The Music Of Oysterhead:

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Albums

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Oysterhead's first album, The Grand Pecking Order, was released October 2, 2001.

Post your review of TGPO here!

OYSTERHEAD
The Grand Pecking Order

1. Little Faces (4:57)
2. Oz Is Ever Floating (2:49)
3. Mr. Oysterhead (4:51)
4. Shadow Of A Man (3:44)
5. Radon Balloon (3:21)
6. Army's On Ecstasy (4:31)
7. Rubberneck Lions (5:17)
8. Polka Dot Rose (3:10)
9. Birthday Boys (3:06)
10. Wield The Spade (5:48)
11. Pseudo Suicide (4:54)
12. The Grand Pecking Order (2:35)
13. Owner Of The World (2:45)

Produced by Oysterhead
Recorded by Oz Fritz at The Barn, Vermont, April 2001
Mixed by Toby Wright at The Plant, Sausalito, California, May-June 2001
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen for Marcussen Mastering, Hollywood, CA

CD: Elektra 62677-2 / LP: Elektra 62677-1

Downloads

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Satisfy your hunger for fresh raw Oysterhead... the official Oysterhead site has MP3 downloads of portions of three tracks, "Oz Is Ever Floating," "Shadow Of A Man, "Wield The Spade," and the entire song "Mr. Oysterhead"!!! Please send us your reviews of these releases for inclusion on the Oysterhead.org site.

Check out The MomaDance, and outstanding mp3 site which includes both the Saenger Theatre show and the House of Blues Las Vegas appearance, as well as a whole school of Phish.

A note regarding MP3's: MP3's are for personal use, and are not typically acceptable for general trading purposes, because they are not pure digital form (they are compressed audio). Only trade an MP3-sourced disc, tape, or file when it's clearly understood by the receiver that it is an MP3, and only then if the media is clearly labelled MP3. Remember it's great to spread the music (that's what it's all about), just keep the digital gene pool clean (or at least clearly labelled!). Thanks!

Lyrics

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UPDATE (Oct. 2001): The lyrics to all TGPO songs are printed in the cover.... thanks Oysterhead!

We'll be redeveloping this section to focus on discussion of the lyrics, at some point after Fall Tour 2001.

In the meantime, check out a couple Dr. John C. Lilly links or help us figure out what is being said at the beginning of the Wield The Spade album cut. Also, if you care to transcribe some of the early versions of songs from the 5/4/00 New Orleans show, feel free to email them to us.

"I remember back in the day, when music folk had a lot to say,
now I sit, hope and pray, someone will come along, show the way." -- Mr. Oysterhead

Oz Is Ever Floating

Oz is always floating, ever drifting sometimes doting
over things that mean the world to Dr. John C. Lilly

In the tank he’s grooving, ever sifting sometimes moving
at the things that mean the world to Dr. John C. Lilly

Wield The Spade

(intro: something repeated)
sounds like “papa lobby in the pale ade...”??? (WATSIWTS?;) or "babylonian..." something?

Reviews

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We've added a Reviews section to the Oyster Bed message board. Please post future reviews there, and if you want you can email us a copy. If it's something exceptional, maybe we'll post it on the front page of the site!

Here are some previous reviews of TGPO. See the Oyster Bed message board for more:

Justin from Memphish contributes:

I first heard this album and was slightly turned off by it. I am a devoted phish-head and love all things phishy, but The Grand Pecking Order is definitely not Phishy at all (with the exception of "Radon Balloon"). It is ultra-heavy for a band with Trey Anastasio. It took me a few listens to warm up to it, but now I am in love with it. The thing that stands out most to me is how powerful this rhythm section is. Stew and Les are SO TIGHT on this album. Tight Chops and Thick Bass lines run the course of the Album with Trey's Lead darting in and out. Trey is definitely not the focus of this band, but he does provide some sleek rhythm guitar and some of the ripping (although short) solos that we've come to expect from him.
Listening to TGPO, it's pretty evident which are the Les-influenced songs ("Shadow of a Man," "Wield The Spade," "TGPO"), and which are the Trey-influenced songs ("Radon Balloon," "Birthday Boys"). Overall though, the album is well put together in this respect, in that these songs seem to alternate between every other track. No one stands out as the leader (although Les is ever-present). And so this album has a really smooth, all-be-it unique, flow to it, because it's 3 guys who don't give a fuck about themselves. It's about making music, not about egos. And that's really cool to me, because, if you think about it, all 3 of these guys should have pretty sizeable Rock Egos. But that doesn't come through. What comes through is the blend of the Unique Stylings of Les, Trey and Stewart, and the Raw Power that this trio has to offer. Listening to this album, it's apparent that the Oysterhead tour this fall will be One Raging Tour!
Just a few more notes about song revisions:
"Little Faces" is "I am Oysterhead" (the song that opened 5/4/00) with Completely New Lyrics.
"Radon Balloon" was originally a Trey Anastasio Solo Song called "Waves"(played in the encores of 2/24/01 and 3/3/01.)
"Birthday Boys" is "Happiness in my Pants" (5th song in the set on 5/4/00) with Lyrics.

see you in Indiana and Asheville!

Jim R. notes:

The song 'The Grand Pecking Order' is way too similar 'Tourniquet Of Roses' by Residents to be a coincidence. I could also detect small references to Residents in the various songs on the album but have no memory of where and what.

Brian H. says:

Simply amazing! Brilliant! One of the greatest records I've ever heard. Honestly, I was blown away when I heard TGPO. This album ties together basically every single genre of music possible, thrown in three of the most talented musicians out there and you have this masterpiece. It hits you right where it counts...your head.

Linda gives a song by song review of TGPO:

1. Little Faces - this song is great, sort of a rock song. It has a fabulous
beat.
2. Oz Is Ever Floating - this sounds like it shoud be a Phish song, it is
defenitely interesting
3. Mr. Oysterhead - I love Stu on this. I love the way his "policey" vocals
come through
4. Shadow Of A Man - this has Primus written all over it. It has to be one of
the best on the album and should be incredible live.
5. Radon Balloon - Trey crap! He played this on summer tour, it is Happiness
in my pants* with lyrics and it is slow and sucks! I am ticked at Trey
playing the crap he has been, I hope Les smacks some sense into him! (*Editor's note: Happiness In My Pants actually became Birthday Boys, track 9, and the song that is now Radon Balloon used to be called Waves when it was an instrumental.)
6. Army's On Ecstasy - This has to be the best song on the album. I swear
they wrote this while they were hanging out watching CNN.
7. Rubberneck Lions - This has a funky jazzy beat.It is a pretty damn good
one!
8. Polka Dot Rose - My other fav song on the album!
This is super funky with Les in deep voice!
9. Birthday Boys - This should also be a Phish song. It is slow but hot as
you want.It has great lyrics!
10. Wield The Spade - This is very spacey/trippy. I think this is Stu's
contribution. It will be THE hottie live!
11. Pseudo Suicide - 80's industrial rock song! :)
12. The Grand Pecking Order - This has Les written all over it and is the
funniest song on the album!
13. Owner Of The World - We all know this one. It is great! Sounds pretty "pop
like!"

Matt L. says, regarding TGPO:

"I have heard the whole album. . . Here is my take:
Honestly this could be one of the best if not most important albums in the past 30 years, representing an amalgamation and synthesis of the evolution of Rock N Roll over that time period. We're talking Sgt. Peppers Caliber Stuff. It reflects influences from the Beatles to tool and everything in between. Brilliant."

Paul reviews TGPO:

"I have the whole album and I must say it is one of the greatest albums I have heard. It overshadows all of the other albums of this generation. It's funked out sound is sure to please music (sic) all music enthusiasts. After hearing it I can not wait to see them live and I am sure that anyone who misses the live shows and hears the album later will be very upset with themselves."