Phish Names New Album "Joy"

Apparently, wiser heads prevailed and the boys decided against calling the next Phish album Party Time! or Party Time with Phish, and decided to name it after the new ballad Joy.

There are only going to be 10 songs on Joy, which is set for release on July 28. By comparison, here are the total track listings, and original release dates, for all of Phish's studio albums, excluding The Siket Disc:

Junta (14), 5/8/89; Lawn Boy (9), 9/21/90; Picture of Nectar (16) 2/18/92; Rift (15), 2/2/93; Hoist (11), 3/29/94; Billy Breathes (13) 10/15/96; The White Tape (16) 8/1/98; Story of the Ghost (14) 10/27/98; Farmhouse (12 -- 14 on the Japanese version) 5/16/00; Round Room (12) 12/10/02; Undermind (14) 6/15/04.

Here is the track listing for Joy:

1. Twenty Years Later
2. Backwards Down the Number Line
3. Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
4. Light
5. Joy
6. Sugar Shack
7. Ocelot
8. Kill Devil Falls
9. I've Been Around
10. Time Turns Elastic

No surprises here -- everything except for I've Been Around was performed live during the first leg of Summer Tour 2009 (at least, I don't recall hearing I've Been Around; let me know if I'm wrong). Phish.com had the following to say about Joy:

"Phish will be releasing Joy, their first studio album in five years, later this summer on JEMP Records. The record was recorded in New York City this spring with producer Steve Lillywhite. Stay tuned for further details and pre-order information in the coming weeks!"

It's fun to say the sentence "Phish will be releasing Joy ..." Isn't that what they do best? Well, unless you ask a good number of "Phish-heads" over at PhantasyTour.com -- I haven't looked yet but I bet they are totally ragging on the new album title, the track listing, and whatever else the can find "wrong" with today's announcement by the band.

NEWS ARTICLES
Joy for Phish (Relix)
Phish New Album Details: Joy (Jambase)
Phish Capture Famous Live Vibe on New Summer Album "Joy" (Rolling Stone)

LINKS
This has nothing to do with Joy, but here's post from the WaxBanks Blog detailing the songs on a 30-song "mix tape" the blog's administrator put together. What's so interesting about it is he chose to make a mix from the 2003-2004 era ... not exactly everyone's favorite period of Phishistory. The post, which is very lengthy, even provides links where you can download the versions of the songs in question. Fun read, and he manages to pick out some gems from Phish 2.0. Well worth checking out.