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Album Review: Trey Anastasio, "Shine" (Columbia)
Trey Anastasio ranks among the finest electric guitarists in recent rock-and-roll history. He also receives top marks as a vocalist, as a bandleader and as a composer. On the flipside, the former Phish frontman doesn't score quite so highly as a lyricist.
"Shine" is Anastasio's first solo effort since Phish called it quits last August with a weekend-long party for 60,000 "Phriends" in Vermont. It's also his first full-length, song-driven album for which he's penned all the lyrics.
Not surprisingly, the lyrics are the weakest link to the album. His wordplay is, at times, painfully obvious. At other moments, his lyrics come across as bizarrely forced. Indeed, if nothing else, this album proves that Anastasio misses Tom Marshall, who wrote the lyrics to many of Phish's best songs.
But the disc also proves other things, many of which didn't need further proof. Anastasio delivers mountains of tasty guitar licks, especially during the solos on "Tuesday" and "Wherever You Find It." Likewise, his voice has rarely sounded stronger or more agile than on the likes of the album's title track and "Come as Melody."
In all, Anastasio doesn't manage to shine with his latest offering as he has in the past. But he does manage to sparkle just enough to show promise of a bright future.
