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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, Jan 21, 2019.

  1. DiBosco

    DiBosco Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Wow, that's a fabulous video. There are number of things I noted here:

    1. That song doesn't half sound like Blur.
    2. Neil is a really good guitarist. Every time I see a clip of him playing live (I've never actually seen CH in the flesh) it strikes me just how good he is and I don't think it comes across on record.
    3. That Split Enz song is just brilliant, even if the video of it is as embarrassing as Neil clearly found it. I have the the album it's from, but this is head and shoulders above everything else on it for me.
     
  2. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I don’t think Neil likes “I Got You” very much, or he didn’t for a long time. In the last decade he seems to have warmed to it again.
     
  3. DiBosco

    DiBosco Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Love Isn't Hard At All does rather put a stop to the really good run of songs on the album. The drumming is just atrocious, those fills are the kind of fills you play when you first start playing drums, or you hear non-drummers try to play when they have a go on your kit. I like your whimsically romantic description of the lyrics, Lance and agree with the eighties/nineties alt style of it. Claire Grogan could do this song justice.

    It's funny, being the dinosaur I am, I read all you youngsters' posts, talking about skipping and playlists and I just think I am stuck in bygone age where all I ever do is put on an album and listen to side one, get up, turn it over and listen to side two, disinterested in chopping around the order or cross pollinating songs from one album to another. What I always look for is the vibe of an album because I want to play something that fits my mood at that particular moment in time. We will indeed discuss this in a couple of days for this album, but this is why, for me, some albums are better than the sum of their parts and some worse and that does affect how often I might listen to something.

    I have a friend who just has all his songs from his whole collection playing on random almost every second of the day he's awake. He brought it on holiday once and by the end of the third day I wanted to smash the Bluetooth speaker to pieces. :D
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021
  4. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    Love Isn't Hard At All

    This is a decent song. To my ear, the vocals are Neil and Elroy singing together to make a double tracked-like effect. The guitar hook is OK, but I feel that with songs like 'Everything is Good For You', CH have done songs like this before, but better. If I imagine this going back in time to see where it would fit into CH, I can't help but think of it as an Afterglow bonus b-side to one of the singles (Not EiGFY as it would be too close to the a-side.)

    It's OK, and it's good to see Elroy on the album. Even if only partial.

    But, I can't help thinking that a song of this quality wouldn't make the cut for a previous CH album.

    3.1/5
     
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  5. Jaffaman

    Jaffaman Senior Member

    The official cover is the one on the website and streaming services, at least in NZ. Whatever you have is unknown to me.
     
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  6. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    It might be Liam on drums on this one. I think Liam is a good drummer generally, but I admit that the drums here stuck out a bit.
     
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  7. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    Love Isn’t Hard At All

    This song is so lightweight, if I was listening to the album on vinyl, the record might lift up and float across the room at this point. I think it’s the main guitar riff that makes me feel that way. I’m not saying it’s bad, just insubstantial. Inoffensively pleasant, as I’ve said about so many of these songs. There is a keyboard part around 1:40 that reminds me of a video game I had in the 90’s. As for the singing, I think it’s the second voice that makes it sound weak, not Neil’s main vocal. Whether that second voice is Elroy, Sharon, or double-tracked Neil, I honestly can’t tell.

    3/5
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021
  8. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    This post made my day. I haven't been called a youngster for 40 years :). But yes, I would much prefer to put on a record and just listen to an album. However, things being as they are, I have little chance of finding 40+ minutes in order to do that. Instead, I get to squeeze in 10 or 15 minutes here and there, sometimes less. Shuffle is a godsend because it allows me to use that time to listen to songs I know I'll get some real pleasure from hearing. My time is too precious to spend it listening to songs I'm not fussed about.

    That said, I will say that Dreamers Are Waiting is benefiting from my old school approach.
     
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  9. ToneM

    ToneM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, UK
    An early favourite from the album. I adore the mellow melancholy riff at the heart of Love Isn't Hard At All. I'd agree it's very 80's alt, although I was thinking more New Order, or at least Electronic. I can almost picture Johnny Marr nailing that chiming guitar lick.

    Like a light breeze on a summer day, this is a delicate, delightful and refreshing 3 minutes. Even the lyrics for once are comprehensible and almost add up to something. This would make a perfect driving song, if I drove.

    It could perhaps use a clearer, stronger chorus, as the one here feels like a tacked on afterthought following the majestic verses. The only major negative point for me is the cheese and crackers keyboard solo, which reminds me of pan flute, a sound I never want to hear on a record.

    4.5/5
     
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  10. Anne_G

    Anne_G Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Love Isn’t Hard at All: yes the drumming bothers me too. Wish I could play that well but I just don’t like the song. 1/5
     
  11. KangaMom

    KangaMom Queen of the Quokkas

    Love Isn't Hard At All - I pretty much agree with @ToneM on this song (in fact it was more or less what I was going to write). I like the whimsical and lightweight nature of the song. At this point of the album they did need an uptempo and light'ish song. It's a good contrast to the songs around it. It is interesting that it's largely an Elroy song because it doesn't really sound like anything on his solo album. It's intriguing that he would be capable of such a light, pop song.

    I think the vocals are fine - seems like a deliberate choice to fit the mood of the song, with the kind of double-tracked vibe and I guess the vocals settling back a little. I like the drumming and how it drives the song along - not complex perhaps but it achieves what the song needs. Between that and the chiming guitar it does seem like it is an alt-90s style.

    I don't necessarily recall the song (but that makes it not hugely different from other songs on this album). Pleasant and needed at this point on the album
    3.8/5

    To comment on @DiBosco's post: I much prefer to listen to an album format. There are lots of rewards for listening to the sequence of songs to have it unfold. The problem, as @Paul H has pointed out, is finding 40 minutes to do it without distractions. If I really want to listen, I basically have to put headphones on and shut everything else off. You would think it would be easy to find that 40 minutes but for me it normally comes very late at night and frequently I fall asleep with it happening (not a reflection on the music usually).
    My kids used to have an annoying habit of playing their music in the car (that's not the annoying part) and then part of the way through it when they deemed they got through the "best" part of the song, they would switch to another song. I like the random playlist because it's like getting a surprise each time, but switching while the song is playing is dead annoying. I'm glad my kids have outgrown that phase.
     
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  12. KangaMom

    KangaMom Queen of the Quokkas

    I do love the "I Got You" music video. It's a good pop song. My kids loved it the moment they heard it so I guess it's appeal is multi-generational. They had the same reaction I did when I first heard it.
     
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  13. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    And now it's Elroy's turn. "Love Isn't Hard at All" is better than just about anything on Elroy, but that's not saying much. And Elroy's drumming here is better than elsewhere on the album, but again that's not saying much. There is a decent alt-late '80s-early '90s vibe here. But the melody isn't strong, the vocals are weak, and there's a keyboard pad underneath, very much of a style that Liam and Elroy like, that I find off-putting (it's been used elsewhere on Dreamers Are Waiting; by this point I'm tired of it). You'd think that an up-tempo number would give the album a needed jolt of life after a series of mid-tempo and slower songs, and it does, kind of, but there's not enough here to be satisfying. This is another song I don't mind having on in the background while I'm doing something else, but it doesn't stand up to careful scrutiny.

    3/5
     
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  14. BeSteVenn

    BeSteVenn FOMO Resident

    I don't know why I like Love Isn't Hard At All. It sounds like some other band doing a passable knock-off of a Crowded House song, but it adds a needed uptempo song to Dreamers Are Waiting. If I listen too hard and over-analyze it it would probably go down in my estimation.

    As an old man of 64, I'm perfectly happy to forgive Liam's drumming and some of the clumsy lyrics, but once again I can't forgive the squashed mix/master.

    4.2/5
     
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  15. ToneM

    ToneM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, UK
    I sympathise, think I've only managed 3 uninterrupted listens of the Dreamers CD so far. The rest has been piecemeal on my headset at work, which is far from an ideal way to embrace it. Playing the CD when the kids are awake is a non starter, as my 1 year olds gleefully climb up to reach the off button on the stereo. I'm trying not to take it personally as a comment on my musical taste.

    Without wishing to sound like the old git I clearly am, listening habits have changed in favour of single tracks and short bursts, in line with shortened attention spans in the digital age. There was always music on the turntable when I were a lad, so soaking up albums as a whole unit is something that's ingrained in me. As much as I'd like my sons to experience the mood and bliss, highs and lows that only a well constructed album can bring, for now they remain an alien concept. To them, Alexa is the font of all music. As long as they grow up appreciating music in whatever form works for them, I shouldn't really complain. Much.
     
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  16. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    The consensus on Dreamers Are Waiting appears to be: we're all getting old. :)
     
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  17. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I almost always listen to albums whole except for these threads, in the morning. But I can only listen to one or two albums in one sitting (or on a walk) on a typical day, the rest are in the car or while I’m cooking, etc. I drive minimally 45 minutes a day which probably sounds like nothing to you in the US where you spend half your life in the car but is a pretty good amount for out here.

    I structure my listening so that I listen to albums I’ve recently bought many times, basically Til I’m sick of them or feel I’ve thoroughly digested them. I tend to listen to about ten-15 albums repeatedly per month on rotation. I have a backlog of about thirty albums I haven’t really listened to yet!! Of course some I just listen to once or twice and put away: “Hawaii” by The High Llamas is one I just found boring: great Pet Sounds like arrangements but weedy singing and dreary melodies….

    With real new releases (as opposed to older albums I buy) , like this one, I listen to for several months. So Ive listened to DAW once or twice a week for the last several months and will continue to do so until I’m bored with it. In fact I just played it today. The last song I heard was the Liam one in the car.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2021
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  18. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    Older. I refuse to think of myself as old. Old is a state of mind. I just retired at 60 due to circumstances out of my control and I think of myself as way too young to be retired, but thankful I could do it!
     
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  19. DiBosco

    DiBosco Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Sounds like the fact that I have no children means I have a lot more time and space (and energy) to myself and so it's much easier to be able to just flop down and stick an album on. One side effect of a global pandemic means that there's loads more home work and I spend zero time in the car which leaves me so much more spare time in comparison to my last contract which was two hours a day commute.

    Fully agree. I'm a handful of years behind you, but in my head I'm still in my twenties, just with way more disposable income! Unless I look in the mirror and then it's like, who's that and where did he put the last thirty years?

    My dad, bless him, was a star in that he cobbled together hi-fi for me when I was in my teens and despite the fact our taste could not be much more different, he did really encourage me to enjoy music and I'm forever grateful to him for that.
     
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  20. therunner

    therunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    I'm with @BeSteVenn on "Love Isn't Hard at All", I like it without being able to explain exactly why, and yet on the other hand I agree with others' critical comments about it being bland and insubstantial with weak sounding vocals, so probably best to not think too deeply about it and just let the main melody wash over me pleasantly.

    4/5
     
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  21. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    Well, "old" means older :) Put it down to poor grammar... But yes, I like your version more.
     
  22. jimbutsu

    jimbutsu WATCH YÖUR STEPPE

    As I'm listening to this one to have it fresh in my mind for a score, I was thinking to myself "this is really dumb but damned if I don't like it!" So yeah - right there with you folks! The mixing or matering or whatever is really awful though - it sounds so squished and muffled. I'll have to put the LP on and see if vinyl helps any at some point.

    4/5
     
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  23. Jaffaman

    Jaffaman Senior Member

    "Love Isn't Hard At All" is my teenage daughter's favourite track on the album. Also, she and the rest of my family recognised the Tetris theme long before I did. It's an intentional insertion by Elroy.
     
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  24. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    Tetris! So that’s what it was! I knew I recognized it!
     
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  25. DanP

    DanP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I wasn't sure whether to mention the Tetris theme; once you hear it, you can't unhear it! I think the penny dropped for me a couple of listens in.

    Think I might be out here alone in really liking this one. Like the tempo and the overall vibe. It's got the modern can't-be-bothered non-ending ("outros are so pretentious") but I really like it and its place on the album overall.

    3.5/5
     

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