Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

Our Votes for "Stranger Than Fiction":

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Today's song is "Time for a Change"



Presented as part of a medly on album, but performed separately in concert and clearly a distinct song, this song is credited to Phil Judd alone, though Tim sings.

 

This is a great, stately ballad, not so much "prog" as just a power ballad. Or proto-power ballad if those weren't yet a thing.

The lyrics, though slightly oblique or elliptical, seem to explore depression and the song has an emotional resonance for me. I find it quite subjective. "You'd rather sit at home and watch the news" is an interesting line to me that reminds me of Neil Finn's line "in the paper today tales of war and of waste, but you turn right over to the TV page."

What was the change that Phil was writing about? Was it about leaving the band? Was it having a child? Was it relationship blues? I've always thought the song was about himself, but could it have been addressed to someone else? Phil's such a minor figure in the pantheon of rock that I'm afraid these questions will never be answered. There's no market for a biography of this great, odd talented and troubled man, sadly.

This version is fine, but the version on SEcond Thoughts is superior, as is the live version on Anniversary (which is probably the best version for me) mainly because the guitar on this one does indeed sound like a "rubber band"and does not have the proper crunch. Perhaps Wilkinson was planning to overdub something, or perhaps neither the band nor the producer understood how to get the right sound.

Still in any incarnation it's an excellent showcase for Tim Finn's brilliant singing. I think that in his youth Tim really had a special voice. An incredible range and a certain rhythmic style of phrasing that is actually pretty difficult to pull off.
When I see videos of him performing in videos sometimes his performing style is almost ridiculously irritating but on record he really really sounds great. I think his real golden period vocally didn't really begin until the Dizrhythmia album, but it lasted until the Tim Finn album in 1989, which is a pretty great run.

 

"Time for a Change" is a great song, and I agree that Tim's vocal here is pretty special. Not much more to add to what Lance already has said. 4.2/5 for me.

 

A solid 3.

Very well sung, but I dont appreciate the songwriting as much as some.

 

Our votes for "Time for a Change:"

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Today's song is "Maybe".

Maybe was written by Phillip Judd and Tim Finn. Lead vocals are shared by the two songwriters.

 

"Maybe" seems to foreshadow a catchier, post-prog future. I think that in Chunn's biography of the band (which I read three years ago or so), he seems to imply that much of the song was written by Tim Finn rather than Phil Judd. And indeed, on Tim Finn's Anthology set, it is the only song from the early days of the Enz that is included.

If that's the case, it makes sense that it is the tightest, catchiest construction the Enz had ever made. Really, Tim write the three or four minute pop song best and this is probably my favorite song on the album. Because, although I like the adventurousness of the longer prog epics, ultimately I tend to go for brevity and melody over anything else in pop music.

The arrangement is still dense, but it all seems to serve the vocal melody, and, other than a synth-horn solo (a proper Rob Gillies solo would have sounded better, I think) all the musical ideas are presented as hooks rather than the foundations of a lengthy side excursions. That main riff (I guess it's a moog) is insanely catchy. And the drum sound is so crisp --the song genuinely makes me want to move. Not that I have actually stirred. But in my mind, I have.

The lyrics, while still a bit obtuse, seem to be treading a bit more familiar territory than most early Enz songs: this is a guy-chick song, and if the writer comes off as a bit eccentric, ultimately the sense of threatening madness that permeates others songs of this era is mainly absent in the lyrics.

However, the song does not lack for edge, thanks mainly due to the voice of Phil Judd, who works himself into a lather by the end of the song. It's almost odd that the vocal pairing of Tim Finn, sweet and high and the baritone abrasive monotone of Judd worked as well as it did. On paper, you would never put those two together vocally. But, while certainly the sound is a far cry from the sound of the Finn Brothers two-part harmonies 15 years hence, it still sounds pretty good.

Anyway, the song is actually insanely catchy without being insipid and it sounds like a hit to me. It wasn't, failing to reach the charts in either Australia or New Zealand, which I suppose were the only places it was released. Well, truth be told I suppose it doesn't sound much like anything else that was popular in 1975. And their relative newness would have been a factor too.

But it's a big hit in my book, I'll give it a full-on, balls-to-the-wall, livin-on the edge bright purple5/5.

 

"Maybe" seems as if it was crafted to be the the album's big hit single, and it IS catchy but it seems to lack that real inescapable sort of melodic hook, the way a similar track by, say, Elton John would have had at that time. It's well-played and certainly well-recorded and polished, but there's a spark that is missing from it for me. I completely agree about Judd's and Finn's voices working together very well here. To me the only off-sounding part comes on the lines that Judd sings solo, as his quavery, maniacal-sounding voice just is hard for me to take seriously. I think it was the only single released from Mental Notes before they moved on and recorded another non-album single late in 1975 or in early 1976? I like this one but don't love it, so will go with a 3.5.

 

Yeah, I guess compared to some of their later singles the chorus is not the kind of thing that sinks into your brain like, say, "I See Red" or "I Got You."

 

Maybe is the first song of theirs that I find enjoyable (beyond the song Split Ends).

 

I must keep missing this due to the Aussie/Kiwi posting times ... but I tracked it down today

I like all the songs so far but missed all the voting stuff ... oh well.
Maybe is good. It's a poppy kind of track but with the inherent quirky Enz styling of the early days.
I'd give it a solid 3/5

I like the gentle swell of time for a change and think that it is an interesting song, given the bands presentation of themselves ... 3.5/5

 

Eddie Rayner did a couple of orchestral albums around the turn of the 20th century, where he reworked Enz songs. I don't like most of them particularly, but I thought 'Maybe' worked OK:

 

Our votes for "Maybe":

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Today's song is "Titus", credited to Phil Judd alone, but with vocals shared by Phil and Tim Finn.



I'm going abroad for a little weekend vacation/holiday so my next post will be on Sunday evening (CET), which will be Monday for those of you on the bottom half of the world, and Sunday morning for the ones on the left.

 

"Titus" was the first song by early Judd-era Enz that really grabbed me (thought it was the version on Second Thoughts which I heard first.) The lyrics and delicate melody caught me, but there's also the mandolin, the gorgeous piano work (and (on Second Thoughts" the lovely horn solo by Rob Gillies, done here on synthesizer by Eddie Rayner.) I also quite like the contrast in Phil and Judd's vocal part. Tim sound better obviously, but having both of them sing a verse is an interesting, counter-intuitive choice that somehow works.

I give this an unabashed 5. It genuinely moves me.

 

This is probably one of my favourite songs off the album. Unfortunately I haven't had time to relisten to the album, as I like to when doing this.
It always surprised me when I first bought an Enz album that they sang a lot of love songs (of a sort) because the visual image seemed somehow contradictory to that. I also find it interesting how many prog style things the band was doing, although they wouldn't really fall under the prog banner.

4.5/5

 

I quite like “Titus”. Judd’s voice is still a stumbling block for me and I suppose I’d like it even more if Tim had sung the whole song. If I recall correctly, this is another of the Mervyn Peake inspired songs on the album. 3.8/5 for me.

 

Our votes for "Titus":

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Today's song is "Spellbound."


"Spellbound" was written by Tim Finn and Phillip Judd. We've already discussed an earlier version of this song, which was sung by Tim Finn. This version was song by Phil Judd.

 

I don't pretend to know the history of the band ....
Mental Notes is a good, but not earth shattering debut album. The band showed they were a bit different, visually and musically, and displayed a lot of somewhat Art-Rock traits.
I find it interesting that Second Thoughts contains some tracks that were redone from the debut. I'm not sure if that's because they were unhappy with the first album in some way, or if they just decided that they preferred something about the way the songs had developed while touring. Perhaps someone with more historical knowledge of the band can fill us in with some info about these things.

 

This is a cool way to end the album

 

As I mentioned when were previously discussing this song, I prefer the Tim Finn version that we discussed earlier. It's got more spring to it, and the melody is much better with Tim singing it. It's more musical.

Still, if you can learn to accept its extreme oddity, there is a certain power to Judd's dramatic delivery and the band still sound fantastic. Still, if I gave the other one a 5/5 I can give this version no more than 3.7/5.

 

My apologies, but I accidentally posted about "mental notes" a day early, skipping "Spellbound." I then deleted my posts, while at the same time you were posting your thoughts. No big deal, but in case there is any confusion.

 

Spellbound
This track definitely sits in the art-rock camp and starts with a series of sound effects that gradually form the song that it is.
I love the unusual way the percussion slowly introduces itself with little stabs, and then goes away, and then we get the big smack down session that leads into the song.
It is a pretty light and breezy song once it comes in. Judd does one of his typically warbly vocals.
I really like the music to this song. There is some great playing and nice changes.
I always get the impression with this album that the band was looking for a sound to a degree, and that may explain my question in the previous post.
4/5 for me