Round Room - Phish December 25, 2002 - The Washington Post by Carrie Nieman Album Review - Round Room The recent release of "Round Room" marked the official end to Phish's two-year hiatus. And it sounds like the band never left. The 12-song disc of new material was put together in less than three weeks, with little editing, in order to catch the raw energy of these four friends playing together again. But what's really new here is that the album consists entirely of songs they've never played in front of audiences, a first for a band that made its reputation by refining songs on the road before laying them down in a recording studio. Unlike the last couple of albums, which centered on more delicate, concise tunes, "Round Room" doesn't project sheen so much as it does potential. Voices strain and the playing is exploratory, but in the end, Phish CDs are simply jumping-off points for live performances anyway. "Pebbles and Marbles," with a tune fans will recognize from the Trey Anastasio Band instrumental, begins softly and builds to a peak with Anastasio's wailing guitar leading the way. Its nonsensical chorus -- "Pebbles and marbles like things on my mind" -- leaves one more riddle for fans to decode. The 10-minute "Walls of the Cave" begins with daunting piano plucking, turns playful, then suggests a "Sultans of Swing"-like guitar riff before turning a corner exactly halfway through, when the guitar gets scrappy, the beat speeds up and the chorus becomes harmonized. It's just one of the five songs here that are more than eight minutes long, epics for the band to mold and perfect, then reinvent all over again . . . in concert. Copyright © 2002 The Washington Post