Peter Wallace

It can be argued that for all of the positives on Phish’s Big Boat (“No Men in No Man’s Land,” “Waking Up Dead,” “Blaze On”) the album is missing that real heavy hitter. The song that steps up and just blows you away from the jump. There’s nothing wrong with this. Many albums suffer the same fate. But most bands don’t have that song staring at them right in the face before they ultimately decide to leave it on the cutting room floor. 

Enter, “Mercury.” 

I’ll never quite understand how this dominant modern-era Phish song managed to not make the final round of cuts on Big Boat. Watching the below video of the tune’s latest version in Mexico, surely you’ll jump on the bandwagon with me. Without discrediting the other songs on the record, the addition of something like a “Mercury” would’ve taken Big Boat over the top and you don’t have to look much further as to why than the dynamic live performance. 

But, what the hell do I know? This is coming from the guy who wants “Dr. Gabel” back.