Trey Anastasio: The Undercover Review July 7th, 2002 - Undercover Media By Hector the Rock Dog Album Review - Trey Anastasio Trey Anastasio was the lead singer of Phish. Outside the USA, they are virtually unknown. Within the USA, Phish became one of the country's biggest touring acts. They were like the Grateful Dead. Lots of respect, a huge concert drawcard, but didn't sell many records. The relatively faceless Anastasio has a task on hand. Behind the Phish name, his fans (known as Phish heads) flocked to anything he did. Out solo, it's all about selling the name again. That's unfortunate, because Trey's solo debut is outstanding. It is a complete album, like from back when Eric Clapton used to make an album you could enjoy from beginning to end. This record reminds me a lot of Clapton's classic '461 Ocean Boulevard', although in the year 2002, that kind of quality if probably a little daggy. Anastasio has produced a musician's musician album here. Think Clapton and add the best elements of the Allman Brothers and your compass will start pointing in the right musical direction. It really sounds like a labour of love as well. There are no big names on the record, not even his recent pals Les Claypool (Primus) or Stewart Copeland (The Police) make a guest appearance. The three recently recorded as Oysterhead. Trey kicks off the record with the very Latin, very dancey, very jazzy "Alive Again" and that positive lyric targeting his solo rebirth "the time has come for you to be alive again". Then we get the breezy bluesy "Caymen Review" with some tasty guitar playing. If the old AOR radio format still exists "Push On 'Til The Day" would be an obvious instant add. If this was the late 70's, this song would be all over FM rock radio and probably heard over the credits of a Hollywood movie as well. "Night Speaks To A Woman" is an equally cool rock song. An album highlight is one of the softest songs. "Flock Of Words" sounds like the Stones Black and Blue "Fool To Cry" era with Eric Clapton on vocals. There is true music variety on this record. The guitar jam of "Money, Love and Change" acts as an interlude breaking up the tone of the record, "Drifting" lowers back to a smooth and buoyant ballad. It leads to the instrumental "At The Gazebo" featuring some beautiful acoustic guitar chord shifts. He does it again later with "Day Dawn Balloon". They are like album breathers. The middle Eastern rock based "Mr. Completely" slams its way in and is by far the rawkiest moment on the record. "Last Tube" is the album epic, all 11 and a half minutes of it with some of the most free flowing guitar riffs I've heard since the Allmans were active. The album concludes with what I would almost consider a throwaway. The lazy "Ether Sunday" is the albums cleansing ale. As most people on the planet outside of the United States have never heard of Phish, this record will be more likely absorbed as a complete body of work rather than studied under a musical microscope. Either way, it is going to stand out.