Performed by Phish Rated 5.0/5.0, based on 24 reviews. Buy from Amazon: New price: $22.31 Used price: $15.00

They Came. They Jammed. They Conquered.
Rating: 5/5
The sheer range of emotions I experience when enjoying this album solidify its title, in my mind, as the greatest concert ever released (by any band).

This show is chock-full of groove, funk, mind-blowing instrumentalism, wild experimentation and just plain old fun. It has moments of complete seriousness, such as during the epic "Reba" when the group recites the song's blistering passages with fluid grace, yet offers, too, humor, such as the when the guys launch playfully into Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" in the middle of their own "Harpua".

Phish is a live band and 12-31-95 offers a mesmerizing look at their talent, uniqueness and lovability. I own many, many Phish CD's and this is truly a must-have. If you are a new fan, this is an outstanding album with which to begin. If you are a Phish veteran, then this is an essential staple without which your collection will never be complete.

Another Stellar Live Performance by Phish
Rating: 5/5
If there has been a band that has had the most success of being an "underground" band, it would have to be Phish. Phish has long had the reputation of being a band with an "open audio taping" policy and as a result they built up a great following - especially as a live act. . In fairness to the quartet, this is a band that produces some of the most innovative music anywhere on the music scene. Phish's reputation both as a studio band and a live act really took off in the mid 1990s. Phish would release three live albums in the 1990s - 1994's "A Live One" ,1997's "Slip Stitch and Pass", and 1999's six CD collection, "Hampton Comes Alive". Excluding the "Live Phish" series that would begin to be released in 2001, Phish would not release another live album until after their breakup in 1994. In 2005, Phish would release "Live at Madison Square Garden - New Year's Eve 1995". This would be a three CD set that would feature this New Year's Eve concert in its entirety - and once again continue to legacy of Phish as one of the great live bands of all-time.

As mentioned, excluding the live Phish series, this is the fourth live set by Phish. 1994's "A Live One" was a good introduction to Phish and showcases Phish's jams in top form. "A Live One" was a double CD set with only 12 songs, but contained 131 minutes of music. "Slip Stitch and Pass" does a great job at showcasing the live improvisational skills of Phish while performing an an intimate setting. At the same time, the mid 1990s saw Phish emerge as one of the great cover bands in a live setting. Covering other artists' songs would be a natural extension of the improvisational skills of Phish. "Hampton Comes Alive" would not only showcase Phish's jam and improvisational skills, but would also continue to showcase Phish covering other artists. "Hampton Comes Alive" would feature two separate Phish concerts on back to back nights. For "Live at Madison Square Garden", this would feature also feature a Phish concert in its entirety from 12/31/05. The big difference between "Hampton Comes Alive" and "Live at Madison Square Garden" is that the "Hampton Comes Alive" contains some of Phish's more interesting covers (i.e. "Gettin' Jiggy With It", "Rock and Roll Part II", and "Tubthumping"). On the other hand, while "Live at Madison Square Garden" is not short on covers, it is stronger on jamming and contains more of the longer jams that Phish fans have become accustomed to.

Here are ten facts about this collection:

1-Phish performed three sets on New Year's Eve 1995 at Madison Square Garden. Two sets are played before the welcoming of the New Year. 1996 rolls in at the beginning of the third set and Phish ushers in the year with the playing of "Auld Lang Syne".

2-There is a great deal of material from the bootleg Phish album called, "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday". This was a concept album focused around the land of "Gamehendge". Songs include "The Lizards", "Colonel Forbin's Ascent", "Fly Famous Mockingbird", and "The Sloth". It also includes other songs that are considered to tie in with the "Gamehendge" theme. These songs include "Punch You in the Eye" and "Axilla Part II".

3-At the beginning of the third set, Phish appeared as Mad Scientists working on a recipe for time during "Gamehendge Time Phactory" as they count down to 1996. However this didn't translate well to the CD collection as all the listener really hears is a bunch of uninteresting sound effects. Still I give Phish credit for including this as part of the concert, thus keeping the listening experience authentic.

4-Phish performs two outstanding covers by The Who's Quadrophenia album - "Drowned" and "Sand and Sea". While they are not played back to back ("Drowned" is on set 2 while "Sand and Sea" is on set 3), they still are good covers. In fact, "Drowned" might be one of the strongest covers ever done by Phish - providing all of the intensity of the original.

5-Other covers include Collective Soul's "Shine", the Barber Shop Quartet-like "Hello My Baby", Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein", and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" as the finale. Longtime Phish lyricist Tom Marshall has lead vocals on "Shine". It is "Johnny B. Goode" that stands out.

6-Phish shows how they can incorporate a calypso-beat during the performance of "The Lizards" - proving to be one of the outstanding songs of the night.

7-Perhaps one of the best songs is the opening track, "Punch You in the Eye". Phish shows a wide variety of musical styles in this song. I love the progressive rock opening to this track, yet later in the track there is an outstanding Latin infusion on the track.

8-"Mike's Groove" takes on a different look at this concert. "Mike's Groove" normally consists of "Mike's Song", "I Am Hydrogen", and "Weekapaug Groove". Here we get a 20+ minute version of "Mike's Song" wrapping up the second set. The third set begins with the "Gamehendge Time Phactory" countdown and "Auld Lang Syne", followed by 17+ minutes of "Weekapaug Groove".

9-Other long jams include 16+ minutes of a terrific version of "Runaway Jim" and 25+ minutes of the longtime favorite live track, "You Enjoy Yourself". Also worth noting are a 10+ minute version of "The Squirming Coil" and 12+ minute version of "Drowned".

10-The beginning of the second set features Phish conceding a chess match with the audience. Throughout 1995 Phish engaged in a chess match with the audience throughout their tour. At the end of 1995, Phish and the audience had each won one match.

The liner notes include a write-up on the concert by Parke Puterbaugh. Overall, this is a terrific set and preserves Phish's reputation as one of the great live bands of all time as well as provides for the full concert experience. Highly recommended.

Best Phish release of any kind
Rating: 5/5
This is the best release Phish have put out. The show is a masterpiece, maybe the best in the band's twenty-year run. The show seems to make almost everyone's top shows list and with good reason. There's something here for everyone from a time when Phish were really exploring their songs and extending their jamming.

The show opens with an extremely energetic PYITE. The band are on fire and working together seamlessly. This is the energy of Live Phish 6 (Centrum) and the jamming coordination of LP 4 (Drum Logos). There's a brief move through The Sloth that takes the band into an extended Reba in which Page is playing perfectly and brilliantly. He is absolutely inspired; toward the end of the jam the others get out of his way and let him just explore the song. This is one of the best Rebas in existence. There's a great Squirming Coil, a nice Maze, and a fun long sequence of Colonel Forbin > Fly Famous Mockingbird, which is broken up to include a monologue by Trey and a cover of the pop song Shine that surpasses the original. Sparkle's great as always, and they end the first set with a blistering Chalkdust in which Trey is completely in control of the song and just flies.

Set two begins with Drowned and The Lizards, and this is one of the best Lizards out there. The whole show is filled with Gamehenge mythology, and Lizards is done with an obvious affection from the band. It's a lot of fun to hear the audience go wild for the helping phriendly book. There's a quick Axilla with a lot of power and then the definitive Runaway Jim. This is better than the great Runaway on Brooklyn, with huge energy and great coordination, the band just completely rock out. Strange Design lets the audience cool off and is really beautifully done. Hello My Baby is always a sign of huge things to come, and the Mike's Song that closes out set two is indescribable. It starts off loud and rocking, but transions into something more ominous, and right around 12 minutes in the band just hit the zone. This is one of those moments when the jam just feels completely perfect, the kind of groove that a studio performance can never achieve because it's so obviously feeding off the energy in the audience. The band just layer the music and Mike supplies an exceptional rhythm and Fish is perfect. There's an even more ominous closing, and the second set ends.

The third set opens with the ambient performance of the band as the Gamehenge Time Lab scientists and break into Auld Lang Syne at midnight. This is a great performance that segues into the Weekapaug Groove, which is fast and tight. There's a relaxing Sea and the Sand and a great YEM. They close out with Sanity and Frankenstein and give a wild Johnny B. Goode encore.

The mix is wonderfully done. Balanced all around with beautiful highs in Page's keys that play off Mike's rich bass which just fills the room. Trey's guitar sounds bright and vibrant and Fish's drums are just the right distance, with his cymbals sounding more real than on poorly done digital mixes. Cymbals are the toughest sound to mix on the CD format, but they've done a great job here with the mics and board mix. The stage is deep and the audience is coming through enough to make you feel like you're at a live show without being at all invasive.

This is the best release in the Phish catalog. Add Live Phish 4, 11, and 18 and you have in four volumes a great sketch of everything that made Phish the most inspired and talented live act of the past twenty years. A superb release.

GOTTA GET IT!
Rating: 5/5
THIS IS ONE FUN CONCERT. ALL LIVE MUSIC, EXTENDED JAMS, PHISH WAS ROCKIN THAT NIGHT!I WAS THERE AND KNOW FIRST HAND HOW WELL THEY PERFORMED. IT'S NOT THE MOST INTIMATE CONCERT, BUT LOTS OF FUN. WORTH THE BUCK$$.