Rift (album)

Rift is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on February 2, 1993 by Elektra Records.

Rift
Studio album by
Phish
ReleasedFebruary 2, 1993
RecordedSeptember–November 1992
StudioWhite Crow Studios, Burlington, VT
The Castle, Nashville, TN
Genre
Length67:44
LabelElektra
ProducerBarry Beckett
Phish chronology
A Picture of Nectar
(1992)		 Rift
(1993)		 Hoist
(1994)
Singles from Rift
  1. "Fast Enough for You"
    Released: 1993
  2. "The Wedge"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The record is a concept album, detailing the experience of a man dreaming about the rift in his relationship with his girlfriend. It is the second time that the band had recorded an album with such a central concept, the first being the rock opera-styled The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday from 1987, which has never been officially released. Rift was recorded in September and October 1992 and produced by Muscle Shoals music veteran Barry Beckett. Rift was certified gold by the RIAA on October 15, 1997.

Production

All songs were written by Trey Anastasio and Phish lyricist Tom Marshall except "Mound" and "Weigh" by bass guitarist Mike Gordon and "Lengthwise" by drummer Jon Fishman.

The instrumental, "All Things Reconsidered", is an intentional variation on the theme to the National Public Radio news show All Things Considered, and has been featured on the show itself several times.[2] An orchestral version of the song appears on Trey Anastasio's 2004 solo album Seis De Mayo.

The cover art was created by New York-based painter David Welker, who worked closely with the band during winter 1993 in order to visually depict each of the album's tracks in a single image, with the notable exception of "The Horse". (For this reason, a horse intentionally appears on the cover of Phish's next album, Hoist.) Relix magazine listed Rift as one of the ten most iconic album covers of all time in 2007.[3]

Elektra promoted Rift with a videotape sent to college radio stations and record stores that featured a six-minute promotional film about the album.[4]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rift"Anastasio, Marshall6:13
2."Fast Enough for You"Anastasio, Marshall4:51
3."Lengthwise"Fishman1:19
4."Maze"Anastasio, Marshall8:13
5."Sparkle"Anastasio, Marshall3:54
6."Horn"Anastasio, Marshall3:37
7."The Wedge"Anastasio, Marshall4:07
8."My Friend, My Friend"Anastasio, Marshall6:09
9."Weigh"Gordon5:08
10."All Things Reconsidered"Anastasio2:32
11."Mound"Gordon6:02
12."It's Ice"Anastasio, Marshall8:14
13."Lengthwise"Fishman0:34
14."The Horse"Anastasio, Marshall1:23
15."Silent in the Morning"Anastasio, Marshall5:28

Personnel

Phish

Trey Anastasio – guitars, lead vocals
Page McConnell – keyboards, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Rift", lead vocals on "It's Ice" and "Silent in the Morning"
Mike Gordon – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Mound" and "Weigh"
Jon Fishman – drums, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Lengthwise"

Production

  • Engineered by Kevin Halpin, assisted by Jon Altschiller
  • Mixed by Justin Niebank, assisted by Mark Nevers
  • Recording engineer – Pete Greene, assisted by Greg Parker
  • Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk
  • All songs published by Who Is She? Music, BMI
  • Pedal steel on "Fast Enough For You" – Gordon Stone
  • Illustrations – David Welker
  • Photography – David Gahr
  • Design – Mike Mills

See also

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011). "Rift – Phish | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  2. Phish.net: "All Things Reconsidered" Song History Online. Accessed: August 12, 2011
  3. Relix Magazine, "The Art of The Album" May 2007
  4. "Fast Enough For You? Looking Back on 25 Years of Phish's _Rift_". Relix Media. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.