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

Our votes for "Chichichachacha"

1-2
2-2
3-2
4-0
5-0
Average: 1.75

 

Today's song is "Never Feel the Same."

This song was released in January 2008 on Yep Roc Records' website as a digital download for people who purchased I'll Be Lightning.

 

I don't have a strong take on this one either way. The first couple minutes have sort of a Phil Judd quality to it that really catches you off guard if you aren't expecting it, which I thought was interesting, but I don't know if I mean that in a good or a bad way. I suppose if I spent more time with it I would probably have a more firm opinion on it, but I really don't know if it would be for the better or for the worse (usually I have at least an initial take on something when I hear it but I've not formed one for this song) - so I'll go middle of the road here.

3/5

 

Never Feel the Same

This to me is a song that sort of gets there, and has the ingredients of something better, particularly the chords on the semi-instrumental bit near the end. Liam's vocals somehow don't quite suit this. And, it lacks that real bit of spice or interest that makes a great song. Perhaps it's a bit too ethereal for too long.

But, overall I think it's good. It wasn't a waste of my time listening to it.

3.1/5

 

I really like the sound of it, the mandolins and the echoey, spacious production, but it doesn't quite coalesce into a pat song for me. Also like the vocals including the higher pitched ones at the end. A good bonus track.

3/5

 

Never Feel the Same - This is an absolutely gorgeous musical soundscape that is just crying out for a stronger vocalist. I would love to hear someone else cover this.

4.25/5

 

Never Feel the Same - Like @jimbutsu I'm more or less neutral on this song. I actually like the music but I kind of wish there had been a change in tempo/key/something during the middle of the song. It's very nice as a piece of music but maybe not as song that needs more "something" to hold your attention. I actually found myself mentally wandering off during it.

Now, the vocal - am I the only one who thinks that Tim would make a great vocalist for this song? Maybe it's the slightly early Judd/Finn vibe of the mandolins but I reckon that Tim would do a sterling job on this song.

2.8/5

 

Wow, what an incredible thread! Is there an index?

Lots that's been fascinating to read - a little hard to contribute to meaningfully if you haven't been doing so progressively throughout, but...

My personal view on the Finns is that, I guess as is true of most people, I generally gravitate to Neil's writing and voice more than Tim's.

Woodface was my first exposure to them; I can remember hearing Weather With You and It's Only Natural a lot on the radio around that time (I was 11 or 12), and the videos were on TV a fair bit. I've liked them a lot ever since, eventually becoming a really big fan in 1996 when Recurring Dream was issued, though I am fairly sure I'd heard and liked Together Alone prior to that.

It's hard to choose between Woodface and Together Alone as my favourite album, but for sheer atmosphere (and personal associations) I'd probably opt for the latter.

My favourite tracks are much the same as other people's, it would seem, though there are a number of Finn songs that have somewhat painful/bittersweet associations for me, through failed marriage/relationship situations - things like Fall at Your Feet, Nails In My Feet and, unfortunately, Private Universe. For some reason, I've turned to many of their songs in times of sadness, or their music has somehow resonated for various reasons in difficult or emotional situations.

Private Universe will always stand out - and I possibly do prefer the Afterglow version to the album mix, however controversial that is. Always loved Nails In My Feet a lot, Kare Kare and How Will You Go (provided you take I'm Still Here out of the equation).

From the non-Crowded House material, I've always loved things like She Will Have Her Way, Last Day of June, Hole in the Ice and Turn and Run, though I prefer the live version of the latter, by a mile.

And, for what it's worth, I think Pour le Monde is brilliant.

 

Welcome, Ernold. I hope you’ll stick around.

As others have suggested, “Never Feel the Same” has some good bits and effectively establishes a mood at the beginning, but it never quite coalesces or progresses. It needs to go somewhere, and it doesn’t. A perfectly adequate bonus track, but no more than that.

3/5

 

Never Feel The Same: first time hearing this one, it has a really cool vibe to it, nice vocals and I like the buildup towards the end. A few more listens are obviously needed.
3.5/5

 

Welcome Ernold!
Don't hold back from offering your thoughts. I know I started contributing after lurking on fringes for quite some time...all opinions welcome!

 

Right then, let's go on and have 2 new members of the thread in one day. Maybe we can reach 4? (G-get it!?!?) Hi everyone! I'm Drew and I'm happy to finally start posting here after lurking for quite some time. I'm in my late 20's and discovered Split Enz/CH in possibly the dumbest way possible back in 2015. Wikipedia has sort of a "Master List" of a bunch of artists for each music genre, listed alphabetically. Occasionally, in the hunt for new (old) music, I would go on and just randomly click on a band and run through their discography, checking how the ratings were, and that they weren't a lousy band.

Split Enz happened to be one of those bands and I liked the concept of a 'prog rock band turned new wave', as well as the Finn catalog seemed to be a quality bunch of music, from Crowded House to the solo stuff. I gave a listen to a 30 second sample of 'Give it a Whirl' and thought it was incredible.

So I started with 'Mental Notes'. Hated it. Thought Phil sounded like a billy goat (he kinda does I guess, though), music was a little too obscure, inaccessible, etc. Only really liked "Maybe" and to some extent "Walking Down A Road". Goes to show how you can't always just listen once and form an opinion, as 'Mental Notes' now ranks in my Top 10 Enz-related albums, of the 90+ EP/LP's. I think it's brilliant.

So I moved on to 'Second Thoughts.' Same kind of reaction (Which I suppose makes sense since half the album is re-recorded MN songs.). I reckon I kinda liked 'Lovey Dovey' and 'Sweet Dreams' at least a little, since those two songs rank mighty high on a list of 'Top Enz-related songs' nowadays. I was about to give up on Split Enz when starting 'Dizrythmia' (although I believe I was at least going to try to get through 'Frenzy' because I liked "Give it a Whirl" so much.). Then I listened to "Bold as Brass" and "My Mistake" and couldn't believe it. I remember in that moment thinking "Oh. So THIS is what this band is capable of..." To this day I rank 'Dizrythmia' in my 'Top 5 Enz related albums.' Not a bad song on it.

Going forward I had a new perspective on the band, and while I enjoyed 'Frenzy', 'True Colors' and 'Waiata', I absolutely hated 'Time & Tide', 'Conflicting Emotions', and 'See Ya 'Round'. Just another case of not understanding the music right away, as I rank 'Time and Tide' in the aforementioned 'Top 10' of mine, and shortly thereafter warming to CE and SYR ('See Ya Round' more so than CE). As far as Crowded House goes, I think their first 4 albums are great, TOE is good albeit a little long, and 'Intriguer' is a little better compared to TOE (song wise and length).

Some of my other Top 10 albums to come from this body of music are The Swingers' 'Practical Jokers,' Temple of Low Men,' the first Finn Brothers album, Schnell Fenster's 'The Sound of Trees,' Tim's 1989 album, ALT's 'Altitude', and 'Try Whistling This.' TWT might possibly be my #1 on the list. I love the sound and variety of that record. I was a kid when the 'Trip hop/Drum loop/Late 90's Alternative' style of music was going on, so it probably gets a little nostalgia boost, in addition to it just being an incredible album. I wouldn't cut a single song off it and "Faster than Light" is likely the best thing Neil ever wrote IMO.

I could go album by album forever (I won't though, thank God). The world of Enz/Finn/Judd-related music is remarkable to me. I refer to it as the 'most quality body of music I've ever listened to.' Of all the 90+ Enz-related EP/LP's, only a small handful would I consider 'bad.' And when it comes to strictly Neil/Tim/Liam/Phil involved records, the lowest score I would give any of those, like, 70 EP/LP's, is a 3/5 for Tim's 'Feeding the Gods.' It's such a consistently impressive journey of music.

A few side notes about this thread:
1. The cover of "Too Many People" that Neil & Tim did that you guys covered a while ago convinced me to go through the Beatles catalog for the first time ever (and some select Paul/John/George. Loved 'Abbey Road.' Also really liked Paul's 'Ram,' John's 'Walls & Bridges,' and George's 'All Things Must Pass.' (probably the best of those 3)
2. Somebody posted a little bit ago that Mark Hart's favorite album was 'Drums and Wires' by XTC. I dabbled into XTC some 10 years ago but never really got too interested. I just finished going through their albums and it was just glorious. I don't think a band has ever jumped into my 'Top 10 bands of all time' so quickly. Another band like SE/CH that's remarkable consistent. 'Drums & Wires, 'Mummer', 'The Big Express' are fantastic. But there's no bad XTC album IMO (the first two are 'okay', everything else was great/amazing).
3. I like 'Big Canoe' quite a lot. I was a little surprised by the reception it got here, but I can see why people might not like it. It is a little overproduced.
4. I think the 'One Nil' version of 'Turn and Run' is MOUNTAINTOPS better than the 'One All' version. The outro specifically. It was funny to see the differences of opinions here as to which version had the better songs. I only ever heard the 'One Nil' version of the album before this thread, though, so I'm certainly biased towards it.

Anyway, I'm really happy to see people discussing this amazing body of music. Neil Finn is an incredible songwriter, and Phil & Tim aren't too far behind. To have so many great spin-off bands of SE/CH as well like The Swingers, SF, Citizen Band (2nd album at least), ALT, FB, Betchadupa is great. I don't know how much I'll have to say about some of the songs on here, but I'm gonna try to participate in every song going forward with at least a few words and a rating. Again, really happy to be here with all you Finn fanatics!!

 

Sounds like your tastes are like mine...except I’d trade Feeding the Gods for Big Canoe!
I’m hoping to do an XTC thread eventually if nobody beats me to it.

 

There was a “random song” XTC thread awhile back. i.e, every song, but in random order. I posted there from time to time, but it was hard to focus because it was a random song every day. I would love to see one in this format and would participate for sure.

 

Isn't that the running joke that if the Finns keep releasing stuff we will have a never-ending thread...
(which would not be a hardship...)

Hey, I'd be interested in an XTC thread - I've not explored any of their music (just an occasional song) but it's always suggested to me based on my other music interests...I wouldn't be a knowledgeable contributor but I would be enthusiastic!

Also welcome aboard @drewrclv9 !

 

Indeed we'll all be sitting here in 2023 going through the tracks of the new, NEW Crowded House album after having finished the new Finn Bros record from 2022, in addition to a 2022 Neil solo album, an Elroy solo album, new Pajama Club, and 'Forenzics.' (That's still only like, 63 days I guess, huh.) By the way, if all those happen, I want credit for the prediction.

And yes, I would also be extremely interested in an XTC song-by-song thread!

 

Hey @Lance LaSalle did we miss a song out of the intended post Xmas itinerary? I was just trying to plan out my listening of the CH 92-94 part 1 so I could make somewhat intelligent comments...
Also another listen of "The Conversation" before we start that after New Years

 

And Harper Finn has put out about 6 songs in the last year...if Ellie Finn ever starts releasing music or whole albums we will be here for some time...

 

"Merry Christmas Everybody" - not the best cover I've heard of this one, but decent enough. 3.0/5

"Chichichachacha" reminds me of the sort of stuff Liam did the first (and only) time I saw him perform. You know what they say about first impressions, right? I've been around long enough to realize that first impressions are just as often inaccurate as they are accurate; however, with Liam, I think they might be the latter. I've never been able to truly warm up to him as an artist/musician largely because of that first exposure and this b-side simply reinforces those feelings. This sort of "I'm too clever for you" thing is just not what I appreciate about music.

1.3/5

 

We will be doing that live crowded house record in four days.

 

"Never Feel The Same" is the best of the I'll Be Lightning bonus tracks, I'd say. It's just about the only one that actually feels labored over. It has a beautifully shimmery sound and might have fit in pretty well on the album.

3.4/5

 

To the new additions to our little thread:
Welcome aboard!

Now please stop with the thoughtful posts that make productive contributions to the discussion.
It's making those of us who've been phoning it in for the last several months look bad.

 

Never Feel The Same

3.6/5 (how's that for phoning it in?)

 

RESPECT.

 

No index but there is a search box in the top right of the screen where you could search the thread...

If you are hoping for consistency in ratings (even by the same member) it's probably hopeless though...I believe it's part of the unwritten rule of the thread to periodically agonize over the inconsistency of said ratings