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

“Little by Little” - I agree with the consensus here that the chorus is underwhelming. Still, I enjoy the verses and the way the song breezily bops along in a carefree way. I myself really enjoy most of the Pajama Club album, and am looking forward to running through it in a month or two. There are a couple songs specifically that will be VERY highly rated.

3.8/5

 

I like the chorus best! I can imagine disliking the chorus but I can’t imagine disliking the chorus and yet liking the song, that and the rhythm section are the only things distinctive in the song.

 

Sharon's voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I will not be rating anything (save for one track - the least representative one) on the Pajama Club album very highly.

The 10 best cuts on The Sun Came Out make for a vastly better, more interesting album (of course, only a few of those songs have direct Finn involvement).

 

The chorus kind of just “exists” to me. I think that’s why I can still enjoy the rest of the song. It’s not awful or annoying, just sounds half-baked, like they ran out of time or ideas for it. I like Sharon’s vocals here, though, and on a lot of the PJ songs. She has a vocal style that reminds me of the one-hit-wonder band Len’s “Steal My Sunshine,“ which I like. (Also VERY coincidental, I just found out that woman’s name is also Sharon. Spooky.)

 

Collated ratings for The View Is Worth The Climb

1. Straw to Gold 4.05
2. Out of This World 4.1571
3. The Saw and the Tree 4.1857
4. Slow Mystery 3.6184
5. Rear View Mirror 3.9688
6. Only a Dream 3.2393
7. Fall From Grace 4.2455
8. Invisible 3.7655
9. Snowbound 3.7929
10. Great Return 3.4857
11. Imaginary Kingdom 3.8733
12. Forever Thursday 4.2038
13. More Fool Me 4.0267

The View Is Worth the Climb 4.1727

• False Hope 3.9375
• Secret Heart 3.622
• Every Good Boy 2.8142
• Who Owns the Song 3.25

Live, Alive Oh 3.9667

Crowded House LIve 1992-1994 Pt. 2 4.3

 

No, I get that; I personally like it, because I find it kind of charmingly non-professional and that's something I like: I think it also goes with the sort of DIY punk-ish music of Pajama Club, I get not liking her voice though.

Yeah. It is extremely simple chorus: and that's why I like it, it makes it so catchy and somehow it fits the backing track. I guess it feels so prominent to me, as if everything else in the song is basically leading up to it and sort of fitted around it. Note: I'm not arguing with your opinion, though.

 

Oh I know, I was just clarifying a few thoughts that I didn’t really think of when posting my review. Differing opinions honestly make for great discourse!

 

Lance, in your collated ratings, you mean The Conversation, not The View Is Worth the Climb.

 

You're right. Thanks.

 

reposted just so it's searchable:

Collated ratings for The Conversation:

1. Straw to Gold 4.05
2. Out of This World 4.1571
3. The Saw and the Tree 4.1857
4. Slow Mystery 3.6184
5. Rear View Mirror 3.9688
6. Only a Dream 3.2393
7. Fall From Grace 4.2455
8. Invisible 3.7655
9. Snowbound 3.7929
10. Great Return 3.4857
11. Imaginary Kingdom 3.8733
12. Forever Thursday 4.2038
13. More Fool Me 4.0267

The Conversation 4.1727
Average by Song: 3.8933

• False Hope 3.9375
• Secret Heart 3.622
• Every Good Boy 2.8142
• Who Owns the Song 3.25

Live, Alive Oh 3.9667
Crowded House LIve 1992-1994 Pt. 2 4.3

 

I've gone over my records and listed here the albums discussed so far in order by their ratings. Because I'm waiting for my son to get out of the bath and I have nothing else to do.

We've discussed 35 albums plus probably half again that much (at least) in extra-album tracks!! When taken together it's a truly impresssive body of work!!.

A couple of notes:

• I didn't start really asking for album votes regularly until See Ya Round, so the earlier Split Enz albums are all averages by song.
• Also the earliest albums are skewed high due to the fact that only 2-4 people were rating most of those songs.
• I am not counting live albums here, nor am I counting between album songs or things like Parables, Lullabyes and whatever it was or The BJB Sessions.
• There are a couple of things I would change about this and I'm sure I'm not alone: nearly two years later, I would rate Escapade higher now, for example and Big Canoe even lower...and the Alphabetchadupa lowest of all. But whatever.
• The thread is organic, so take it with a grain of salt.

1. Everyone Is Here 4.975
2. Woodface 4.8033
3. Together Alone 4.7333
4. Temple of Low Men 4.5577
5. Second Thoughts 4.485
6. Before and After 4.4667
7. Imaginary Kingdom 4.2042
8. Try Whistling This 4.2
9. The Conversation 4.1727
10. Time On Earth 4.13
11. Crowded House 4.0625
12. Say It Is So 4.055
13. Time And Tide 4.03 (song average)
14. Frenzy 3.9813 (song average)
15. Mental Notes 3.97 (song average)
16. I'll Be Lightning 3.9889
17. One Nil 3.9
18. True Colours 3.8944 (song average)
19. Finn 3.889
20. Tim Finn 3.8493 (song average)
21. Feeding the Gods 3.833
22. Beginning of the Enz 3.7335 (song average)
23. Waiata/Corroboree 3.6685
24. Dizrhythmia 3.6206 (song average)
25. The 3d EP 3.5667
26. Aiming For Your Head 3.5333
27. Conflicting Emotions 3.4444
28. The Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes 3.3407 (song average)
29. The Alphabetchadupa 3.28
30. See Ya Round 3.175
31. Big Canoe 3.16
32. Escapade 3.117 (song average)
33. Rain 3.083 (song average)
34. Altitude 2.9714
35. Steel City 2.82
36. Betchadupa 2.8

 

I'm really surprised to see Everyone Is Here at the top of the heap, much as I love it.

My CD single of "Edible Flowers" (containing "Tell Me C'Mon") arrived via discogs today, so I can now finish putting together, in CD quality, my alternative version of EIH--thematically weaker but musically stronger.

 

Congrats. I just put most of the B-sides together as "side 3" of an imaginary double vinyl album. Same for Before and After (I have "Before" and "After" discs, and I don't use the Finn Brothers songs at all) and Try Whistling This (a "light" and a "dark" disc.)

 

Little By Little: I quite enjoy this. It's nothing special, but it's perfectly fine. 3/5.

 

Little by Little - I really like the groove of this track. It is, as @StefanWq has already suggested, a bit of "Transit Lounge" feel to it. And I positively love Transit Lounge.
Since it's my first time listening to this (or indeed anything substantial with Sharon as a true participant) it's interesting to read other people's views on this song. I actually like Sharon's kind of breathy vocals on the chorus - it suits as a counterpoint to Neil's singing and I kind of view it as a bit of dreamy/retrospective feel. Because of this, I actually have no problem with the chorus. I think given the empty nest theme of the song, the chorus actually highlights this. I've often wondered myself "where did the time go, when did my baby become an adult and have these adult complications in their life". For me personally, that's kind of what the chorus is saying.

The groove is pretty good. Sure Sharon doesn't seem to be the strongest vocalist ever, but then a lot of artists have made it on a lot less...
3.8/5

 

I'm kind of surprised that Second Thoughts and Mental Notes are separated by 10 places. They are almost the same album - I don't necessarily see them as interchangeable (I quite often choose one over the other depending on my mood) - just that they are separated by quite a bit.

It is an impressive body of work - and although the scoring is entirely subjective - it's hard to see anything that is grossly incorrect here. The albums in the top 10 should all be there (quibble about order if you must), and the bottom 10 are about correct also (again quibble about order if you must).

Thanks once again Lance for putting these summaries and scores together for us!

 

"Little by Little" is one of those songs that crops up that I just can't find a comment for, good or bad. It just exists somehow.

3/5

 

Ha! This reminds me of something Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, once said in response to a question about the Mac mini, something along the lines of: "The Mac mini is a product in our lineup."

"What do you think of 'Little by Little'?"
"'Little by Little' is a song on the album."

 

A quick sideways glance at "You Never Know," which we're not reviewing because of the absence of Finn credits: Neil apparently told the 7 Worlds participants to arrive in New Zealand with a potential single. Jeff Tweedy apparently took him seriously, as "You Never Know" is clear single material (despite a couple of unfortunate lyrical lines). Indeed, it became a single off Wilco (The Album), stripped of Neil's piano flourishes and a couple of other instrumental touches. There are aspects of the song (not just the slide guitar) that make me think of George Harrison.

 

Our votes for "Little By Little"

1-0
2-2
3-5
4-5
5-0
Average: 3.175

 

Today's song is "Learn To Crawl", written by Liam Finn, Neil Finn, Johnny Marr and Ed O'Brien; produced by Neil Finn & Jim Scott; recorded and mixed by Jim Scott.

Lyric.

Neil Finn: lead vocal
Liam Finn vocal
Johnny Marr, Ed O'Brien, Pat Sansone: acoustic guitars
Lisa Germano? -violin (not credited)
Glenn Kotche: drums

Your good night has filled me with longing
Awakened, a dormant expression
I woke up to the north pole (Don't break your neck)
Couldn't hear myself thinking

It's a long way
You started your day
It's a dull ache,
You started your break

A promise, a form of oppression
Outcast of his own making
Carried on all night
The babble in my head
I listen to the waves beak
Couldn't hear myself thinking
With the tap running (incomprehensible backing vocals)

It's a long way
You started your day
It's a dull ache,
You started your break

I can't tell...some mumbled lyrics(giveit a whatyour song)

It's a long way
You started your day
It's a dull ache,
You started your break

So you know, so you know
So much do we know
How much do we care?
There's something wrong
I Know it so well
I Know it so well

I wonder where this all's leading (don't break your neck for)
But there's no telling what will become of this gathering
After all this love

 

"Learn to Crawl" - This is an interesting one. I really like the quiet/loud dynamic of the verse/chorus. It's enough that it's there, but not so much that it's jarring. I'm not sure who wrote what here in this song with four writers, but I hear quite a bit of 2009-2014 Liam in many spots. I like his little ghostly, recurring "don't break your neck for" line. Overall, the chorus sounds pretty Liam, & the verses sound pretty N̶e̶i̶l̶ Lindsey Buckingham. Seriously, I wonder if Neil or whoever wrote the verse took some inspiration from him, because the instrumentation & vocal delivery in the verse sounds incredibly similar to his later-era solo songwriting. I specifically think of a song called "This is the Time" from Out of the Cradle, but there's others from the 2000's that have that structure, too.

There are parts of this that sound like it could have been developed from the Try Whistling This sessions with it's experimental and dark sound. Then there's the Liam sounding parts that make it sound like it could be on his 2011 or 2014 solo albums. I like both of those sounds, so the only thing I really have an issue with is it's repetition and length. It's a bit too one-dimensional of a song to run 5 minutes to me. Still, in the right mood, I quite enjoy this.

4/5

 

You know those unfinished Neil Finn demos on fangradio and on the Deluxe editions of the Crowded House records? This is like that, only fully produced. I'm not sure who wrote what: I'd guess it just came from them sitting around with guitars and Neil and Liam just kind of making stuff up. That's what it sounds like. Then they produced it, thinking, "oh, I'll get inspired when we actuallly record it and finish the lyric then". Only inspiration didn't come, so there's these half-formed words mumbled.

Yes, it does sound like Liam's work in the chorus, but the fact that Neil sings lead makes me think that it's him; though in fact Liam sings harmony on the same words. So who knows?

Chorus shows promise, for sure, and it's never less than pleasant but there's no doubt (in my mind, which is authoritative but may be full of it, anyway) that this is unfinished. Still, I do like it.

2.7/5

 

Most importantly, note that tboth Second Thoughts and Mental Notes are rated pretty highly overalll and there's in fact only about half a point difference between them. There just happens to be ten albums rated between 3.98 and 4.55 or whatever.

Also there's this: those two, and Beginning of the Enz, are really iffy. Only two or three people were regularly rating songs on most of them, and when there are so few votes a very high or a very low vote can really skew the numbers. I was not asking for ratings for whole albums back then and in fact my records are a bit incomplete from that period.

I'd also look suspiciously at Betchadupa's early stuff (pre-Aiming For Your Head) as a lot of people withheld votes from sheer horror.

 

Learn To Crawl

An overly dramatic piece, considering it appears to be about a morning coffee break. I quite dig the menacing guitar plus the startling chorus has some potential, although I've never been an aficionado of the quiet/loud school of rock.

Too many of the songs on Sun sound like half baked jam sessions, and this is a prime example. It's one thing to build a song around a chugging guitar riff, but all we're left with here is the foundations of one, overlaid with a stream of nonsense.

2/5