also be a pleasant vocal challenge.

I don't think I'd actually object to any of their songs. But these would be a bit more accessible to everyone.

And the bit about the tracks bleeding onto other instruments is true, but I fail to see how that would destroy the possibility for them to be used for RB.
How do you think the Grateful Dead recorded?

[Potato119]

I was just listening to phish, they rock hard. It would be a lot of fun to play their songs in rock band.

[gota_jibbo01]

Gotta Jibboo! Or It's Ice would be amazing...

[SaltPnutz]

I totally agree that Phish SHOULD definitely be in Rock Band. moe. would be an excellent fit as well. Think about it, how awesome would Rebubula or Plane Crash be...?

Songs I think would kick @ss and work on Rock Band:

Bathtub Gin
My Sweet One
Split Open and Melt
Bouncing Around the Room
Llama
Cavern
Cahlkdust Torture
Maze
Sparkle
It's Ice
The Horse-->Silent in The Morning
Down With Disease
Wolfman's Brother
Free
Character Zero
Waste
Taste
Billy Breathes
Prince Caspian
Ghost
Limb By Limb
Moma Dance
Farmhouse
Heavy Things
Dirt

Please whoever is responsible for adding new content, put in as much Phish, Dead, and moe. as you can. You can certainly count on me to buy every last one of those songs...

[jr174200]

I totally agree that Phish SHOULD definitely be in Rock Band. moe. would be an excellent fit as well. Think about it, how awesome would Rebubula or Plane Crash be...?


Rebubula would be absolutely EPIC! Seriously amazing in the game. Welcome to the boards!

[Gianthogweed]

I agree and was thinking the same thing. Here's my top 20:

1. Rift - the perfect song for Rock Band. Not too long, catchy, and really fast and fun to play.
2. Fluffhead/Travels - There's enough vocals in it to work. And the instrumental parts are insane. The song is also very catchy. Only thing it has against it is it's length. But GGHT is in this, so no complaining.
3. Llama - for the same reasons as Rift
4. Free - One of their most popular songs
5. Guyute - Because it's awesome and wacky like Phish.
6. Guela Papyrus - Another challenging and fun song
7. Stash - One of the best guitar rifts ever.
8. Bouncing Around the Room - Another one of their more popular songs.
9. Chalk Dust Torture - A rocking song that's one of their more well known.
10. The Wedge - Just a great little song.
11. Down With Disease - another popular one.
12. Maze - Great mini jam epic.
13. Dinner and a Movie - Insane time signatures and vocals will make this a lot of fun.
14. Sample in a Jar - Another one of their more popular songs.
15. Waste - Nice slow chill song that the ladies like.
16. Heavy Things - Another popular one, and such a fun happy song.
17. Birds of a Feather - ditto.
18. Foam - An odd, yet awesome song.
19. Mound - This song has the craziest time signature change I've ever heard.
20. The Horse/Silent In the Morning - I consider these two to be one song. It's the perfect end to the Rift album (their best album imo), and has a great climactic ending for ending a great set.

[CamelToeJoe]

this is an excellent list. been to few phish shows(under 50), but way more jerry/dead shows(lost count after 200)(im not bragging, just want my brain cells back). The Dead DLC is real fun, and I could only imagine Vermonts Phinest. What bothers me, is the people who slam jam bands. 2 of the most toured bands in history. What, a combined 5000 plus shows. Can Anthrax/megadeth/mettalica/bon jovi say that. Music is music and everyone deserves it. No matter what flavour you want your slurpee, its still all good. Count me in for this DLC if it ever happened..........YOU SEE, everybody wants to be like a jam bander, we got the festivals, the underground parties, the works. and where is Mettalica headlining this year, Bonnaroo. this is why im going to Rothbury

[o1skinneej]

Amen to this thread!! May peace be with you! Not only do you give a beautifully detailed list, but one of your DLC wish bands is Blind Melon. I don't think anyone could win more of my heart than you just did.

Another one that would never work but would be so great to sing:
Train Song

[Jordashebasics]

Geeze, I can't sing anywhere near the range of Train Song.

It also should be noted that Phish music is considerably more interesting than the songs in the Grateful Dead pack.
While I'm only up to medium on drums, I found the drum parts for all of the Dead pack to be incredibly boring.

I would probably shy away from any tracks that are overly repetitive....

I still like Free, but as accessible as Character 0 is, it might not be the right choice for Rock Band. On the other hand, I'd have to give it another listen to see about how the end of it is.

[hammy7971]

The big problem will be getting masters. Phish did not do track recording until Hoist so earlier songs (Picture, Junta, Rift, etc) will have to be covers. Phish covers will not cut it IMHO.

You know, I've been thinking about this and I think there's one solution: It's time to bring Phish back into the studio to rerecord and pump out some new stuff!!! Haha, now all we have to do is to convince Trey to stop going all "loner" on us and get them back together...

[phunky420]

Awesome man!! You rock! NEED PHISH SONGS!!!

[phunky420]

I'm glad to hear people went and listened to the tracks, 'cause there was a reason I chose "Free" over "Down With Disease". As a standalone studio track, it's simply better for Rock Band.

I would also absolutely love to play Guyute and within this new 'post-Hoist" rule, it is the only real epic option. Guitar players would LOVE it and it's by far my favorite Phish tune to air-drum. If I had my say I'd pick two of the higher numbered commercial tracks and then give us phans Guyute as a present.

Just yesterday I was watching the unaired version that was recorded for Sessions at W. 54th. Check it out below, it's amazing.

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In terms of 46 Days, I know I swore I wouldn't be bias, but that It version wouldn't end! Seriously that jam just bothered the hell out of me and represented the worst of the end for me, along with any time Trey went to the auxillary keys during a long Sand. I always strived to not be a musical snob about it, but when you have over 500 tapes and know their capabilities, you can't help but get frustrated occasionally when you know how truly great Phish can be and they're just sorta going through the motions.

Of course those moments both pale in depressive reminising to the Halley's Jam on 9/18/00, when Trey just left the stage in the middle of the show while the rest of the band just looked at each other confused. That was a different type of frustration and that sucked.

Oh jeez, why am I remembering the worst times? Damn nostalgic tendencies.

Time to be positive.

11/9/96, my second show, they played Divided Sky, David Bowie, You Enjoy Myself and Harry Hood! That was amazing.

Moby Dick-Fest at Deer Creek 2000? That was amazing.

And the 40 shows I did get to see? The greatest times of my life.

MORE SHOWS! I WANT MORE SHOWS!!!


Its funny...you totally sound like my buddy dan who went on the whole 2000 tour....he had a great time.

I've seen phish here and there, but never got to see them as much as i should have.

[DethBoxx]

You know, I've been thinking about this and I think there's one solution: It's time to bring Phish back into the studio to rerecord and pump out some new stuff!!! Haha, now all we have to do is to convince Trey to stop going all "loner" on us and get them back together...


As I pointed out earlier in the thread, the claims made by the person you quoted are incorrect.

[worden26]

of course phish would own in rockband i would actaully love to play birds of a feather

[bigmelnoz]

bump bump!

[Vandyan]

The brilliance of this thread cant be described by words. GREAT post. God I hope this happens.

[cruedog85]

i think phish is one of the worst bands ive ever heard. However with that said i bump this thread as i hope everyone gets the songs they like. Music diversity is key and all rock styles and bands should get in. good luck to you phish heads

[jr174200]

i think phish is one of the worst bands ive ever heard. However with that said i bump this thread as i hope everyone gets the songs they like. Music diversity is key and all rock styles and bands should get in. good luck to you phish heads

Thank you?

[cruedog85]

Thank you?

LOl just bumping for ya, but i didnt want to lie and say i liked them. But i do hope everyone gets the songs they love

[phunky420]

YES YES YES!!! PHISH!!! NOW!!!

6 song pack coming?

[faaipdeoiad]

Amen to having phish in the game. But I think your missing one song that definately needs to be added. Weekapaug Groove! Gordons bass work and treys solos are amazing whenever they play this live.

Also, they need to add some Umphrey's McGee to this game. Amazing band and talented musicians. Some songs from them would be Der Bluten Kat, Nothing Too Fancy, Prowler, All In Time, 2x2, the list goes on.....

[pjstarr86]

Glory By Umphrey's Mcgee

[jr174200]

Amen to having phish in the game. But I think your missing one song that definately needs to be added. Weekapaug Groove! Gordons bass work and treys solos are amazing whenever they play this live.


While I LOVE Weekapaug as much as the next guy, the problem is that no studio version exists outside of the never-released Wendell Studio sessions, which by the way contains an incredibly awesome version of the Groove!

Due to that fact, it was considered off-limits when making the list :(

[falloutitchy]

I absolutely endorse this thread. I'd love to see just about anything off of Farmhouse on there. And while, being a vocalist, I think some of the songs would be a lot of tambourine shaking and not a lot of singing, they'd still be a blast, regardless.

[DMBillies]

Bump for a well thought out and reasoned post.

Bump for paying attention to all of the important aspects of a song being a GREAT song for the game (i.e., fun for all instruments, well known part of the bands catalog so that casual fans will be interested, studio recorded so that masters can be used or at least a good cover can be made, recognizable enough band/song titles so that even non-fans will be tempted to download). I also appreciate that you've left your personal taste out of many of your song decisions (i.e., MANY people list their favorite songs to listen to on their home stereo as songs that should be in Rock Band, but the simple fact is that no matter how awesome a song might be to listen to, it won't necessarily translate well to the game).

I've never been much of a Phish fan because the long-windedness of a lot of their music loses me as far as daily listening (I have to be in the mood). That said, I never got to see them live. Much like most jam bands, the concert experience (I'm sure), is where it's really at. I've seen moe. a bunch of times and will continue to go see them even though they rarely get any play on my stereo... and if Phish were still touring I'm sure it'd be the same.

At one point I did go through the entire catalog of studio music from Phish to make a mix CD of songs that were my favorite for the daily commute. 90% of the songs on that CD are the songs you chose, so I'd say you definitely picked some of the most accessible tunes that non-fans can enjoy.

There is EASILY a 3 or 6 pack in their catalog that absolutely SHOULD be in this game... especially because the "jam band" scene is relatively poorly represented in the game despite the immense following that most of the bands generate, a good number of elite musicians playing difficult stuff, and, in many cases, a healthy dose of mainstream success (hmm hmm... DMB:D).

[Killbasa]

20 songs might be a bit much but I'll take a stab at a 6-pack.

For my choices, I constrained myself to songs released on studio recordings, hence no Weekapaug Groove or Mike's Song much as I would like them.

Taste
Down With Disease
Golgi Apparatus
Split Open And Melt
46 Days
Limb By Limb

[Potato119]

I'd really like to have cavern in rock band. I think it would be a lot of fun to sing. I guess it would also be kind of weak on guitar and a lot of repetition on drums.

My top votes go:
Golgi Apparatus
Chalk Dust Torture
Character Zero

"Whatever you do take care of your shoes"

[TheCobra49]

I would love Phish in rock band. These are my reasons:

Rift-Constant/very stressful bass pedalling

Farmhouse-Groovy, would be fun on vocals too.

Heavy Things-Fun rythym will keep players happy throughout the whole song.

Gumbo-Vocal Harmonies for bands either in the livingroom or online.

Waste-The one song where vocals would literally dominate.

Marijuana-I know this song will never make it, but that doesnt change the fact that it's fun to listen to when you're blitted.

[comeoriginal2311]

Cavern is by FAR my favorite song by phish and if it was in this game i think i might go into a state of euphoria. Great post. Although your comment on chalkdust, The song is just slowed down, it doesn't have a wierd effect on it.

1. Cavern
2. DWD
3. Alumni Blues
4. Wolfmans Brother
5. first tube (i WISH this had words. that song is so gooood.)

I could go on forever. great post. lets keep this bumPed

[BuRn7 CaK3]

it would be nice. ;)

[Jordashebasics]

Marijuana-I know this song will never make it, but that doesnt change the fact that it's fun to listen to when you're blitted.

Are you sure this is a Phish song? Are you thinking of Makisupa Policeman?

[CamelWalk97]

DWD
Golgi
Caspian
Free
Dog Log, hell yeah.

I love Phish. Fall '97 was the best. Please come back...at least in DLC.

[jr174200]

A new user named CamelWalk wanting Dog Log?!?!

Welcome to the boards, sir!

[pycer]

Any Phish would be great, how about the the whole Rift album!!

What guitar would i rather play: Guyute, Glide, DWD...that would be an awesome pack

[jr174200]

What guitar would i rather play: Guyute, Glide, DWD...that would be an awesome pack

Yeah, that pack would be absolutely amazing!

With all the differences between "masters" and original studio recordings that occur on the game, I have lately wondered if a version of DwD exists with a more suitably epic guitar solo. If that is the case, it would immediacy jump to number one on my list.

[logan3088]

"After it was all said and done, I decided that Free would be the single best Phish song for Rock Band."

You had me worried, I was reading and I was like, "Where's Free?!!" You have some damn good choices and a damn great taste for music and I fully support every song you mentioned. Although I do think you missed a couple of more good tunes that would've been excellent for playing on Rock Band: Moma Dance, Funky *****, Mike's Song, and Farmhouse of course (or did you already say that and I miss it?)

Oh and Marijuana is not a Phish song. It was recorded by Brian Robbins on an album called "The Phish Demo". (don't ask why)

[WilsonTheOverlord]

to the top


for any Phish song at all....

[jr174200]

With rumors circulating that Phish might return, I figured this was a good time for a bump.

If you're not aware:

Interview with Tom - http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/59406/phish-lyricist-in-stud

Trey Hinting at Return - http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/05/28/trey-anastasio-hints-at-phish-reunion/

[jr174200]

Um, so I just watched some videos from the Jammys and it was sponsored by none other than Rock Band!

THIS IS HUGE NEWS!

Why is that so significant? Well, the lifetime achievement award went to Phish at the awards and a jamband supergroup (calling themselves the Headcount All-Stars) played a series of Phish covers throughout the night. Phish is the number one modern jamband, there is a reference to them in the game already and the Dead pack was extremely successful.

I'm now convinced. PHISH IS GONNA COME TO ROCK BAND AND I'M GONNA GO NUTS!

Check out this cover of Wilson, which clearly shows a Rock Band logo on the opening splash page!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ganbSaVoSi8

[PureTalent101]

I think they sing a version of Gin and Juice. that would be crazy

[Ultimatum]

Amazing thread.

[defenestrater]

Great thread. Its been years since I last listened to anything by Phish, but I'd happily buy up any dlc with their name on it.

[rockbandrocker123321]

BUG!!!!!!!!! It dosen't matter to me

[JerryWB]

*bump* Just came across this. Great post. I LOVE PHISH!!!

[HanksNBeanz]

Any type of phish will do... Please make it happen.

[DethBoxx]

Picture of Nectar or Rift would both be awesome full album DLC.

[BarrMark]

Awesome post, I followed/toured with Phish for a large part of the 90's so needless to say I'd be stoked for ANY of their stuff as DLC (and a ton of it really would be perfect). A six-pack with:

Down With Disease
Stash
Cavern (I feel like this would be a blast for the singers, esp the coda at the end)
Heavy Things
Character Zero
Sample In A Jar

...would be incredible, though Run Like An Antelope would be my #1 pie-in-the-sky pick. Your Harpua idea is totally brilliant as well.

[jr174200]

Since I initially posted this thread, two amazing things have happened:

a) Live songs as DLC
b) Instrumental songs as DLC

This changes everything on my list.

While I don't have time to truly analyze it (that will eventually come), let us just say that Harry Hood is now an option. OH MAN!

[Habeef]

i haven't read the whole thread but my fav song to sing would be col. forbin's ascent and fav song to play guitar to would be the lizards. the horse>silent would be great too.

[Jediphan]

Excellent post! Keep it going and spread the message. I cannot fathom the joy that even one Phish tune would bring to myself, friends, and all the phans who play RB. It has been a joy to play the Dead tunes and the ridiculous amount of Rush, and then RB2 gave us more and some Pearl Jam taboot. Speaking of "taboot", how 'bout a Llama or some Gumbo?

[sitbooboosit]

Phish is amazing. I fully support this thread.

[GetRoached]

Well, since instrumentals, and live have been added, I think we NEED a Weekapaug or a Run Like an Antelope, as well as many, MANY, others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKV8GU9TcSU&feature=related

[jr174200]

Phish Is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of this news, HMX needs to reward us with a kickass 42-song pack.

[dmaximus]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Already put in for the lottery.
In all seriousness, possibly a song pack to coincide with the new album they'll release next year?

[pmpboarder]

Phish Is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of this news, HMX needs to reward us with a kickass 42-song pack.

Desmond was cool, but that phish is way cooler! I approve of your avatar change. :cool:

Excellent news, by the way. I can't imagine how stoked you must be right now.

[DethBoxx]

Good news! Don't really fancy traveling to Virginia though...hope they announce some west coast dates. I did make it out to Coventry though.

[swarls]

Bring on the Big Cypress set! All freaking 8 hrs of it!

[jr174200]

Bring on the Big Cypress set! All freaking 8 hrs of it!

Oh man, that Rock and Roll would be EPIC!

[GetRoached]

Everytime I heard Coventry's Curtain With, it brought a tear to my eye.

[jr174200]

Everytime I heard Coventry's Curtain With, it brought a tear to my eye.

That was one of four times I cried at that show. Thank God, they didn't play "Strange Design" or I (and Page) would of completely lost it.

Alas ... good times around the bend!

[ElWormo1]

I'm definitely in favor of some Phish dlc. I'd take one song, but more would be appreciated.

[Bapslap]

Yes, yes. Phish is certainly necessary. My list...

1. YEM
2. Divided Sky - Instrumentals are ok. YYZ is DLC.
3. Sand
4. Limb by Limb
5. Meat
6. Free
7. Taste
8. Down with Disease
9. Sample in a Jar
10. It's Ice
11. Horn
12. Bouncing Around the Room
13. Reba
14. Chalkdust Torture
15. Stash
16. Scents & Subtle Sounds
17. Walls of the Cave

A sampling of their studio catalog, and a mix of deep cuts, "radio friendly" releases, and challenging epics. This would be a SOOOOO good.

[Habeef]

I did make it out to Coventry though.

my condolences.

[defunkt]

Yeah coventry was a tough weekend to be a Phish fan, including the 24hr+ wait in a traffic jam, only to be greeted by Mike on the radio saying the show was canceled...I lost it and vowed to get in by any means necessary...we totally went commando, made friends with some locals and took their work badges to try to "sneak" into the show through the vip entrance, the guy hassled me but eventually let us in...everything we had for the 3 day campfest was what we could carry on our backs.

Would I do it again? Without a doubt. :)

P.S. Here's hoping that we all win the lottery for the Spaceship in 09!

[bigphish4d2]

In no real order, A.D.D. doesn't allow order... and all rules thrown out the window of course (after the Live at Leeds album tracks, those Live Phish masters are looking tasty)

1. Taste (epic drums)
2. Stash
3. Hood
4. Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars
5. Character Zero (hey, even the worst pop songs on RB are freaking FUUUUUUUN to play)
6. Lizards
7. Tela
8. TMWSIY>Avenu>TMWSIY
9. Twist Around (Woo!)
10. Julius
11. Free
12. NICU
13. Get Back On the Train
14. Possum
15. Moma Dance/Black Eyed Katy (I just really want Phish to bring back BEK, it was good enough without lyrics)
16. Ghost (the funky Atlanta '97 one)
17. Cavern
18. DWD


Hope to see you all at Hampton!

[McCREE]

quick bump in honor of being denied for hampton mail order.

to hell with the scalpers with 1000's of credit cards.

love this thread.

[jr174200]

quick bump in honor of being denied for hampton mail order.

to hell with the scalpers with 1000's of credit cards.

love this thread.

Tell me about it.

Mail Order used to be so much easier and it really is frustrating that I probably won't make it into the return show. I'm not giving up yet, but its looking more and more likely that I'm going to have to pass.

Hopefully the rumors of small runs in Philly, Boston and NYC are true and will occur right after the Hampton shows.

[rentfn]

amazing. Loved the list. I would love to see any Phish song in Rock Band.

[defunkt]

yeah I too was denied in the lottery, and now they're on eBay: 2 tix for each night, buy it now, $2500

hmmmmmm :)

[Thorndaddy]

I could really dig on some Phish DLC

Down with Disease
PYITE
Cavern
Wedge
Chalkdust Torture

[dmblover41]

Bump Bump Bump

[bcrigler]

I did not score tix to the Hampton either... bummer.

But DLC could brighten my day! Does "simple" have a master recording? Love that song. Would be a blast on RB2! :o:o:):o:o

[bcrigler]

Extra Bump For Phish!

[Jordashebasics]

I completely forgot about The Wedge. That would be a whole lot of fun on drums.

Also didn't get tickets for Hampton. They're up to around 250 apiece for the last night.

[bcrigler]

They should just release A Live One Disc One And Two.

They just released AC/DC Live...

Why can't they do Phish Live?

:):p:)

[Harveydent]

Live Phish would be sooo much better than ACDC. My preference would be Volume 13 when they performed The White Album, an album that is a personal favorite of mine. Phish's cover was so spectacular if the proper licensing could be done, HMX should do it!

[jr174200]

I'd just like to say welcome to all the newcomers on this thread!

This thing caught on way more than I expected and I'm so happy to have found so many Phish supporters on these boards.

When I first started this thing live recordings were considered taboo, but since the success of packs by The Who and AC/DC I now think that any Phish pack would have to include some of their amazing live music.

One of the most successful touring bands of all-time, Phish are not only at their best live, they are also one of the best bands at capturing high-quality audio of their live shows.

With countless hits that were never even captured in the studio, Phish is one of the best examples of a band that deserves some live versions on Rock Band.



But [Phish] DLC could brighten my day! Does "simple" have a master recording? Love that song. Would be a blast on RB2! :o:o:):o:o

While "Simple" doesn't have a studio recorded master, I would suggest that it would be one of the most accessible live masters for HMX as it appears on "A Live One", their first and most well-known live record.

Speaking of "A Live One" this seems like as good a time as any for ...

[jr174200]

My Top 5 Live Phish Songs for Rock Band

Note: I Only included versions from "A Live One", "Slip Stich and Pass" and "Hampton Comes Alive". Maybe "Live at the Roxy" will get its own list soon, although I did leave out the "Live Phish" series as it would have been too much to sift through.

For that, you'll need to call Kevin Shapiro.

5. Chalkdust Torture (A Live One)

Not only is “Chalkdust Torture” (as spelled on that disc) one of the best live songs for Rock Band, it is also the only song on the list that has a studio version (#6) as well.

This time it finishes even higher at #5!

I just think this live version would prove itself so much more interesting than the studio version and it would be an absolute blast to play on all instrumentals. It’s much faster than the version found on “A Picture of Nectar” and the vocal track is way less affected.

Although I will never ever be able to finish this song on expert guitar without overdrive (go listen to 20 seconds starting at 5:28) it would still be a blast to play.

4. Wilson (A Live One)

While slightly less explorative than the Hampton version, this version feels a lot tighter and therefore better for the game. It would be an absolute beast to play on guitar and drums.

It would also have a great Rock Band moment with the responsive “Wilson’s” as its probably the best song for the fans of more traditional rock. A studio version of “Wilson” would probably have been ideal, but as it stands this song would still be great for the game.

3. Possum (Hampton Comes Alive)

Possum has always been one of those Phish songs that get lost in the pack. It’s not as intricate and impressive as "You Enjoy Myself" or "David Bowie" and its not as epic and moving as "Divided Sky" or "Harry Hood". What people seem to forget however is that Possum just plain rocks.

With lots of starts and stops this song would be a blast for the drummer and a great song to get a crowd excited. The guitar solo comes in at a perfect time for non-jam band players to bite into it and it just goes off from there. You keep thinking it will end and instead of ending, it just gets bigger and more glorious. Listen to it from 7:40 on: it's insane!

I always remind myself to not sleep on Possum as a great song, and I was guilty of it again when starting to make this list. Never again.

Viva la Possum!


2. Weekapaug Groove (Hampton Comes Alives)

This would immediately become the best bass song in the game. By a lot. Listen to that beginning. HOLY HELL! And it doesn’t get much easier or less amazing after that.

The scariest part is that the drums might be just as crazy. I’m not nearly as good at drumming as the other three instruments so I’m not sure, but I’m pretty certain this song would be a psychotic test of endurance.

Oh and Trey is playing guitar, so of course that gets bonkers as well around the 3:30 mark. This song is simply nuts for Rock Band and one of the best examples of how live music just slaughters studio music for a band like Phish.

I’m honestly starting to think that Weekapaug would become the hippie “Painkiller”.

Wow.

1) Harry Hood (Hampton Comes Alive)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Harry Hood is Phish's greatest song.

From start to finish, its just absolutely gorgeous and all parts would be amazing to play. The vocalists does have some down time, but they won’t care because the song and this version are just that epic. More than any song ever "Harry Hood" has the potential for me to have an out-of-body experience while playing and actually believe I'm on stage.

Just throw the CD in now and prepare yourself for a serious journey, especially from the 8-minute mark on. That 5-minute section of guitar would probably make me cry while playing.

The craziest thing is that I'm not lying. I truly believe that a live version of "Harry Hood" on Rock Band is not only the kind of things dreams are made of, but a song that could take the game to a whole different level of brilliance for me. A completely new musical experience.

Please, please, please HMX make my dreams happen!

[opence]

This is a great thread, I just wish there were even more people enthused with phish on this site.

[Ultimatum]

I'm loving all the airtime they get on the Jam Band station on SiriusXM.

[easo91]

I just wanna say that if they do make a phish pack, they better not buture it like they did with Bowie, and cut out all of the keyboard, sure there is no keyboard controller, but playing a phish song without hearing page going off in the background just isn't right, and wouldn't be TRUE phish, can't wait for march!!!!

[jr174200]

I just wanna say that if they do make a phish pack, they better not buture it like they did with Bowie, and cut out all of the keyboard, sure there is no keyboard controller, but playing a phish song without hearing page going off in the background just isn't right, and wouldn't be TRUE phish, can't wait for march!!!!

I don't think you need to worry about that anymore. Early issues with how to handle other instruments ala keys seem to have been resolved with more recent DLC.

For an easy comparison look at how HMX handled "Smokin'" vs. "All Mixed Up" or "Baba O'Riley".

If/When Phish does eventually come out, I expect that we will hear Page loud and clear in the mix. Although any of the "Play it Leo" tracks might not be ideal for actual gameplay, most Phish songs wouldn't be distracting without a keyboard controller.

[Ferocious Q]

are you kidding? i think i'd kill myself if one song by them made it into RB

[jr174200]

are you kidding? i think i'd kill myself if one song by them made it into RB

That's probably overreacting, but hey if you want to turn to suicide because Phish DLC comes out, more power to you.

For comparison, I would not download Slipknot if they came out (a band from your sig), but I probably wouldn't kill myself. That seems a bit too extreme.

But hey, at least we both love The D.

[SM2535]

Definitely didn't read the whole thread, but I would fully support Phish for RB. I'd love to see some of the metalheads play some of Trey's licks :)
Off the top of my head...
Stash - Epic
Tweezer Reprise - Short, but damn would it be fun
Llama - Have fun drumming that one
Down with Disease - Probably one of the only "radio" hits, bassline would rock
Character Zero, Free - Straightforward, fun rock tunes to play
Simple - Just a funky groove
Rift - That would be a sick guitar riff to play
AC/DC Bag, Suzie Greenberg - Don't know if there are studio versions of these, but I'll take a live version :)
Hell, how about Picture of Nectar for full album DLC???

[Ultimatum]

are you kidding? i think i'd kill myself if one song by them made it into RB

And why is that?

[lostlakechameleons]

Bump!!!! Your top five would be perfect, although i'd die to have just one!!!!!

[jr174200]

are you kidding? i think i'd kill myself if one song by them made it into RB


Bump!!!! Your top five would be perfect, although i'd die to have just one!!!!!

Boy, that is a lot of death in this thread!

Come on HMX, don't you want to release DLC that would cost life's? Just think about it ... you'd have the power of Gods.

[RyGuy7]

props to jr for making one of the best threads in this forum! After actually looking at these forums for about a year I decided to sign up just so I could add to this awesome topic!
Phish in rockband would rock so hard. I was a late bloomer when it came to listening to phish so I only got to see them once live in concert. My sister who is five years older then me must have been over 50 times. She actually invited me to go to big cypress with her and I turned her down!! Oh how I wish I could go back in time.. granted I was only 15 at the time. Anyways back on topic.. Any Phish would be awesome.. but harry hood would be epic ^
PLEASE HARMONIX ADD SOME PHISH!!

[chiefhky29]

good to see someone who would put as much though into phish songs as i do... i know nothing about rock band really but i understand the concepts with the lyrical gaps etc...

anyway sick sick list and i actually registered just to post here (i found this on google)

i was thinking, where the **** is llama! but i forgot about the pretty long organ solo.

other things that come to mind...

- Julius?? rocking, bluesy song, good words and guitar would make people say "wait, this is phish?" which is the typical responde

- and i wish there was a studio version of Famous Mockingbird... the guitar would be RIDICCULUS (for those of you thinking that kid cant spell, its a phish thing)

- if there was no lyric-less classical intro to my friend my friend, thatd be pretty killer. such style in the solo at the end. and good lyrics and drums. the drum parts cool because he changes from shuffle to straight fairly often.

- Limb by Limb! awesommeeeee drum part. i mean trey designed that drum part on a drum machine as a joke to trick fishman, and fishman learned it anyway haha. and good solo, lot of words.... that should be up there IMO.

[chiefhky29]

oh and let it just be noted that the kid who said hed kill himself if phish made it, likes coldplay. so.... just puttin it out there...
also i guess if ppl commited suicide over that, well that just be natural selection at its finest. make more room for the phans.

[mynor142]

I could see Trey being of the school of thought that finds RB and the like to be a waste of time that should be used learning to play an instrument, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Phish had been approached and had turned it down. On the flip side, however, I could see the upcoming reunion and the attendant press coverage and promotional efforts by the band resulting in Phish DLC sooner, rather than later. It sure would be nice if Hmx would drop hints as to bands they are pursuing, or bands that have rejected them, so that the fanbase could help persuade artists that are hesitant to expand to the new medium

[jr174200]

good to see someone who would put as much though into phish songs as i do... i know nothing about rock band really but i understand the concepts with the lyrical gaps etc...

anyway sick sick list and i actually registered just to post here (i found this on google)



Glad you enjoyed the list! I certainly agree with a lot of the songs you brought up, as all of them were on my initial brainstorming list, but for varying reasons none of them ended up making the cut.

The toughest of the bunch was Limb by Limb (which I LOVE) but I just wasn't sure how HMX would handle the harmonies.


I could see Trey being of the school of thought that finds RB and the like to be a waste of time that should be used learning to play an instrument, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Phish had been approached and had turned it down. On the flip side, however, I could see the upcoming reunion and the attendant press coverage and promotional efforts by the band resulting in Phish DLC sooner, rather than later. It sure would be nice if Hmx would drop hints as to bands they are pursuing, or bands that have rejected them, so that the fanbase could help persuade artists that are hesitant to expand to the new medium

I tend to disagree with this sentiment regarding Phish's thoughts on music gaming. They were always on the cutting edge of technology in terms of internet presence and I imagine they would support these types of games.

If anyone would have an issue with it, it would probably be Mike Gordon, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Cactus was an expert guitarist. He's just kind of a strange guy, so I'd never be sure where he'd stand on something.

Either way, I do agree that their return to the limelight will prove huge in terms of potential inclusion in Rock Band.

[chiefhky29]

imagine them trying to handle something like the ALO tweezer (at many points you can't even tell who's playing bass and whos playing guitar because of the whammy fiasco they pull off) hahaha

there are some vids of ppl on youtube that made the files for a few phish songs. divided sky was on there which was cool to watch. must have taken that kid forever. and i think inlaw josie wales

also interesting... if they were to use some live tracks... idk how theyd handle trey's loops. because technically he plays them once and then loops them... would they have people actually play the loop the first time? then again... when trey's using loops its usually going to be a lengthy jam that they wouldn't put in the game anyway.

[Ultimatum]

They'd probably have you play what Trey's actually playing.

Take a look at the Drum Solo in Space Truckin'. Paice's beat is looped in the background, but you're playing the solo that he's playing over it.

[cameronhodgkins]

Stash, Horn, and Divided Sky please!!

Thank you, Mr. Minor...

[pharmer16]

My first post here. I a long time phish fan however, I think any song that makes it on RB would have to be short and sweet...cavern, sample, chalkdust. The epics like reba and harry would get to be boring for half your band at different points. There are times in these songs that just wouldn't work for the game. Does anyone agree? That being said, my top five would be:
1. Sample
2. Cavern
3. Heavy Things
4. Golgi
5. It's Ice

[Gberg73]

Rift
It's Ice

Hell the whole RIft album!!!!! wait no.....ALL of NEctar, Rift and Hoist!!!...Junta too..oh yeah and LAwn Boy....I can skip anything after hoist.

[Weyoun42]

Today is the day, friends! Let's get this show on the road!

[jr174200]

I just finished listening the "No Spoilers" version of the show and am completely blown away.

Wow.

[Weyoun42]

A week later and I still can't stop listening to the free soundboard downloads of the shows. Can't wait for Deer Creek 6/19 when I finally get to see them live and in person for the first time! (Yeah, I've had to get by with nothing but recordings so far.)

[elementzo3]

I thought for sure that there would be a phish trackpack to celebrate the reunion. Maybe there'll be a bonnaroo DLC with a phish trackpack? I've been waiting since this game came out to play some phish tunes.. YEM would be great, as would reba or stash..

[Weyoun42]

I went through the massive hassle of modding GH3 on the PC and using the Rock Band guitar to play Divided Sky. While it was imperfect, it was still awesome. As it is, I spend most of my time playing all the Grateful Dead tracks with a little SRV and Rush thrown in (and also that new track by Richard Thompson; had never heard of him before, but quite awesome). I don't just want repetetive power chords; I like music with some emotion in the guitar playing!

[elementzo3]

bump?

[LesPlaycool]

Let me explain something to everyone on these forums.

This is the most important thread on this board. Every other thread is trash in comparison to this thread.

What I want to see (and can see):

1. Axilla (pt 2)
2. Down With Disease
3. Foam
4. The Divided Sky (I don't care about not being enough vocals I would GLADLY sing this song in Rock Band, same goes for)
5. You Enjoy Myself
6. Fluffhead -> Fluff's Travels for maximum money's worth
7. Run Like An Antelope
8. Maze
9. Llama
10. Tweezer (Or Reprise, either)
11. My Friend, My Friend
12. It's Ice
13. Pebbles and Marbles
14. Piper
15. Heavy Things


Also, The Story Of The Ghost should be put up as an album, ASAP. It's the best possible album choice, personally, followed by Farmhouse or Picture of Nectar.

Now, that doesn't have anything to do with my album preference...It's definitely:

Junta -> Lawn Boy -> The Story of the Ghost -> A Picture of Nectar -> Rift -> Billy Breathes -> Farmhouse -> Hoist -> Round Room -> The Siket Disc

Now, don't take my ordering the wrong way. They are all God Tier albums. I would totally pay for the whole Hampton 09 set..

[elementzo3]

^ what he said

[Dante1847]

where is the Meatstick?

guess doesn't stack up to the groundrules.

good list

[Duchess13]

Great thread!

I dont care about the rules, Bathtub Gin, First Tube, Gotta Jibboo!!!

[jr174200]

Let me explain something to everyone on these forums.

This is the most important thread on this board. Every other thread is trash in comparison to this thread.



Thank you for your insight and I totally agree. Hampton 09 would be absolutely epic and would actually work well for the game, since there was very little excessive, spaced-out jams and most songs were played straight-forward.

With Bonnaroo on the horizon, I'm starting to think we might actually see some Phish in the coming months. My realistic best guess at a three-pack would be Down With Disease, Farmhouse and Backwards Down the Number Line, as a promotion for their new studio album.

Honestly, with the ridiculous amount of press Phish is getting these days for their reunion and the hundreds of thousands of phans paying huge amounts to see the Phish 3.0 shows it seems like an obvious opportunity for HMX to sell Rock Band units.

Those Red Rocks shows are going to be HUGE and coupled with their 2 nights of headlining Bonnaroo, HMX needs to join up with camp Phish and make it happen.


Great thread!

I dont care about the rules, Bathtub Gin, First Tube, Gotta Jibboo!!!

Those rules were constructed when Rock Band first came out and neither instrumentals or live songs were allowed. Since AC/DC, The Who, Rush and SRV have changed that, I agree that "First Tube" would be amazing.

I still think "Bathtub Gin" isn't ideal due to Page's pronounced keys but of course, it would also be amazing in the game like the rest of Phish's catalog.

On page 15, I put my top 5 live songs, which found "Harry Hood" number one on the list.

[jr174200]

I just found out that I got tickets to all four Red Rocks shows!!!

WOO HOO!

[allconcert]

Phish phucking rule! My favourite jam band of all time.

Favourite song - Fee

Song that got me started - Dirt.

It's been a while since I've seen a good band mentioned in the music forums.

[bdrizzle14]

I just found out that I got tickets to all four Red Rocks shows!!!

WOO HOO!

you lucky bastard! i'm moving to austin soon, so i hope they are doing that festival out there, i haven''t seen any confirmation, but phish's site has a map that zooms into TX. fingers crossed.

[Weyoun42]

I just found out that I got tickets to all four Red Rocks shows!!!

WOO HOO!Cool! Glad to see people that will really appreciate it get tix. Enjoy!

[MultiBeast]

It's been a while since I posted on this forum, but in that time we have seen instrumental tracks, live tracks, and 10-minute long tracks come to rock band, and we've seen Phish gloriously reunite.

Now is the time HMX!!!! We need some Phish!!!! Live stuff would be epic (like Chalkdust from 'A Live One'!)

[jr174200]

Thanks for all the love about the Red Rocks tickets. Words can't explain how pumped I was to win the lottery.

Time to head over to ticketmaster and get denied for The Gorge.

[Weyoun42]

All I could afford this go around was Deer Creek. I would have loved to have taken a shot at that Chicago show since I live in Michigan. Maybe if my finances go up and scalper prices go down before August....

[jr174200]

I just got tickets for The Gorge as well!

This is the first time I've ever been successful on ticketmaster.com and I'm still a little shocked.

As a long-time east coaster, I've always wanted to see shows at both Red Rocks and The Gorge and am incredibly pumped for this summer!


All I could afford this go around was Deer Creek. I would have loved to have taken a shot at that Chicago show since I live in Michigan. Maybe if my finances go up and scalper prices go down before August....

You'll love Deer Creek. I've seen many Phish shows there and it is always an absolute blast. 7/11/00 (Moby ****), was probably my favorite show of all-time.

EDIT: Did "Moby ****" by Led Zeppelin just get auto-censored? That is hilarious.

[Weyoun42]

Hey jr, you ever read or comment at Mr. Miner's site? (http://phishthoughts.com/) The comments are a little downhearted today due to ample ticket strikeouts, but usually it's a great place and definitely an upbeat alternative to Phantasy Tour. It's my first stop on the intertubes every morning.

I'm psyched about Deer Creek (first show!) and am downloading a lot of shows that they've done there just so I can get the vibe. I'll have to snag that one. Here, lemme try it as one word: MobyDick.

EDIT: Ha ha ha! Fooled you, auto-censor!

[jr174200]

Yeah, I go to Mr. Miner's site. It was a lifesaver during Hampton for the no-spoilers shows.

Personally, I go to Oh Kee Pah the most in terms of forums, as PT has obviously fallen on its face in recent year.

Rec.Music.Phish was still the best, but that just makes me feel old.

[easo91]

Yeah, I go to Mr. Miner's site. It was a lifesaver during Hampton for the no-spoilers shows.

Personally, I go to Oh Kee Pah the most in terms of forums, as PT has obviously fallen on its face in recent year.

Rec.Music.Phish was still the best, but that just makes me feel old.
The Oh Kee Pa is where it's at

[Chuck Fiasco]

I vote "It's ice" and "Stash".

[WhiteManJohnson]

I would really, really like to play Llama.

[Chuck Fiasco]

Seriously...how can Phish NOT be in RB?

[bengalcp09]

Seriously...how can Phish NOT be in RB?

I think it would be funny to see the fanbase that is most sensitive to "selling out" in the entire world react to a Phish 6 pack. Would be hilarious.

side note: I have 10th row center to Deer Creek and I can't wait.

[7yl3ris1337]

I'm lost, wtf is phish? seriously

[Ultimatum]

I'm lost, wtf is phish? seriously

A band, obviously.

[7yl3ris1337]

A band, obviously.

Never heard of them.

[Ultimatum]

And?

[Chuck Fiasco]

I'm lost, wtf is phish? seriously

god I hope hes joking...

[jr174200]

Seriously...how can Phish NOT be in RB?

I ask myself this question at least once a day.

Hopefully it's because HMX is waiting on the masters of "Backwards Down the Number Line" to complete the 12-pack. Yeah, that's probably it.

[Weyoun42]

I'm lost, wtf is phish? seriously

Here: Click this link. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Phish)

[Jordashebasics]

I think it would be funny to see the fanbase that is most sensitive to "selling out" in the entire world react to a Phish 6 pack. Would be hilarious.

I don't know if this would be a problem. Even the most fanatical fans would mostly just complain that their favorite version of whichever song wasn't released.

If anything, usually it's the band itself that wants to avoid having a hit single, so they left Strange Design off of Billy Breathes.

They could want to ensure that they would get a broad mix of styles in RB, which could be difficult.

[Weyoun42]

Actually, I could see a little outrage. First off, it would open young people up to Phish, which should be a good thing, but there are some cranky tourers out there who don't want any new people at the shows. Secondly there would be the complaints that Phish isn't about "playing the song accurately" but about the improvisation. While that's true, there are people like me who couldn't create a piece of music if my life depended on it. Mimicking is the best I can do. So, this Phish fan says, "Gimme."

[plork99]

New to Rock Band and have to say besides Frank Zappa, Phish is a band I would love to see added to the DLC. I saw Phish live about 50 times starting in '94 during college. Sure that number dwindled over the years to maybe once a tour and I don't know if I'm going to even make it to a show this summer, but I'd jump on Phish songs the day they were made available. Number one pick would be Down With Disease just because it has everything you need in a fun Rock Band track. Song I'd love to see make it but would never happen, Spock's Brain. Hehe.

[Phishaholic]

YEM
Chalk dust Torture
Bouncing around the room
Free "the base/guitar battle is a must"
Character Zero
Carini

All great song that would be a blast on the game

[LesPlaycool]

I just got my Camden ticket for face value from a fellow Phan! :D


Actually, I could see a little outrage. First off, it would open young people up to Phish, which should be a good thing, but there are some cranky tourers out there who don't want any new people at the shows. Secondly there would be the complaints that Phish isn't about "playing the song accurately" but about the improvisation. While that's true, there are people like me who couldn't create a piece of music if my life depended on it. Mimicking is the best I can do. So, this Phish fan says, "Gimme."

This really shouldn't be a problem. For the most part, most younger people don't appreciate Phish..

On top of this, I don't think it matters about jamming in rock band...as long as the songs are in the game and charted properly, thats what matters.



To this day I am confused as to why Phish isn't in Rock Band yet. Maybe if Harmonix could comment if they've considered it..that would be great.

Also, Phishaholic...I would love to play Carini!

[zerofan]

I like their live stuff better and feel the same way about the Grateful Dead. Both bands in the studio have songs that play better as live versions.

[bdrizzle14]

I like their live stuff better and feel the same way about the Grateful Dead. Both bands in the studio have songs that play better as live versions.

i agree, i feel the same way about umphrey's mcgee too!

[jr174200]

I like their live stuff better and feel the same way about the Grateful Dead. Both bands in the studio have songs that play better as live versions.

Clearly Phish is better live than in studio, but both The Dead and The Allmans have proven that studio tracks still work for jam bands.

That said, I'd love to get a live/studio mix if we get Phish, if for no other reason than getting Hood and Weekapaug. Or possibly, getting an entire show from this summer.

[br0seph]

i approve of this thread and can't wait to see some Phish DLC.

IMO, live phish releases should be used for any DLC and not album versions.

The Top 3 of my wish list are:
Antelope - 4/3/98
IT Ghost
Went Gin

Tho it's not out on live phish...i'd love a chart for the 7/13/94 Possum

[jr174200]

Driving home yesterday and listening to The Roxy shows, I realized just how awesome "The Lizards" and "Sleeping Monkey" would be to play.

[Bapslap]

I can't believe there hasn't been a Phish pack released yet!
Perhaps with the new album coming out at the end of July, the reunion tour, and the overall excitement in the scene, the time has come.

Studio recording, live tracks, whatever...
We need Phish in Rock Band!!

[jr174200]

Phish is coming out!

We did it!

Woo hoo!

[br0seph]

Yes!!!!!

[jr174200]

For those wondering if Wilson will be good for Rock Band, here were my comments from both the Top 20 List and the Top 5 Live List:



Bonus Track #2 - Wilson – No Album

If a solid studio version existed of Wilson it would be in the top 3. No questions asked. Probably No. 1.

Just imagine the crowd screaming “WILSON” as you played the intro, and then BAM! The song simply explodes! Then at the end of the song they could have a fake Big Rock Ending, and then the song comes back, before the real Big Rock Ending.

Listen to A Live One’s version and just imagine.

It would be glorious. Simply glorious.




4. Wilson (A Live One)

While slightly less explorative than the Hampton version, this version feels a lot tighter and therefore better for the game. It would be an absolute beast to play on guitar and drums.

It would also have a great Rock Band moment with the responsive “Wilson’s” as its probably the best song for the fans of more traditional rock. A studio version of “Wilson” would probably have been ideal, but as it stands this song would still be great for the game.


SO EXCITED!!!

[Cubecubed]

Grats guys!!! :)

iI listened to the song and will be buying it

[Dante1847]

congrats jr.....like you, Im ecstatic that Phish is coming. let more songs from them and other jambands arrive

[Ultimatum]

This will probably be the most fun I've ever had on my plastic Guitar.

[Weyoun42]

I just about choked on my drink. This... this is just the best.

[Weyoun42]

Okay, two things. One, I'm assuming it's the "A Live One" recording, but I suppose it's possible that it's another. I'll be curious to see that. The other is how great it would be if Harmonix has the crowd in the game yell the "WIIIIIILLLLLLSSSSSOOOONNNN!!!"s.

I thought I was excited for the start of summer tour on Sunday. Now Tuesday has that beat, easy.

[jr174200]

I just got confirmation from HMX ... it is the "A Live One" version and I am stoked.

This is such a great day for all phans of Rock Band/Phish.

[Dante1847]

I just got confirmation from HMX ... it is the "A Live One" version and I am stoked.

This is such a great day for all phans of Rock Band/Phish.

cool, it'll probably have one of the best crowd sing-alongs thus far on the RB setlist when the crowd chants "WIIILLLLSONNNNN".

looking forward to some good bass too.

[pmpboarder]

Wow...

Major congratulations, jr! As you said, "simply glorious."

[jr174200]

Wow...

Major congratulations, jr! As you said, "simply glorious."

Ha, glad to see you show up! This proves it can happen.

Good luck on Cake!

[Cubecubed]

Ha, glad to see you show up! This proves it can happen.

Good luck on Cake!

I would be really happy to see Cake in Rock band!

so Phish Phans,tell me, will the guitar for "Wilson" be simliar to a Grateful Dead song? if it is,its an inst-buy! :)

[jr174200]

I would be really happy to see Cake in Rock band!

so Phish Phans,tell me, will the guitar for "Wilson" be simliar to a Grateful Dead song? if it is,its an inst-buy! :)

If another song had been picked then the answer would be yes. While the fanbases for the Dead and Phish are fairly similar, their music is often quite different as people will soon realize when the DLC is released.

"Wilson" is actually more of a straight-forward arena rock song than anything in the Dead packs, although the guitar will still be awesome (but not nearly as intricate as other Phish choices would be). This choice is more about picking a great track for Rock Band, as opposed to a vehicle to showcase Trey Anastasio's guitar work (e.g. Stash, You Enjoy Myself, Divided Sky).

Either way, the song is an obvious insta-buy and will be great in Rock Band.

Hopefully in the future, more Phish will come out to truly showcase their amazing diversity as a band.

[Cubecubed]

If another song had been picked then the answer would be yes. While the fanbases for the Dead and Phish are fairly similar, their music is often quite different as people will soon realize when the DLC is released.

"Wilson" is actually more of a straight-forward arena rock song than anything in the Dead packs, although the guitar will still be awesome (but not nearly as intricate as other Phish choices would be). This choice is more about picking a great track for Rock Band, as opposed to a vehicle to showcase Trey Anastasio's guitar work (e.g. Stash, You Enjoy Myself, Divided Sky).

Either way, the song is an obvious insta-buy and will be great in Rock Band.

Hopefully in the future, more Phish will come out to truly showcase their amazing diversity as a band.

well i still plan on buying it......what an excellent week,HMX fulfilled the wishes of two huge groups of fans.:)

[pmpboarder]

Ha, glad to see you show up! This proves it can happen.

Good luck on Cake!

Oh, I wouldn't miss this party for the world! It really does give a whole new justification for all the time you put into this thread. It's one thing for like-minded fans to appreciate your work and say "YEAH!" It's another thing entirely for Harmonix to say "Here."

I think I've said it before, but I'm a Phish noob. I love everything I've heard from them and have checked out quite a bit more based on this thread. I'll definitely be buying "Wilson" on Tuesday and yelling at people I meet online who don't have it.

Again, major congrats on this one. You're 2 for 2 between Phish and Modest Mouse. (I'm not sure if you've made any other "official" band threads.) I just hope we'll see many more from both bands.

I have a really good feeling about CAKE. It may not be soon, but I just know there's no way we won't ever see them. :)

[Weyoun42]

Cake is one of the few bands that could get me to put down the guitar/bass and pick up the microphone. I probably wouldn't even have to look at the screen.

[LesPlaycool]

OH MY GOD.

This is such good news. There better be more to come!!!!!!


duh dun... duh dun...



Willlllsoooooooooooooon. :)

[jr174200]

My "Wilson (Live)" Review

Well, I just finally had the pleasure of playing my favorite band of all-time in Rock Band and to put it simply, it was an unbelievable experience. I can only imagine the excitement one must feel when receiving large packs/albums from their favorite artist, because one song alone just had me going nuts in my living room at 3 am.

I've now played Wilson 5 or 6 times in different configurations and figured I should post my thoughts tonight for other 'Heads to read in the morning when they wake up.

The Details:

Bonnaroo Pack 01

PHISH - A LIVE ONE (w/album cover) - Rock - 1995

Band - 000
Guitar - 000
Drums - 00000 (it was too late for me to play them)
Vocals - 00
Bass - 00

As we already knew, this version comes from "A Live One". It sounds great in the game and I only noticed one minor change, which was shortening the length of the gap between the fake ending and the final explosion. The transition is smooth and while I'd prefer it be slightly longer, it does make sense for gameplay.

There is no big rock ending, as HMX clearly used the original 12/30/94 SBD's where "Wilson" ended before "Rift" as opposed to the segue into "Tweezer" like on "A Live One".

Individual Instruments

Guitar [Expert]

Honestly, any song by Phish released on this game was immediately going to be one of my favorites. The chart is amazing and an absolute blast to play.

I will say though that of all the songs in their extensive catalog, "Wilson" only offers us a small glimpse into the true greatness of Trey Anastasio as a guitarist. While other songs might've focused on his craftsmanship more (Guyute, Stash or YEM), HMX decided to choose a song that would feature the entire band more (specifically Fishman based on the ratings) and I can't fault them for that.

That said, it is still a truly spectacular guitar chart. The first few mini-runs that Trey goes on are considered one large solo and boy is that solo awesome. It wasn't difficult for me to pass but it will take some time on my part to master. That solo is the highlight of the song on guitar, although the final short-solo after the fakeout is just as great but not as long.

The only other note would be that the DU-DU DU-DU is represented by two quick green notes back-to-back and that gets played quite often.

Bass [Expert]

I rarely play the bass as I have trouble hearing low frequencies, but I decided to try it anyway. Spending most of the track in laid-back Cactus mode, Mike Gordon flexes the least musical muscle on "Wilson" as the jam never goes far enough to allow him to really take off. Toward the end, it does open up a little bit and regardless, is still much more interesting than the usual standard Rock Band bass track.

Plus, I'll always love how those thick bass notes resonate between the first and second verses. Hopefully some day we'll get a "Wolfman's Brother" or "Weekapuag Groove" and show the world what Mike Gordon really can do.

Vocals [Hard]

The biggest note would be that as the vocalist you do sing the crowd's "Wiiilllssssoooon". While I would prefer this wasn't the case, it's not that big of a deal and I already have plans to have my bandmates sing that part when with a group (which will be awesome!).

It was too late at night for me to truly belt it out, but this is now my favorite song to sing in Rock Band. It's just plain awesome to sing a song you love and I love this song.

Most of the lines are talkies (including the main refrain) and reading certain words like Gamehendge, Lizards and Helping Friendly Book from the scolling Rock Band lyric bar felt almost sacrilegious. Phishheads will know what I'm talking about on that one.

Finally, the infamous last line is written as: Blap! Boom! A-blip-ee-boom blip-ee-boom

Voxtar [Hard]

So, I wrote the rest of this review before doing Voxtar. To be honest, up until this point I've been writing fairly standard responses and have been slightly disapointed by my overall experience. Was "Wilson" still my favorite song in Rock Band because it was Phish? Yes. Did it blow my mind? Not yet.

It just blew my mind.

You know how certain songs just make way more sense on Voxtar? This is the way that "Wilson" was meant to be played.

Phish is a band where the lead guitarist is often singing lead and playing them together on Rock Band just allowed me to experience Phish in a way I never had before. The motivation of Trey's guitar work just made so much more sense and I completely lost myself in the music. Especially during the two solos, I found myself smiling like a madman and making ridiculous faces like my Redheaded rock hero. Wow. That was great. I need to do that again.

Final Verdict

"Wilson (Live)" is the greatest song in the history of Rock Band ;)

Speaking seriously, this really is a great song for Rock Band and I'm so proud to see it being made available as DLC.

If you ever play Voxtar, you seriously need to buy "Wilson" right away and if you enjoy "Wilson" but have never tried Guitar/Vocals together, get a mic stand. Right now. Coupled with the difficult drum chart and interesting bass, this seems like an obvious buy for all players, not just phans.

Thank you again HMX for bringing my all-time favorite rock band to Rock Band!

See ya at the 'Roo.

P.S. What did you guys think? Anyone have any thoughts on the drums?

[pmpboarder]

I just got home from work. I'm gonna go download and play expert drums shortly. I will let you know my thoughts. Glad to hear your mind was blown. :)

[LesPlaycool]

Already downloaded it. I can't wait to play it.

I'm hoping for a Phish pack in the future. Now that Phish is featured in the game, we know it's possible..

Phish Pack 01

You Enjoy Myself
Stash
Maze
Mike's Song >
I Am Hydrogen >
Weekapaug Groove
Harry Hood

lets see it

[pmpboarder]

I just got home from work. I'm gonna go download and play expert drums shortly. I will let you know my thoughts. Glad to hear your mind was blown. :)

It certainly deserved its difficulty rating on drums. I only 4-starred it on expert. There are a lot of tricky parts, such as fills all over the place, a series of double-bass hits that my leg is still aching from, etc.

It doesn't help that I played the other 5 songs in the pack first, but still. I need to practice this song.

I love it, though.

[jr174200]

It certainly deserved it's difficulty rating on drums. I only 4-starred it on expert. There are a lot of tricky parts, such as fills all over the place, a series of double-bass hits that my leg is still aching from, etc.

It doesn't help that I played the other 5 songs in the pack first, but still. I need to practice this song.

I love it, though.

:D

[jr174200]

After a few hours of sleep, I just woke up from my amazing night of playing "Wilson". The best part was when I finally went to bed at 5:30 and my girlfriend was getting ready for work. The look on her face was priceless.

Having played "Wilson" in many configurations last night, I figured it was time to plug it into a Voxtar setlist and see how it played with other songs. So here goes.


06/02/09 - jr174200's Living Room - Santa Barbara, CA

Set I: Fire on the Mountain, Blue Sky, Wilson

Set II: Psycho Killer, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Black, Sea and Sand, Wilson

Encore: Wilson, Foreplay/Longtime

Um, wow.

That worked out even better than I expected. The concept of playing a Phish song amongst songs from their primary influences (The Dead, Talking Heads, The Allman Brothers), songs they've actually played live ("Sea and Sand", "Foreplay/Longtime") and some personal favorites of mine was more than I could have ever imagined.

When I hit the line "Can you still have fun?" I literally lose it everytime.

Thanks again, HMX! I LOVE YOU!

[jr174200]

I am listening to the no-spoiler version of tonight's show (6/4/09) and this "Divided Sky" is SO SICK. Wow.

Phish is very much back!

[aaXwonXaa]

the lizards? tube?! first tube?! sand?! wolfmans brother, suzy greenburg, any phish song will do really, i just want some more intense live jams to play on rock band, that would be fantastic. wilson was a great choice but a little to simple and only the solos are fun to play. but i want some INTENSE jamming, i keep saying i want live dead for that reason, but still only studio work from them.

on another note. i was at the 6-7-09 show, and that entire set list would be perfect for rock band :)

[jr174200]

Phish is coming out on GHWT.

Not much time to go into all the details (I'm in a hotel lobby in Nashville before Bonnaroo), but Chalkdust, Sample and Disease are all coming out as live tracks.

I always said that if Phish came out I'd buy GH, and they did, so I will.

This is a good thing for 'Heads. WOO HOO!

[Bapslap]

I recently bought a used copy of GHWT and I'm really glad I did. Three live Phish tracks on June 25...!!! Hell Yeah.

The DL content for Rock Band hasn't interested me in quite a while (except for Wilson last week) so not only do I have a bunch of new songs on the GHWT disc to play, but I will soon have the Phish I've been waiting for....and "Kid Charlemagne"...that tune is way fun.

[Dante1847]

GHWT strikes again. Im especially excited to see "Down with Disease" licensed, jsut wish it were for Rock Band

[Weekapyc]

Looks like I'm buying GHWT too. Wish it was RB, but am thrilled anyway. Great selections. Can RB instruments be used or do I need to buy the whole bundle to play.

[Dante1847]

Looks like I'm buying GHWT too. Wish it was RB, but am thrilled anyway. Great selections. Can RB instruments be used or do I need to buy the whole bundle to play.

Im pretty sure they're interchangeable. Ive played RB with a GHWT guitar. There should be a FAQ thread somewhere on the site.

[Weyoun42]

Anybody see any info on what the sources are for these GHWT live tracks? Chalkdust is the only one on A Live One, so I'm curious what shows got picked for DWD and Sample. If they picked really good versions, I may have to go and spring for a used copy too.

[timmay9]

I'm starting to get into to them more and more. And yes, I would probably buy anything from them. :)

[Weyoun42]

Well, I hit the road for Deer Creek in less than an hour for show #1 ever. Sounds like it's going to be in a thunderstorm tomorrow, but I'll deal.

[jr174200]

Anybody see any info on what the sources are for these GHWT live tracks? Chalkdust is the only one on A Live One, so I'm curious what shows got picked for DWD and Sample. If they picked really good versions, I may have to go and spring for a used copy too.

I have wondered this myself. My best guess is that all three are from The Clifford Ball, which if that is the case, the Down With Disease will be 15:34. Assuming no edits or funny business that will be intense.


Well, I hit the road for Deer Creek in less than an hour for show #1 ever. Sounds like it's going to be in a thunderstorm tomorrow, but I'll deal.

Man, I just got back from Bonnaroo and the boys are on absolute fire! Seriously, this is the best I've seen them play since I first started seeing shows back in '95.

I've seen some of my favorite shows at Deer Creek (specifically 7/11/00) and hope you have a blast!

Let us know what you think.

[guyutes cousin]

ill be honest, i didnt read every post in this thread but i did read the first few pages. i would love to see more phish come out for dlc, and im kinda mad i dont have ghwt otherwise i would download those songs coming out.

but to put rules on what phish songs should be in the game isnt right. i like your original list, but the studio cuts are not what make phish great. nobody listens to the album after awhile, they listen to shows. any phish dlc should be live, whether or not its long, or a little light on the lyrics. i know rockband needs their dlc to be officially released but thats no big deal because phish has tons of "officially released" live stuff. besides stuff like the hamptons, new years eve, slip stich, a live one, brooklyn, etc, they have the 20 official "live phish" albums the band put out.

so that being said, they have a ton of live material to choose from. id personally like to see tube, suzy greenberg, guyute, 2001, wedge, maybe wolfmans brother. i dont know. there is so much to choose from.

[LesPlaycool]

According to the guy who convinced Activision to put Phish in GHWT, the songs are live, but they were trimmed down to 5 minutes...which cuts out a lot of the fun in my opinion.

[jr174200]

ill be honest, i didnt read every post in this thread but i did read the first few pages. i would love to see more phish come out for dlc, and im kinda mad i dont have ghwt otherwise i would download those songs coming out.

but to put rules on what phish songs should be in the game isnt right. i like your original list, but the studio cuts are not what make phish great. nobody listens to the album after awhile, they listen to shows. any phish dlc should be live, whether or not its long, or a little light on the lyrics. i know rockband needs their dlc to be officially released but thats no big deal because phish has tons of "officially released" live stuff. besides stuff like the hamptons, new years eve, slip stich, a live one, brooklyn, etc, they have the 20 official "live phish" albums the band put out.

so that being said, they have a ton of live material to choose from. id personally like to see tube, suzy greenberg, guyute, 2001, wedge, maybe wolfmans brother. i dont know. there is so much to choose from.

Welcome!

I made this list awhile ago and already updated it later to add live songs. And yes, there is way too much material to choose from.


According to the guy who convinced Activision to put Phish in GHWT, the songs are live, but they were trimmed down to 5 minutes...which cuts out a lot of the fun in my opinion.

Please don't let this be true! If this is the case, I will be furious.

[jr174200]

Here is the official info for the GH:WT that come out Thursday:

Down With Disease - 12/1/95 - Hershey, PA - Original Version (7:24) - Edited Length (6:16)

While I have absolutely no idea what editing they could've done, this version absolutely rocks.

You can watch it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uCSy67k16c (thanks toymachine). The guitar solo will be nothing short of beastly and anyone who listens to Phish knows the other instruments will also be great. This is one of Mike's most famous bass songs, with good reason, and the drums get wild during the jam.

In terms of the edits, I'm literally stumped. I can't see how they could just chop the last minute off as Trey is going bonkers and it smoothly returns to the lyrical refrain at the end. While I wish there were no edits, hopefully they just stealthy removed something in the jam's build.

Again though, the version is awesome and will be an absolute blast to play! Now knowing the version, this immediately becomes my favorite rhythm game song of all-time.

This will be amazing.

Chalk Dust Torture - 11/16/94 - Ann Arbor, MI - *A LIVE ONE VERSION* - Original Version (6:49) - Edited Length (5:49)

With another song that is literally one minute shorter than the full version, I'm hopeful that this was just a typo. Assuming it's not, my guess is that they just cut the song at 5:49. This honestly blows my mind, as the beauty of Phish's jams is built on returning to themes/songs, but maybe I'm wrong and they somehow cut a minute somewhere else.

That aside ...

Oh boy, do I love this version of Chalk Dust. Trey literally goes insane on the solo, the drums will be a serious endurance test and Mike is all over the map on bass.

Sample in a Jar - 12/1/94 - Salem, OR - Original Version (5:40) - Edited Length (5:00)

I assume this to be a standard '94 version of Sample, although honestly I don't have the show and don't want to buy it right now (it's a livephish.com release).

Anyway, it's Sample, so we know what we're going to get, a solid straight-forward rocker with a nice solo from Trey.

[Dante1847]

baffles my mind that anyone would edit these songs for length. defeats the purpose of offering them, almost

[LesPlaycool]

Told you they were going to edit the songs down. I don't know why they would cut them. As Dante said, it almost defeats the purpose.

[jr174200]

baffles my mind that anyone would edit these songs for length. defeats the purpose of offering them, almost

It honestly makes no sense to me. It's not as though the songs were incredibly long to begin with ala "My Generation".

That said, "Wilson (Live)" was technically edited as well, so I'm going to wait to pass judgment until I play the tracks tonight.

[jr174200]

I just finished playing the new Phish pack on GH:WT that contains "Sample in a Jar" (12/1/94), "Chalk Dust Torture" (11/16/94, A Live One) and "Down With Disease" (12/1/95)

Wow.

For me personally, this is already the greatest rhythm-game DLC ever released. On any system, on any game, this is now my favorite.

While playing "Wilson" in Rock Band is a great experience, the ability to build a mini Phish set is simply unparalleled. I learned things about my favorite band I never knew (specifically on bass) and just pretended to be Trey (guitar/vocals) for a solid 16-minutes!

As I said in the June DLC thread: "Sample in a Jar" is a perfect rocker with an awesome guitar solo, "Chalk Dust Torture" was a ridiculously difficult (but fun) guitar challenge and "Down With Disease" is legitimately the best guitar (and bass) song I've ever played (passing "Franklin's Tower" and "Jessica").

If you're reading this thread because you love Phish, you seriously need to buy GH:WT if you don't own it. You can get it for twenty bucks on amazon marketplace and trust me, playing Chalk Dust > Sample > DwD is easily worth twenty-five dollars.

While I'm still hopeful that more live Phish will come to Rock Band, this pack is certainly the next best thing and an amazing addition to the rhythm game community.

[Weyoun42]

Thanks for all the info on the tracks and then the review. I guess I know what I have to go buy now.

As for Deer Creek... boy, did I call a thunderstorm or what? Regardless, it was one of the most enjoyable nights of my life. That second set was nothing short of phenominal. Getting a Who cover (my #2 band) was beyond awesome. I had always felt "meh" about 2001 in the past. I was wrong, wrong, WRONG. Kuroda makes that song transcendant. And Suzy Greenberg > Possum may be two songs that have been played to death this tour, but oh my God the energy during them was blistering. Getting Sleeping Monkey for the encore was a real treat and Trey dancing around like mad during a massive Tweeprise left me speechless. I also got to see the thing he does waving the Languedoc around and getting the funny feedback noise that got him dubbed a Jedi. I had never understood that reference before.

Oh, and I will do what it takes to get to Toyota Park for 8/11.