The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (often abbreviated as TMWSIY) is a concept album written by Trey Anastasio, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band Phish, as his senior thesis while attending Goddard College. Composed in 1987, the thesis included an essay piece and collection of songs (recorded by Phish) relating an epic tale from the band's fictional land of Gamehendge."The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday". phish.net FAQ file. http://www.phish.net/faq/tmwsiy.html. Retrieved 2008-02-21.Aronson,Anne, "Phish Set Off Fireworks in Camden", Rolling Stone, July 6, 2000
Though the album was recorded, it has never been released officially. Phish circulated the studio recording of the suite in 1987 and 1988 and it quickly became a collector's item.Thompson, Dave (1997). Go Phish. Macmillan. pp. 58–60. ISBN 0-312-16854-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=m244NDGumpsC&pg=PA58&dq=%22Man+Who+Stepped+Into+Yesterday%22#PPA59,M1. At one time Anastasio announced plans in Doniac Schvice, Phish's newsletter, to release the material as an interactive CD-ROM.Phish Letters May 1994 However, this never happened and the album can only be found in bootleg or in fan-traded form.
On the album, the story of Gamehendge is told in nine parts, with short spoken narration in between. The saga can be compared to fantasy works such as The Chronicles of Narnia or rock concept album projects like The Doors' Celebration of the Lizard or Rush's 2112 suite.
The story's primary protagonist is Colonel Forbin. Other major characters include Tela, the "jewel of Wilson's foul domain" and the "evil" Wilson himself. Several of the album's spoken narrative sections are accompanied by background music borrowed from sections of the Phish songs "Esther" and "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters" .
The final track, "Possum", is the only song on the album not written by Anastasio, having been written by former Phish member Jeff Holdsworth and later added to the Gamehendge cycle.
Many of the album's tracks have long been included in Phish's regular song rotation and played during the band's live performances. In addition, various versions of the entire Gamehendge saga have been performed, complete with narration, on five occasions in the band's history, usually as the entire first set of a live show.
A large number of other Phish songs also relate in some way to the Gamehendge saga, and appear on later albums and in live performances, including "Llama", "Punch You in the Eye" and "The Divided Sky".
Read more about The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday: Track Listing, Personnel
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