By Chris Campanelli (March 5, 2002)

Phish’s new cd "Round Room" delivers a classic jam style album, complete with experimental song-writing and extensive mind-twisting instrumentals. From the album’s title track "Round Room," to the imaginative "Pebbles and Marbles" and "Walls of the Cave," and the classic "Mexican Cousin," the cd provides for an ultimate expedition through a musical style like no other.

After nearly a two-year separation, the band decided in 2002 to reform and produce this album. The band had broken up after a unanimous feeling of monotony, and somewhat of a burnout from the nearly 20-year journey they had endured. However, it did not take long for the four Vermont vagabonds to realize how much the band experience had meant to them.

Phish has always been a band of experimentation, and originality. It is at the core of their music. In this manner, "Round Room" is a song which is written and sung by the bass player, a voice not often heard in lead roles of Phish’s music. But the coordination of the music and the mellow, somewhat vague sounding voice, flows very well, just as Bob Dylan’s unpolished voice proved essential to the feeling of "Like a Rolling Stone." 

After years of straying from the mainstream and fame, the band has made a step toward the limelight with this new album, performing its catchy song "46 Days" on "Saturday Night Live" a few months back. 

This cd seems to be a far cry from the early Phish albums in its musical complexity and genius, yet it still remains true to the core of Phish’s style and image, and this is what every band strives for: a perfection of their own style. 

The drummer, Jon Fishman, stated in a recent "Rolling Stone Magazine" feature article that he feels the band spent their "first seventeen years learning how to be a good band . . . Now we can spend the next twenty years actually being a good band." It seems that this album is a strong step in that direction.