Anyone who has dogged Trey for his "alleged" drug abuse.

[leith]

dude trey fell off in a major way. and he has done nothing to redeem himself yet .

There is really no denying this fact.

Seeing Phish from 92 on you should have been able to see this.

I clearly saw and acknowledged it as did every other person I attended phish shows with most of whom had seen every single show from 94 on.

Not sure how you missed it.

Maybe your just one of those "glass is half full" type of guys.

Yeah So what is your point really? I continued to go just like I went to GD shows until the end. Yeah so he was not as good as he was. Due to lack of focus, not practicing, not caring, wanting to give the other guys in the band more room so he played less? All of these reasons are just as valid as anyone else\'s rants abt his drug use. My point is Phish is done and to many they were done even B4 Trey saw it. So why can you and others move on like he has?
Oh and as far as falling off. You have not heard him live lately huh? Because I have and IN MY NOT SO HUMBLE OPINION say Trey knows he was slippin\' and HAS been practicin\' and ANYONE who actually was at WSP Vegoose will tell you he RIPPED SHIT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when he guested and his Latenite show was awesome. Other than the acoustic set screwups in his Vegoose set it also TORE SHIT UP!!!!

[SlimPickens]

In the past I read these interviews with Trey where he was talking about this new direction that he wanted to take, this new sound that he wanted to find.  Then I started to hear the music.  He went from playing these ultra-complex, multi part, finger twisting songs with wack job crazy lyrics from another planet that blew your mind, to simple strummers with MEH lyrics.  I could care less whether drugs or bordem led to the change, all I know is that now I\'m bored with the end product.

[leith]

In the past I read these interviews with Trey where he was talking about this new direction that he wanted to take, this new sound that he wanted to find.  Then I started to hear the music.  He went from playing these ultra-complex, multi part, finger twisting songs with wack job crazy lyrics from another planet that blew your mind, to simple strummers with MEH lyrics.  I could care less whether drugs or bordem led to the change, all I know is that now I\'m bored with the end product.

and that is cool. One does not have to listen to EVERYTHING an artist does.

[plainandsimple]

I guess we should be patting him on the back for getting hooked on oc\'s, fucking up phish and putting out shitty solo music?  Way to go trey! Your really showing a lot of growth!

Get real.

realized he did not want to be like Jerry Idolized and DEAD!

.

[Jim Cobb]

i think that trey, as a musician, doesn\'t have that "something" that he had when phish were fresh on the scene.  as a drug addict, well i hope he can get his act together.  just because he is a father and a husband doesn\'t mean he\'s a good father or husband. i\'m not saying he isn\'t but you can\'t use that as an argument for him having his shit together.  his using/sobriety is none of my business unless he asks me for help in which case i will do anything to help him stay sober, but if that is not the case, then it is none of my business and i don\'t care to make it such.  if his playing suffers because of his habit, then i don\'t have to listen to his music.  plain and simple.  the day someone puts a gun to my head and says "YOU MUST LISTEN TO TREY" is the day that i\'ll be able to justifiably complain about the state of his music.  this thread is thus unnecessary (thats me talking as a person with an opinion, not a moderator).  this is just my take, you\'re free to agree or disagree.

edit: by the same token, one should not try to justify his drug habit, and leith, no offense whatsoever, i love you, but i feel like you are trying to rationalize his drug use.  and i can understand that. as someone who used drugs for a long time, i understand how we spin things, and i only suggest that maybe you\'re vicariously justifying your own drug use here.  i am in no way condemning the use of drugs, like you said, to each his own, and i pass no judgement on anyone\'s life decisions, but i just invite you to maybe take a look at it from this perspective.  i may be entirely offbase, but its just the reaction i had in reading this.  i love every single one of you unconditionally and in no way am i trying to judge anyone\'s lifestyle.  just wanna make that clear.

[leith]

MY point is he does not seem to be abusing drugs anymore. His playing is clear and concise. It is uplifting once again and his music shows it. I am just tired of people claiming he is all drugged out and making crappy music when it is just not true. Yeah maybe the music is crappy to some but it is not due to crappy playing and drug use. It\'s just not their cup of tea anymore. Some artists do that. Take the complaints about Clapton on this very board. He is as Sober as they come and making music which reflects his life as it is now. He is not playing or writing kick ass rock and roll because he is old and plays the blues only it seems now. So I don\'t listen to his recent stuff and listen to what I do like of his.
Trey is doing somewhat the same thing. I am not saying he\'s not partying like a rockstar anymore but he IS focused on his music again. Can\'t people be happy with that?

[Klout]

to me the bright side of the whole trey issue is being thankful that he hasn\'t died yet...not the music he is putting out thats for damn sure.

maybe he just snapped out of it and is back on track again but what i saw this summer the downward spiral is just continuing

[leith]

to me the bright side of the whole trey issue is being thankful that he hasn\'t died yet...not the music he is putting out thats for damn sure.

Well now see that is at least a decent sentiment. It shows that though dissapointed in him you still harbor hope he will again write/play music that you will enjoy. It\'s a start.

maybe he just snapped out of it and is back on track again but what i saw this summer the downward spiral is just continuing

Some of that was his band being new and not knowing the material. They are alot better now though still no TAB. He has backup singers now and it is pretty rockin\' stuff. Yeah some of the slower poppy stuff gets a tad much but I take the bad w/ the good. right now I hear more good than bad.

[Klout]

the hopes always there. but it\'s been a real disapointing run the last 5 years. but hey you never know. he could make a come back. crazier things have happened. Its obviously still in him to be great cause he has show he can be great but not in a very long time

[Me!]

I love the way people say "so and so\'s music went to shit"....Thats fucking gratitude for ya....

The day people start saying that Timmy\'s music is going to shit because he is doing something new or something different, is the day I start handing out beatdowns...

Agreed!!

The vibe I got from the whole thing and what I\'ve heard from others is that it was more becasue Trey wanted to do what he wanted to do, not so much cause of the drugs.  I tseemed liek these rumors got more and more outragous as time went on

[Wolfman]

It always amuses me how so many people who had the best times of their life going to see Phish now have nothing to offer but bitterness and anger and uninformed opinions about what Trey is doing now.  

Deep down inside, these people all loved Phish, whether they realize it or not.  Is it really possible for anyone to become so upset that "Shine" isn\'t as complex as "Stash"?  No.  What we have here is a lot of misdirected anger that Phish doesn\'t exist anymore.  Lots of people had the best musical experience of their lives taken away from them.  Some fans have dealt with this well, often by simply finding other musical interests and experiences to persue.  Other fans not so well, often by misdirecting their sadness as anger towards the band leader, Trey Anastasio.  These people are almost always fans who really got on board during the hiatus and had just 1.5 years to scramble to see a few shows through ticket shortages and huge crowds and always wish that they could have been a full-blown tourhead in 97 or earlier.  Trey takes a ton of undue flak, but that comes with the territory of being the band leader.  The latest from Page, Mike, and Fishman are a far cry from Phish material also, but you don\'t hear anyone complaining about that.  Mike\'s latest release contains a cover of Aerosmith\'s "Sweet Emotion."  Everyone\'s indifferent to this.  If Trey had done this on his new album, that would be all that the trendy Trey trashtalkers needed to go off all over again.  

If you really think that Trey Anastasio sucks, the man who gave you the best musical experiences of your life, you need to take a huge step back and reevaluate yourself and where your feelings are coming from.  I\'ll give you a hint: you don\'t hate him this much because his solo albums aren\'t as complex as Rift or because he may have done some drugs like anyone else.  You just miss Phish and wish you got more of it.  It\'s that simple.  To get over your misplaced anger, find some other music that moves you and dig out some photographs of you and your friends at your favorite Phish show.

[SlimPickens]

it was only like a month ago that someone posted on this board that Trey was stumbling around the streets of NYC loaded and getting rides home from some rich kid in his lexus.

i realize that this board is not a "reliable source" and I honestly could care less what Trey\'s consumption problems are, my point is merely that just because he came out with an album that\'s not a mess (not withstanding  the fact that it\'s pumped full of shallow pop songs) doesn\'t mean that he\'s sober.  Lets face it the music business is loaded with stories about successful artist, producing successful neat albums while being a complete mess.

I can\'t speak for anyone else, but I know that I got into phish because they were doing something that nobody else was really doing and they were doing it well.  Now Trey is making pop albums, and honestly, if I\'m in the mood for pop, I\'m gonna turn on Dave or any of the other 50 million pop bands out there.

[Wolfman]

I don\'t like most of the new Trey material anywhere near as much Phish material.  In fact, the vast majority of the new material does nothing for me.  But I\'m mad about it and saying Trey is this and that and spreading the ten millionth stupid internet Trey rumour around.

someone posted on this board that Trey was stumbling around the streets of NYC loaded and getting rides home from some rich kid in his lexus.
 

That is some retarded 5th grade internet bs, that\'s for sure.  Stuff like that is why I never go on any other message boards.  Even if it were true, so what?  I can\'t believe that post on a Breakfast internet message board could actually warrant any opinion-forming consideration.  My god the internet is stupid.

[Kevin Weber]

dude trey fell off in a major way. and he has done nothing to redeem himself yet .

There is really no denying this fact.

Seeing Phish from 92 on you should have been able to see this.

I clearly saw and acknowledged it as did every other person I attended phish shows with most of whom had seen every single show from 94 on.

Not sure how you missed it.

Maybe your just one of those "glass is half full" type of guys.

 I find it funny that you\'re offering opinions of Trey\'s demise from people "whom had seen every single show from \'94 on".  First of all, I think that\'s a load of crap especially if they were your age, but if it were true, why would these people continue to go to every show if they felt Trey was getting worse and worse.

I saw Phish and solo Trey 100+ times from \'95 on.  The only way I was ever disappointed was if I was comparing that show to other Phish/Trey shows.  But, I was always able to put it in perspective and think to myself that it was probably the best live music played anywhere that night.  Even in his "pop" music, I can hear that unique Trey guitar sound and it puts a smile on my face.  

I am extremely selfishly disappointed that Phish is not around anymore and I wish that Trey were writing more David Bowies rather than Shine, but I guess that\'s the curve of the musician.  I think you would agree that most jambands write their classic songs and have their epic shows in the earlier stages of their careers.  When you\'re young and inexperienced as a "songwriter", you tend to be a little bit more daring and just rip it up (a la early Phish YEM, Antelope, Possum, Golgi, etc) and as you "mature" as a songwriter, you start writing songs that may be more sophisticated musically but generally don\'t please the crowds as much.  

The bottom line is that even a drug-infested Trey playing pop songs is still better than 90% of the music out.  And, you can bad mouth him as much as you want, if you saw him on the street, you\'d probably wet your pants.

[SlimPickens]

The bottom is that even a drug-infested Trey playing pop songs is still better than 90% of the music out.

The music on the new album has some great moments but trey is definitely lyrically and vocally challanged.

The album could use some weirdin\' up from Gordon, some beautiful lyrics from Marshall a jazzed infused backbeat and maybe some tasty keys.