Slideshow: 22 Demo Albums that Actually Rock
Phish, Rift

22 Demo Albums that Actually Rock

Put the sleepy jazz and classical music away -- it's time to test your audio system on all kinds of rock for you to hear in a new way.
Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz
Def Leppard, Hysteria
AC/DC, Back in Black
Living Colour, Vivid
Live, Throwing Copper
Tool, 10,000 Days
Jeff Beck, Blow by Blow
Alex Skolnick Trio, Goodbye to Romance: Standards for a New Generation
The Who, Who's Next
Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
Queen, A Night at the Opera
Led Zeppelin, IV (Zoso or Symbols)
Steely Dan, Aja
Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold as Love
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Slide 20 of 22
Phish, Rift

Phish may be known more for their adventurous live performances, but their studio efforts are no slouches, and most of them take great care in their top-notch sound quality. Rift is probably the best example of every facet of the jam kings coming together to make an album that’s overflowing with impressive lyrical and instrumental passages.

Songs like the title track and “It’s Ice” bounce back and forth vocally between guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell, while Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman propel them along with wicked bass and drum beats. Goofy numbers like “Weigh” and “Sparkle” demonstrate the band’s jazzy chops and technical wares, which you might expect from the members’ music school backgrounds.

Signature Test Track: “Rift” The opening vocal harmony aside, this song lets you follow the vocal tennis match mentioned above, plus an instrumental section that will leave you out of breath as it goes from guitar to piano back to guitar, all while Fishman’s drums gallop along like a horse race.

Read more: 22 Demo Albums that Actually Rock