Celebrating Neil Finn

Yes “Only Talking Sense” is such a jaw-dropping classic.

That whole album is chock-full of murky gems.

 

And that is what bothers me most about... ahem... that situation...

I fear that what I hope will be a relatively short stint for him will follow him for a longer time in terms of somehow tarnishing his legacy... I like Neil Finn a lot, so hopefully not.

As others have said, I hope it's a short term/big paycheck/get out quick and back to the business of being Neil Finn...

 

IMO he's out of there when this tour's done if there's no new music. I figure he's doing this as a favor for Mick and because his son wanted him to.

But I don't think this is going to tarnish his legacy with anyone who isn't freaking obsessed with the Lindsey-Stevie soap opera.

 

Love Neil and his brother Tim. His live broadcasts last year of what became the Out of Silence lp were pretty amazing.

 

The first time I saw Crowded House (and the only time before their mid-2000s reunion) was on this tour in Minneapolis. Fantastic show, with typically crazy antics from Paul Hester. I remember being shocked to hear that he had quit the band after only another 2-3 weeks' worth of shows following this one. Sheryl Crow was a solid opening act, although she only had the one album out at the time and she played nearly everything on it, including a couple of the naff cuts ("The Na-Na Song" sent me to the bar, as I recall).

 

Would anybody following this thread be interested in participating a mega song-by-song thread by Split Enz, TimFinn/Neil Finn/Finn Brothers? Something like this Beach Boys thread I've been participating in? Makes for good convo. Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

 

I’d be in for that.

 

Me too. But you'd need to go slow: small children don't make for much free time

 

Yeah I'd be in.

I'm off to see Neil & Liam in about 30 minutes.

 

I'm with you...but looking on the positive side of things it may garner Neil a wider audience moving forward.

 

I have a huge admiration for Neil Finn's entire career.

I remember watching him and Tim Finn performing in 2004 the day that John Peel died. Johnny Marr joined them onstage and sang an impromptu version of Teenage Kicks.

 

all right then, I'll will start planning a thread. . That way we might catch more people who are interested. For the record, I'll go song-by-song in chronological albums from studio albums plus selected non-LP selections. Because there is QUITE A LOT of music I will only do Finn related projects -- i.e., no Eddie Rayner/Makers/Phil Judd/Swingers/Schnell Fenster/Dark Star/Deckchairs Overboard/Liam Finn (unless done in collaboration with Neil or Tim). I might want to do something like that later, but obviously focusing on Finn Brothers projects is in itself a gargantuan task without focusing on spin off projects.

Also quite a lot of that stuff is hard to find in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway. There are definitely albums and songs that I have never heard. For another thing, there must be some limits for sanity's sake. :

1. Beginning of the Enz
2. Mental Notes
3. Second Thoughts
4. Dizrhythmia--
5. Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes (single disc)
6. Frenzy
7. True Colors
8. Waiata/Corroboree (plus bonus tracks)
9. Time and Tide+bonus
10. Escapade
11. Conflicting Emotions+bonus
12. See Ya Round+bonus
13. Big Canoe+bonus
14. Crowded House+bonus
15. Temple of Low Men+bonus
16. Tim Finn+bonus)
17. OK All Right Uh-Huh Oh Yeah (Schnell Fenster)+bonus
18. Woodface
19. Before and After
20. Together Alone+bonus
21. Finn Brothers+bonus
22. Try Whistling This + bonus
23. Say It Is So
24. Afterglow+bonus
25. Feeding the Gods
26. One Nil/One All+bonus
27. Everyone Is Here
28. Imaginary Kingdom
29. Time on Earth (plus bonus)
30. Conversation
31. Intriguer+bonus
32. Pajama Club
33. new songs from North, West, East, South: anthology
34. The View Is Worth the Climb
35. Dizzy Heights
36. Out of Silence
37. Lightsleeper

Have I missed anything?

At first I will go slowly (perhaps one song every third day) to allow people to see the thread and perhaps join as not everyone who might be interested will have seen these last few posts on this particular thread, but eventually I hope to speed up to one song per day. (Say, by SEcond Thoughts.) I think most of us can relate to being busy -- I have a son myself, and run a business where it seems like I'm constantly solving crises, so we'll just have to post as we can. It's not really necessary to write full essays of each songs, a few words and a rating suffices!

First post will be on Monday (Central European Time, that might be Tuesday for some of you, depending on what time I post.) I'll post here too at that time to alert everyone and provide a link.

 

And no Fleetwood Mac!

 

You will only do Finn related projects...…….but no Liam Finn? I think his albums should be included. Just listened to The Nihilist last night on vinyl. What an incredible album!!!

 

This sounds like a lot of fun but a pretty daunting task. I applaud you for attempting this; I'm not sure how much I can contribute but I'll try when I can...


A couple more obscure-ish albums you may wish to consider if you haven't already:
Enzso (1996): Orchestra versions of Split Enz tunes including 8 contributions by the brothers Finn. (Nothing new but some interesting takes on existing songs).

Rain Soundtrack (2001): Neil Finn's first foray into film scoring. (worth a mention as there are multiple Neil Finn compositions on it)

7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out (2009): 20 person supergroup project of Neil Finn including members of Wilco, Radiohead, and members of the Finn Family. (You may only want to highlight the Finn led tracks but it's an interesting if not overly ambitious project of 24 songs recorded over 21 days)…

She Will Have Her Way (2005) / He Will Have His Way (2010) / They Will Have Their Way (2011): Essentially Tim & Neil Finn tribute albums so no Neil & Tim. (Might make for a nice refresher of the hits by more current Australian artists).

...and don't forget to include Recurring Dream (1996) for "Not the Girl You Think You Are", "Instinct" & "Everything is Good for You" even if it is primarily a greatest hits package.​

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Feel free to ignore my suggestions if you wish; you've already narrowed the field to 37 albums which will obviously take over a year if you're only doing a song a day. I'm certainly no expert and will love to hear other people's takes on the Finn/Finn catalogue...​

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Well, my plan was to do the Recurring Dream as "bonus songs" for Afterglow, since they were included on the Deluxe version of Afterglow.

I'd prefer to skip Enzso and other Rayner-related side projects. (I know that both Tim and Neil are on Enzso, and I agree they are interesting. Maybe I'll change my mind when we get near; it will depend on how much of a slog this ends up being. I don't think it will be, but, who know? I don't think I want to do the tribute albums, though I have them and like them well enough. I will definitely be doing "The Sun Came Out", though.

Rain soundtrack songs will be bonus tracks.

 

I would include Liam’s albums. Also, I would do the 2 disc version of the Enz Luton release. You could include it as part of the Frenzy discussion since some versions of the latter album include Luton tracks. Not sure why you’ve included the one Schnell Fenster album. Also, there’s Recurring Dream, the CH best of with new songs and a second live disc, and Neil’s Rain soundtrack. Tim’s new The Fiery Beast is also missing. There are a few Enz live albums as well that might bear passing mention. I would skip all of the fan club live releases.

 

1. The two disc version of Luton tapes is basically impossible for me to get.
2. Schnnell Finster album inclusion was a mistake.
3. Dont really want to get into live albums.
4. Dont have/cant get fan club music.
5. Addressed some of the other albums in the post literally above yours.

Kind of regretting this.

 

I suppose I've been to some pretty good shows over the years. But sometimes I feel like I've only been to one GREAT show, and that was Crowded House about a decade or so ago. There was something about the way they interacted with the audience that made it feel like they really were playing just for us. For 2 or 3 hours, it felt like we--the band and the audience--were just a big group of friends hanging out. Best night ever. Plus they even began the show with "Recurring Dream," probably my favorite song by Neil Finn/Crowded House. I love just about the entire Neil Finn catalog.

 

Tim's new The Fiery Beast? What is this?

 

It should be Fiery Maze. It's a musical. A fan club release had been scheduled but was cancelled. Alas, said club is no more.

 

I've always preferred this performance clip of "I Got You" -- Neil is on point the whole way through, even following the cameras with his gaze at critical moments. Props to Eddie Rayner on keys, who plays his parts note perfect to the recording. A great video that shows how tight Split Enz was as a live band.

 

The Fiery Maze, not beast. Sorry I mangled that.

It’s an album of songs from a musical he did a few years ago. It was released, but only on Spotify, in December. He wrote all of the songs but doesn’t sing them on the album.

 

No worries. You asked for input. Just trying to be helpful.

 

He doesn’t sing on them??
Is his voice ok?
What a singer he was in his younger days.