'Ghost' of jam unsettles Phish's sixth studio disc November 6, 1998 - Cavalier Daily (U. Virginia) By Emily Kane Album Review - The Story of the Ghost Jam. Not the sticky sweet Smucker's sort, but the kind that demands a musician to squeeze out every last sound from his particular instrument, the kind that speaks decibels louder than lyrics on classic Phish songs like "Run Like an Antelope" and "You Enjoy Myself." And, unfortunately, it's the kind of jam that remains conspicuously absent from most of the band's sixth studio effort, "The Story of the Ghost." Phish critics claim that the jam is the thing that most hinders the band from musical success. But on this disc, Phish virtually eliminates the concept, leaving listeners begging for its return. Tracks like "Limb by Limb" and "Roggae," at first follow the classic Phish pattern: lyrics that rely on crazy images to relate themes of individuality and community. The band paints images of being "tossed with the salad and baled with the hay" or enjoying "the circus ... with bears and clowns and noise" to convey the beauty of both relationships and "the peacefulness dreaming dreams brings." But that's where they end. The ghost of the jam particularly haunts "Limb by Limb." After three of Phish's greatest thematic and musical minutes, the song stops in a manner that would be equivalent to cutting-off the classic "Guelah Papyrus" before the "maybe I could be a fly" line. Fortunately the lack of jam does not sink the album. Other tracks expand and display the kind of cohesiveness that permeated jam-happy discs like 1992's "A Picture of Nectar" and 1993's "Rift." "Water in the Sky" begins mid-jam as if to apologize for the earlier absence. "Fikus" follows the vein of wacky drummer Jon Fishman's "Lengthwise" ditty from "Rift." And then there is "Guyute." With a twisting, carefree attitude, Phish draws a character sketch of Guyute, "the ugly pig / who walked on me and danced a jig." Lead singer Try Anastasio whistles above an initially slow musical backdrop. Soon, the previously lethargic music transforms into a great jam that boasts the diverse instrumentation for which the band is famous. Where the song lacks in vocals, it more than compensates with Anastasio's frenzied guitar, Fishman's spastic drums, Page McConnell's intricate keyboards and Mike Gordon's all-over-the-place bass. "Wading in the Velvet Sea," with its lovely harmonizing and sweetly tender lyrics, also shines on the disc. The band soars to musically beautiful heights and, just before prematurely silencing another "Ghost" song, triumphantly returns. Anastasio's guitar sings angelically above McConnell's piano, Gordon's lightly thumping bass and Fishman's acute cadence. What "The Story of the Ghost" lacks in jam, it more than makes up for with sharp-albeit brief-instrumental surges. Although Phish's "Ghost" questionably diminishes the importance of the jam, it is far from dismissable. Article © 1998 Cavalier Daily