LIVE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN-NEW YEAR'S EVE 1995

If you were to have one album by Phish, this would be it. For a casual fan, this album provides all the entertainment and excitement one could expect from these Green Mountain Boys: high energy, excellent playing, a terrific set list and a perfect illustration of a live Phish show. This is the Phish show that I can honestly come back to with regularity and enjoy on the level of an actual studio album despite the fact that it is 3 CDs (with other shows, I can usually only listen to a set or one CD). So for anyone new to Phish, I highly recommend this album as a springboard. It contains some remarkable jams (Reba, Mike's Song, Weekapaug Groove and You Enjoy Myself), great covers (Frankenstein, Drowned, Sea and Sand and Johnny B Goode) and all the New Year's festivities (Auld Lang Syne, Hello My Baby). Give it a try! If you like it, their early studio albums (beginning with Junta and Lawn Boy) might be for you. These guys are certainly an acquired taste but I can think of no other recording that captures there live performances better than this one!