I was one of those people shaking my head in disdain in 1997. I remember walking out of 11/21 thinking that it was the worst Phish show I had seen to date. I never imagined that any of these shows would have captured the praise that they have received over the last 18 years. At the time, the shows were just too mellow for me. I was also upset with the overall sloppiness and Trey's, at times, excessive blues wanking. What happened to the masterful tension and release, the jazz influenced playing, the start stop madness, even the 'hey hole'?

What I often come back for now is the quiet spaces, for example the last 4-5 minutes of the 11/23 Gin. Or maybe it's the groove, as in the 12/7 Psycho Killer. These are things that Phish hadn't really brought before. And, it's often some of the most danceable and accessible Phish of any year.

Still, where were the raging Bowies and beautiful, soaring Rebas a la 12/7/95? I'm afraid they were gone forever as those songs would never hit the peaks they had in prior years again. That brought me great disappointment back in the day. Just compare a Hood from fall '94 to anything from '97 and you'll get it.

Still, this is a great list. Out of the top five, I just don't understand the presence of 12/6 and don't really buy 11/17 as numero uno. I've actually come to appreciate summer more than ever before and I think the Ventura boxed set is a great example. Probably the best sounding recording of pre livephish Phish.