HOIST

Phish had been steadily gaining an audience over the past few years, and this album solidified that fan base due to its commercial appeal. Songs like Down with Disease and Sample in a Jar got a significant amount of airplay, and the band's status as a live band swelled their following. The death of Jerry Garcia and the end of the Grateful Dead in the following year helped to swell their following, as many of the deadheads now followed Phish due to the similarities in their music.

But Phish, I feel, was a much better band than the Dead. They were much more virtuosic, and much more progressive. This album doesn't showcase this that much. Instead, Phish decided to relegate shorter more accessable songs to their albums, and their extended epics were reserved to a live setting. Many of their best songs were never even officially released on studio albums, and can only be found on the many live albums Phish has released.

Therefore, this album is not very progressive. Aside from the last song, all the songs are short and too the point and without extended instrumental sections. This is much more of a pop album than anything else. But it is a good pop album, and should not be dismissed as it still contains their signiature sound. After seven albums and almost ten years of hard work, the band deserved a bit of commercial success.