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

I'll include your rating and re-do it tomorrow or more likely Tuesday morning. I feel like I unexpectedly moved on today, but I really don't want to hold stuff up on Mondays and Wednesdays as I'm too busy!

 

I had a look at my rating and discussion of The Living Enz. I think I will leave both where they are.

There are some future albums/songs I'm very interested in discussing. Others less so. From now on it will be easier for me to post on some albums but not others. If I vanish for a bit, I'll still be watching the thread waiting for the next time to drop in again.

 

I tend not to listen to live albums these days, and no longer have The Living Enz CD(s). I used to play it a whole lot though and recall it as being their best live recording. There's a real energy and exuberance to the songs, perhaps brought about by the feeling of release of this being their final outing (as far as they knew at the time). The tracklist is mostly great and the band were at the top of their game.

Was some of this from their final gig where Neil infamously stage dived? Could be remembering wrong, but I thought one of the band shouts "Where's Neil?" at one point.

 

I remember vividly the day I found a copy of "The Living Enz". I was in Paris with my parents and visited the huge store FNAC, a shop selling both records and books, on rue des Rennes and was (of course) flipping through the S section, looking for Split Enz records. Lo and behold, there were two copies of "The Living Enz" (the Canadian edition released by A&M Records). I hadn't known the record existed until that moment and bought it immediately.
In my opinion the physical copy ticked all the boxes for a live album: double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with a collage of concert photos, a set list featuring both hits, unexpected deep tracks as well as new material (I hadn't heard "I Walk Away", "Ninee Neez Up" or "Years Go By" in any shape or form before I got this live album) and overall giving me as a listener a vivid idea of what a Split Enz concert at that time was like, both in terms of song arrangements, stage banter and also the visual aspects (their colourful and creative stage costumes, as seen in the concert photos inside the gatefold sleeve. And what a powerful live group they were!
"The Living Enz" is also wonderful time document of Split Enz pre-breakup, and of Tim's and Neil's stage personas pre-Crowded House, pre-solo careers, pre-Finn Brothers etc.

There are plenty of highlights on this album, among them "I Walk Away", "Bold As Brass", "Dirty Creature" with all the additional lyrics seemingly ad-libbed, the majestic "Time For A Change" with its incredible guitar parts played by Neil, the version of "Walking Through The Ruins" revealing what a good song it really is and the closing track "Charlie". Listening to the album it almost makes me feel like I'm there at the concert.
Of all the Split Enz live albums, this is my favourite, an album I've listened to zillions of times.
Definitely a 5/5 album for me.

 

The Living Enz - OK, so I have this album on cassette (!) which means I haven't played it in about 18 years. I still have the tape and hope at some point to listen to it again. So all I can comment on really, is what I remember from the Enz with a Bang Concert I actually went to (Festival Hall, Melbourne).

I do remember just how great Time for a Change and Charlie were. Like spine-chilling good. I remember Bold as Brass and really loving how the energy of the crowd and the band was surging together. And finally I remember thinking how essential Eddie Rayner was to the Split Enz sound. When I saw this concert, it became obvious what his contributions were - the little flourishes of keyboards, his ability to help host the proceedings by simply playing keyboards, but mostly just how those jazzy, atmospheric keyboards really added a lot to the whole Enz experience.

While the details of the concert may be somewhat lost in the mists of time what I do remember is that this probably as much as anything drove my Finn fandom into the stratosphere. I couldn't believe that they were gone, but I was glad I got to hear all those songs live. In particular their older songs really sparkled.

I've no idea whether that's accurately reflected in the cassette (I think it is, although I remember the sound being a little problematic - but that could be because this cassette was played relentlessly). In any case, I hope the cassette/CD/vinyl is as good as I remember the concert (6 rows from the stage in the center!) because it was brilliant.

 

The Living Enz was great to find on import (Lp) from Australia just as I was snapping up every Split Enz album I could find in the late 80s. I remember being hesitant at first, because live albums can sometimes be pretty poor, but it had I Walk Away, One Step Ahead, Message To My Girl and Strait Old Line, all songs I really liked on that VHS of their videos that I had bought not long after I'd fallen for the first Crowded House lp. Making an audio dub of songs from that tape didn't yield great sounding results, after buying the 2 lp set I felt like these live versions could never be surpassed. I discovered the pre-Neil songs (as I thought of them then) written by Phil Judd, and I decided to follow up and get all of the Split Enz records and CDs I could find. A very good decision on my part. It took me a few years to track down a copy of The Living Enz on CD, and that has been my go-to for live Split Enz ever since.

All in all, The Living Enz was my gateway to 10 really enjoyable and often great albums, and a really remarkable document of a band just as they were calling it a day (for the time being.)

4.5/5

 

It’s Elroy’s birthday. 32 years, right around the Murchison street demos’ recording.

 

Seeing the comments by others, I have to wonder why I didn't buy this when it came out. Which if I had it would probably have an emotional/nostalgic connection for me as it does for others. But, I didn't. I don't think I even heard it until after I had heard Anniversary. Oh well, I can't have experienced everything in life at the right time

 

See Ya Round just made an appearance in the 'Answer With An Album Cover Thread'.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/thre...r-game-part-24.363865/page-2567#post-28087710

May I suggest we all go and 'like' the post to show some Split Enz luv to the rest of the forum?

 

Our (redone) votes for See Ya Round, redux -- with BeStevenn's rating:

1-0
2-0
3-2
4-6
5-2
Average: 3.7

 

Albums ranked.

See Ya 'Round adjusted again The rating score changed from the original votes 3.175 to 3.y The ranking changed from #45 to #33.

Similar irregularities may exist in the early Betchadupa's albums: Aiming For Your Head, might be an accurate score, but on the earlier albums and EPs, some refrained from voting, thus skewing the scores slightly.

I may give some time for whole album discussions of the early stuff at least, later on in the year.

Green: abums with Tim and Neil
Orange: Neil Finn
Blue: Tim Finn
Purple: Tim Finn/Phil Judd albums
Magenta: Liam Finn albums
Grey: Neil Finn and sons albums
Light blue: elroy
YELLOW!!!! HARPER FINN (RUNNING OUT OF COLORS)

1. Everyone Is Here 4.975
2. Woodface 4.8033
3. Together Alone 4.7333
4. Time And Tide 4.7
5. Temple of Low Men 4.5577
6. Dizrhythmia 4.5333
7. True Colours 4.5125
8. Frenzy 4.4944
9. Before and After 4.4667
10. The Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes 4.42
11. Mental Notes 4.3
12. Caught By The Heart 42571
13. Second Thoughts 4.2438
14. Crowded House 4.2142
15. Imaginary Kingdom 4.2042
16. Try Whistling This 4.2
17. The Conversation 4.1727
18. Time On Earth 4.13
19. Say It Is So 4.055
20. I'll Be Lightning 3.9889
21. FOMO 3.9625
22. Tim Finn 3.9429
23. One Nil 3.9
24. The Fiery Maze 3.9
25. Finn 3.889
26. Beginning of the Enz 3.8667
27. Out of Silence 3.85
28. The View Is Worth the Climb 3.84
29. Waiata/Corroboree
30. Feeding the Gods 3.833
31. COLLECTED WORKS OF HARPER FINN 3.8101
32. The Nihilist 3.7778
33. See Ya Round 3.7
34. Intriguer 3.6615
35. Conflicting Emotions 3.62
    
36. Suzanne Bartsch On Top soundtrack 3.6 (only two votes)
37. The 3d EP 3.5667
38. Aiming For Your Head 3.5333
39. Dreamers Are Waiting 3.5269
40. Escapade 3.495
41. The Alphabetchadupa 3.28
42. Lightsleeper 3.2385
43. Pablo Vazquez 3.1825
44. Big Canoe 3.16
45. Rain 3.083 (song average)
46. Dizzy Heights 3
47. Altitude 2.9714
48. Pajama Club 2.89722
49. Steel City 2.82
50. Betchadupa 2.8
51. Elroy 2.644

[/QUOTE]

 

Our re-done votes for The Living Enz

1-0
2-0
3-0
4-4
5-2
Average: 4.2

 

[Albums ranked.

The Living Enz added to ranking, tied for 16th (with Try Whistling This.)

Irregularities may exist in the early Betchadupa's albums: Aiming For Your Head, might be an accurate score, but on the earlier albums and EPs, some refrained from voting, thus skewing the scores up slightly.

I may give some time for whole album discussions of the early stuff at least, later on in the year.

Green: abums with Tim and Neil
Orange: Neil Finn
Blue: Tim Finn
Purple: Tim Finn/Phil Judd albums
Magenta: Liam Finn albums
Grey: Neil Finn and sons albums
Light blue: elroy
YELLOW!!!! HARPER FINN (RUNNING OUT OF COLORS)

1. Everyone Is Here 4.975
2. Woodface 4.8033
3. Together Alone 4.7333
4. Time And Tide 4.7
5. Temple of Low Men 4.5577
6. Dizrhythmia 4.5333
7. True Colours 4.5125
8. Frenzy 4.4944
9. Before and After 4.4667
10. The Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes 4.42
11. Mental Notes 4.3
12. Caught By The Heart 42571
13. Second Thoughts 4.2438
14. Crowded House 4.2142
15. Imaginary Kingdom 4.2042
16. The Living Enz
17. Try Whistling This 4.2
18. The Conversation 4.1727
19. Time On Earth 4.13
20. Say It Is So 4.055
21. I'll Be Lightning 3.9889
22. FOMO 3.9625
23. Tim Finn 3.9429
24. One Nil 3.9
25. The Fiery Maze 3.9
26. Finn 3.889
27. Beginning of the Enz 3.8667
28. Out of Silence 3.85
29. The View Is Worth the Climb 3.84
30. Waiata/Corroboree
31. Feeding the Gods 3.833
32. COLLECTED WORKS OF HARPER FINN 3.8101
33. The Nihilist 3.7778
34. See Ya Round 3.7
35. Intriguer 3.6615
36. Conflicting Emotions 3.62
    
37. Suzanne Bartsch On Top soundtrack 3.6 (only two votes)
38. The 3d EP 3.5667
39. Aiming For Your Head 3.5333
40. Dreamers Are Waiting 3.5269
41. Escapade 3.495
42. The Alphabetchadupa 3.28
43. Lightsleeper 3.2385
44. Pablo Vazquez 3.1825
45. Big Canoe 3.16
46. Rain 3.083 (song average)
47. Dizzy Heights 3
48. Altitude 2.9714
49. Pajama Club 2.89722
50. Steel City 2.82
51. Betchadupa 2.8
52. Elroy 2.644

 

For the next couple of days, we can re-recap Big Canoe, Tim Finn's second solo album released in June 1986.

Our original album discussion is here. While the song by song discussion started here.

Living in London, Tim found himself in the midst of the London theatre community. With the intent of perhaps writing a musical, and finding himself full of melodies but with little lyrical inspiration, he wrote a set of songs with poet/playwright (and future Oscar winner) Jeremy Brock. Ofter obtaining a new record contract from Virgin, Tim recorded a very ambitious album album itself was produced by Nick Launay, the only person to date who has a production credit for music by Neil, Tim and Liam, not counting Mitchell Froom.

The sunny, light sounds of Escapade were replaced by sophistipop that mixed R&B and dance textures with Tim's more familiar brands of rock and pop and the lyrics explored themes of a need for spirituality and the lack thereof in the modern world. Tim's persona on this one seemed self-consciously romantic, a very different image from the schlubby character he inhabited during a good portion of the Enz's career.

The album was ambitious and was given a big budget which Tim spent every penny on. It included orchestras, backing vocalists and on some songs guest guitar work from Phil Judd.

It hit #3 in New Zealand but only a disappointing #31 in Australia; it failed to chart anywhere else, and this would be the only album Tim recorded for Virgin. It was released belatedly by Virgin in the US, in 1988, after the success of Crowded House and Tim's signing to Capitol Records in the US.

The songs on the original release (on vinyl and cassette) were:

1. Spiritual Hunger (Finn, Jeremy Brock)
2. Don't Bury My Heart (Finn, Brock)
3. Timmy (Finn, Brock)
4. So Deep (Finn, Brock)
5. No Thunder, NO Fire, NO Rain (Finn, Brock)
6. Searching The Streets (Finn, Brock)*
7. Carve You In Marble (Finn)
8. Water Into Wine (Finn, Brock)
9. Hyacinth (Finn, Brock)
10. Big Canoe (Finn, Brock)
11. Hole in My Heart (Finn)*
12. Are WE One Or Are We Two (Finn, Brock)

*CD only bonus tracks

Our original ratings for the songs and the album:

Collated Scores for Big Canoe:

Spiritual Hunger 2.5571
Don't Bury My Heart 2.4429
Timmy 2.48
So Deep 2.9
No Thunder No Fire No Rain 3.8143
Searching The Streets 2.64
Carve You In Marble: 3.7111
Water Into Wine: 2.2167
Hyacinth: 4.46
Big Canoe: 3.75
Hole In My Heart: 2.55
Are We One Or Are WE Two? 2.65

Big canoe album: 3.16

Average by song: 12 song version: 3.0143
10 song version: 3.0982

 

I rated the ten song version of this album 3.5 back in the day and the 12 song version 2.9. (It doesn't flow as well.)

I will actually downgrade that to 3.2/5.

The album is probably the richest melodically of Tim's career, and the one he probably worked on the hardest; and there are no fewer than four 5/5's on the album for me. However, overall, the cold mid-eighties sound sounds really harsh to me (though the album is amazingly melodic.) and a couple of the songs just don't work at all.

I also find Jeremy Brock's lyrics quite pretentious (at times, at other times they work -- he does have a certain flair.) The bonus tracks/B-sides are stronger than the two songs I like least, and I'd prefer a ten track album with those in place of the songs I don't like ("Water Into Wine" and "Are We One Or Are We Two".)

I also remember the conversation feeling quite negative feeling to me at the time -- I don't know, I guess I've kind of gotten over that, since and I felt great pressure to move on Crowded House, which has sort of flavoured my feelings towards this album since then. It's really not that bad but it's tainted for me for some reason.

 

Albums ranked.

Champagne In Seashells added, (somehow I forgot this.)

Irregularities may exist in the early Betchadupa's albums: Aiming For Your Head, might be an accurate score, but on the earlier albums and EPs, some refrained from voting, thus skewing the scores up slightly.

I may give some time for whole album discussions of the early stuff at least, later on in the year.

Green: abums with Tim and Neil
Orange: Neil Finn
Blue: Tim Finn
Purple: Tim Finn/Phil Judd albums
Magenta: Liam Finn albums
Grey: Neil Finn and sons albums
Light blue: elroy
YELLOW!!!! HARPER FINN (RUNNING OUT OF COLORS)

1. Everyone Is Here 4.975
2. Woodface 4.8033
3. Together Alone 4.7333
4. Time And Tide 4.7
5. Temple of Low Men 4.5577
6. Dizrhythmia 4.5333
7. True Colours 4.5125
8. Frenzy 4.4944
9. Before and After 4.4667
10. The Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes 4.42
11. Mental Notes 4.3
12. Caught By The Heart 42571
13. Second Thoughts 4.2438
14. Crowded House 4.2142
15. Imaginary Kingdom 4.2042
16. The Living Enz
17. Try Whistling This 4.2
18. The Conversation 4.1727
19. Time On Earth 4.13
20. Say It Is So 4.055
21. I'll Be Lightning 3.9889
22. FOMO 3.9625
23. Tim Finn 3.9429
24. One Nil 3.9
25. The Fiery Maze 3.9
26. Finn 3.889
27. Beginning of the Enz 3.8667
28. Out of Silence 3.85
29. The View Is Worth the Climb 3.84
30. Waiata/Corroboree
31. Feeding the Gods 3.833
32. COLLECTED WORKS OF HARPER FINN 3.8101
33. The Nihilist 3.7778
34. See Ya Round 3.7
35. Intriguer 3.6615
36. Conflicting Emotions 3.62
    
37. Suzanne Bartsch On Top soundtrack 3.6 (only two votes)
38. The 3d EP 3.5667
39. Aiming For Your Head 3.5333
40. Champagne In Seashells 3.525
41. Dreamers Are Waiting 3.5269
42. Escapade 3.495
43. The Alphabetchadupa 3.28
44. Lightsleeper 3.2385
45. Pablo Vazquez 3.1825
46. Big Canoe 3.16
47. Rain 3.083 (song average)
48. Dizzy Heights 3
49. Altitude 2.9714
50. Pajama Club 2.89722
51. Steel City 2.82
52. Betchadupa 2.8
53. Elroy 2.644

 

To be pedantic, Big Canoe was released in Europe on April 28, 1986.

I'm sorry to hear you felt the discussion was negative at the time (August 2019). For me, that discussion is a very happy memory as it was when I joined the forum. You had posted about this forum thread at the Frenzforum web page in circa July 2019 and I got curious. During a holiday to Legoland in Denmark with my wife, my brother and his kids I spent late evenings and early mornings reading all the posts and felt immediately "I want to be a part of these discussions!". I wanted to have read everything before joining and once I had I joined on page 100, when the song "Hyacinth" was discussed. I'm really happy to have found this forum thread and can't praise you enough Lance for all the incredible work you put into this forum thread!

 

Thanks, I am glad that that brought you here. I was always looking for more Tim (or general Finn) fans to join in to balance things out. I think whatever issue I had resolved itself, but there was a streak of albums (Escapade-through-Big Canoe, four albums in all) where it seemed that almost every song was struggling to get a three, and that made things seem dreary.

 

Big Canoe

I've re-read my contributions to the original discussion. As well as the discussion in general.

At the time Lance said he was very surprised that I gave Are We One or Are We Two a 5/5. And, I was too while re-reading my own post in 2021. However, I'm not going to change any of my votes for the songs or albums. Even though back then I was doing whole number ratings only. Reading what I wrote I did so from a better understanding of the album than I have now having not listened to it in full much since then. However, having made it through the album all the way to AW1OAW2, perhaps my relief that it was ending on a song I like boosts my appreciation of the song. I have listened to the album this morning, and it is a slog to get through the whole thing in one listening. A great EP can be made from it, however.

It was fun to see the entry of Stefan into the thread and Ed recognising me

I'm looking forward to new posts and votes on the album from those who weren't around way back when.

Oh, and I still think AW1oAW2 is great! It's a fun song. Nowadays I wouldn't give it 5/5 as I use fractions. But, I'm happy to leave that vote alone.

 

Dang, I should have joined earlier! I've always identified more strongly as a team Tim. Still as we will see, I'm not sure I would have helped the cause much on Big Canoe...

 

Big Canoe
My recall (which could be erroneous) is that I bought this on release. I think I may have bought it on CD because I remember that CDs were really new and expensive in Australia and so consequently it was a big decision (financially) to purchase it. For whatever reason, that version is not with me. I have another version which was the Virgin reissue at some later date that I bought quite cheaply.

I remember at the time being a bit perplexed by the choice of the first single, “No Thunder”. It’s a good song, I like it quite a bit in fact, but there are other songs that are a more radio friendly than this song. It really kind of set the tone for odd choices on this album.

It’s certainly not my favorite Tim Finn album, in fact at this point it may be my least favorite. I think my reaction at the time was that it didn’t really sound like Tim. A bit too slick, too many orchestrations just so EXTRA (as my teenagers would say). It’s like they threw everything at it to get this big sound but it’s actually just way too much (or at least I find it a bit overwhelming). If I listen to the songs, I can check off the stuff I like, bass lines, backing vocals etc. But when they are all together, it’s way too much. I put this on the producer’s head as much as on Tim because they should have shown some restraint. Every now and again, some lyrics pop out at me (not in a good way) but I can live with it (because literally nearly always I just concentrate on the sound of the words rather than the meanings). I was also not a fan of the Brock collaboration - seemed to be a bit mannered without Tim's nice turns of phrase - but listening now it bothers me less than it did when I was a teenager.

Spiritual Hunger
I think this is a very good opening song. It certainly catches your attention and is a surprisingly funky dance number. It’s a bit busier than I would like (and did like at the time) but listening now, I’m surprisingly ok with it. I think this would have made a better lead-off single. Listening to it quite a few more times, and I find that I like this song a lot. Was the intro a leftover from an Enz song, it sounds like another song I can’t place?
(PRE-POST EDIT: I see I may be the only person who likes this song...)

Don’t Bury My Heart
I quite like this song, the only thing I would say about it is that I find the strings at the end a bit overbearing but this is a very nice little song and when they remove some of the strings it sounds a little better, although it is still a little bit busy with the keyboards. I do like the bass groove of this song and the guitar stabs. I actually think the chorus is the most successful part of this song – at least feel wise. If they had simplified the rest of the song along these lines it would be a superb song.

Timmy
Grrrr, this song just annoys me. The keyboard riff reminds me a little bit of Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster”. Normally this would be a plus, but this song is just very different from that song. I don’t really like the lyrics although I do like that falsetto “Sweet Cecelia”. I just find the whole story behind the lyrics weird. And the song sound is like a mish mash of styles, with the horn section kind of reminding me a little of New Orleans Jazz which is at odds with the rest of the song, and that is strange to me.

So Deep
The start of the song reminds me very vaguely of another song (possibly Jeopardy by the Greg Kihn Band). This has a quite catchy chorus but it doesn’t really rise about album filler for me. The vocal is quite good though.

No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain
I do like this song, I like the tackling of a serious issue, I think the narrative of the song is quite good and I like the arrangement. I just don’t think it’s a single. It was an odd choice. It does have a nice melodic style which I like but it’s not enough to make me think this was the best choice for a single. Surprisingly I think there could have been room to improve Tim’s vocal on this song – it just sounds a bit strained to me. The strings are nicely arranged especially at the end of the song.

Searching the Streets
I can easily imagine this as a Split Enz song. There’s something about the cadence of the song that reminds me of that (although it could have used a dose of Eddie). It’s a good track, it’s still pretty busy instrumentation wise, but not quite as overblown as other tracks preceding it.

Carve You in Marble
I find the intro a bit ponderous but then again, it is a good counterpoint to the rest of the song and of course that returns in the outro. Maybe I could wish for the intro to have a bit more style, I guess. But I like this song a lot. There’s a hypnotic quality to me that makes me want to listen to it. It is a very nice vocal performance by Tim.

Water into Wine
There is just too much going on in this song. I really don’t like those overbearing keyboards and the lyrical story doesn’t appeal to me much. Although in the future Tim would do theatrical songs, describing someone else’s life, this just seems a bit contrived. This song really epitomizes the main issue I have with this album. Too much of everything – styles, ideas and not enough restraint to let the song develop more organically. I’m actually a bit tired and overwhelmed listening to it (it was worse when I listened through headphones).

Hyacinth
This is a very pretty song with a really beautiful chorus. I just like it, the more pared back production allows this song some room to breathe. The only thing I would perhaps like more is to have Tim’s vocal a bit more up front. It seems to be a bit distant – but maybe that is my imagination. A real favorite on this album (and such a counterpoint to the preceding song – more of this type of production would have been welcome).

Big Canoe
This is my favorite song on the whole album (and I had to wait for almost the entire album!). It’s full of atmosphere, tells a story and is delivered with a nicely committed vocal. Great verses, great chorus with a nice contrast between the two. I will say that I love that lyric “Felt me the earth through three dollar shoes, Felt the roar of a thousand oars.” Just really dramatic and I think it makes the song right there. I think this should have been the closing track for the album.

Hole in my Heart
I do like the simplicity of this song. Again, they have tapered back most of those extra bits. It sounds way better because of it. This sounds like it could have been on Escapade or Conflicting Emotions.

Are We One or Are We Two
This sounds like a song that Tim would have written a long time before this album. It reminds me a little of “Sugar and Spice” with the groove and vocal delivery. A pretty great song and again it is greatly enhanced by exercising some restraint on the instrumentation (OK, I’ll forgive those strings). I like this a lot. I just wish it came ahead of Big Canoe which should be the closing track. (PRE-POST EDIT - I see maybe that @HitAndRun and I are in agreement on this song!)

Favorite tracks: Big Canoe, Hyacinth, Are We One or Are We Two, Spiritual Hunger

I think on balance this album is better than I remember it being but it is an exhausting listen. There’s just so much coming at you that it kind of obliterates the songs a bit. It’s not really a surprise that some of the more “sparse” songs are my favorites (exception: Spiritual Hunger because it’s just so dance-y). I hesitate to say that it should have just been an EP because I do think the album is melodically very good and I'd hate for those other songs not to exist. But this is definitely a cautionary tale of what happens when money and time is apparently no object...

I think I’d probably score this as a 3.6/5 – the production did no favors to this album. This album, like Conflicting Emotions would be a prime candidate for re-recording.

 

I really love Big Canoe. I know most would disagree, but this album is the beginning of what I believe to be Tim’s 10 year career peak of 1985 to 1995 (with Neil’s being 1988 to 1998). There isn’t a song here I dislike. There are a few that certainly stand out, but everything here is great, or very close, in my opinion. Tim’s vocals are otherworldly levels of amazing, and the general style and atmosphere going on here is impeccable. There are hints of sophistipop going on here, and it very favorably reminds me a little of Bryan Ferry’s two 80’s solo albums.

I can understand people not liking the album for its’ production or overly pretentious lyrics, but those don’t bother me at all personally, especially since I usually overlook lyrics in music anyway. Yeah, it’s pretty dated, but the musicianship and song quality makes that irrelevant, in my opinion. I think I’ll do a song-by-song for this one…


Spiritual Hunger
@KangaMom Nope, you’re not the only one that likes this one (though I may be the only one here that loves it ). Such a great opener, and just an amazing song. From the atmospheric opening keyboards to the brilliant outro, I love this one start to finish. Nice cameo from Phil Judd, too.

Don’t Bury My Heart
One of my less than favorites on the album, but I still like it. I will say I absolutely love the opening riff and general instrumentation here (the funky guitar in the verses is fantastic). The chorus maybe leaves a little to be desired and there’s a bit of schmaltz going on there, but still a good one overall.

Timmy
Probably the most Escapade sounding track here, and also my least favorite, but I still enjoy it. I love Tim’s periodic background “yeah’s” throughout the track; such style!

So Deep
Great guitar and a catchy chorus here, but I think the verses shine just as well. Not much else to say about this one; it’s just an enjoyable pop song.

No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain
This is a remarkable piece of music. It’s one of my favorite Tim songs and one of my favorite songs in general. What absolute beauty from start to finish. This is probably the only song on the album that can give me chills. It’s strikingly beautiful. One of Tim’s best vocal performances over top gorgeous instrumentation.

The last minute and ten seconds of this song is one of my favorite sections of any song ever. The urgency in Tim’s voice, the sitar, the escalating then isolated strings. It’s so, so utterly beautiful. That minute and ten seconds always feels like 15 seconds when I listen to it. Also a perfect way to end side one.

Carve You in Marble
Just as the previous song was a great closing track to side one, this is a wonderful opener to side two. Beautiful piano intro that turns into a slick pop track with a great chorus. I will say, this one is particularly dated, but it’s still so great I can overlook that. Wonderful middle 8 on this track!

Water Into Wine
Undoubtedly, I’ll probably be the only on that feels this way, but I adore this track. I think I mentioned a few times here that I’d have been the only one to have given this a 5/5 had I been here for it, and I wasn’t kidding. As admittedly dated as the song is, this is perfectly crafted pop. It’s always been one of my top 3 tracks on the album. The energy and guitar here elevate this song by a ton. I think how @HitAndRun feels about “Are We One…” is how I feel about this song.

Hyacinth
The vocal layering here makes this stand out for sure. I love the chugging guitar, Tim’s vocals and almost chilly atmosphere going on. This sounds like it could have been on Tim’s ‘89 album, honestly, and I love it for that. One of the best tracks here.

Big Canoe
Beautiful, soaring chorus coupled with a highly enjoyable verse melody. I feel like I need to keep bringing up Tim’s vocals and how good they are, but that’s every single track, so I have to keep shutting myself up about them. Just another wonderful song.

Are We One or Are We Two
Fantastic guitar yet again here. Overall this is probably one of the weaker tracks here, almost sounding like filler. I love the energy and song structure though, so that saves it from being an underwhelming listen. Maybe an odd choice for closing track, but still a good song.

*Searching the Streets
Love it. It’s sort of the sister song to “Water Into Wine” to me. I love that sound coupled with the energy. Juts a joyous, fun listen through and through with, yet again, great vocals from Tim ™.

*Hole in My Heart
More impeccable guitar work. I swear, I feel like Tim’s vocals and Jon McLoughlin/Phil Judd’s guitars battle it out for my affection throughout every second of this album. A great track, and definitely should have made the original release (though maybe it wasn’t finished yet or something?).


So that’s it. I’m done rambling about Big Canoe. I love it, though, if you couldn’t tell by now. It’s my second favorite Tim solo album, only behind his ’89 self-titled LP. His later material is certainly more weighted with personal substance than his earlier songs here, I will say. This is more my bag, though, because it’s just so fun and enjoyable, while at the same time periodically showing maturity in songs like “No Thunder…” and “Hyacinth”. Overall, not a perfect LP, but one of my favorite Finn-related ones for sure.

4.7/5

Track Picks: “Spiritual Hunger” (5/5), “No Thunder, No Fire, No Rain” (5+/5), “Searching the Streets” (4.7/5), “Water Into Wine” (5/5), “Hyacinth” (4.6/5).

Low(est) Points: "Timmy" (3.8/5), “Don’t Bury My Heart” (4.2/5), “Are We One or Are We Two” (4/5).

 

I like Big Canoe. As an album I'm mostly okay with the Big 80s Sound and the pretentious vibe. Tim was being ambitious, and I suspect trying to prove to the world that he was a serious artiste and not just the former member of a wacky art-pop band. That Phil Judd is along for part of the ride also makes me think that Tim was of a mind to prove to Phil that he too could do art for art's sake while at the same time being heavily commercial (I'm thinking of Counting The Beat). The musicians (especially Paul Wickens on keyboards) play very well, maybe too well, the songs' passion seem to come from Tim's vocals and not the playing. (I've always thought that Wickens is a bit passionless in his playing, it's probably his reliance on digital and electronic keyboards.) That could be because the musicians are (were) most (if not all) sessions pros and could come in and nail the songs quickly, but they don't really seem to gel as a band on Big Canoe. I could do without the backing vocals, they don't work as a Greek chorus or as accompaniment a counterpoint to Tim's vocals (with one exception). They are the one 80s production touch on this album that I don't like overall. On the other hand, I like Anne Dudley's very 80s string arrangements here.

The theme of the album, people with a huge hole in their lives to fill, is for my taste too big an umbrella to sustain itself over such a hodge-podge of specific stories being told. I was curious about which movies Jeremy Brock has written, and was surprised to learn that two of them are movies that I really, really like, Driving Lessons and Mrs. Brown. I either haven't seen the other movies or have forgotten them entirely, but the diversity of subject matter in the movies he's written makes me think that Big Canoe for Jeremy Brock was some sort of notepad where he wrote down ideas for movies, which were too slight to sustain over 90-120 minutes of a film, but would work in the context of an album. I'm sure that's not what the real story was, but that's how it seems to me in retrospect. (Maybe he's just a writer for hire and doesn't have any career vision, except to write to order.)

Spiritual Hunger - It's silly, but I think I prefer Mr. Catalyst. This is not a great song to open Big Canoe, but as a statement of intent, it does make sense. It makes sense in a high school expository theme sort of way.

Don't Bury My Heart - others have done the stalker song much more effectively, Randy Newman's Suzanne is suitably menacing, yet its affable music makes it even scarier as a character study. Tim's earnest delivery of Brock's first person lyrics make it just creepy.

Timmy - This might have worked really well on Escapade with an Escapade production sound. It's a poppy tune, but it doesn't really need those backing vocalists, especially that loud in the mix.

So Deep - The verses are nice, but that chorus of "So Deep, whoa-a-oh-yeah" takes the me somewhere he didn't intend to take us. Simply telling us over and over that something is "So Deep" does not support the argument.

No Thunder - No Fire - No Rain - I love this, even as the subject matter horrifies me. It's a perfect marriage of a beautiful track with a tragic narrative. The backing vocalists are mixed just right, and the music is arranged just right, especially Anne Dudley's string arrangement. It's one of my favorite Tim songs. 5/5

Searching The Streets - This might have made a good side opener on an lp, but of course we know that the song didn't even make the record. Maybe Tim should have given this one away to someone who would make it into a completely pop confection. I could hear George Michael doing it up right.

Carve You In Marble - I love the piano introduction, and as I've said I'm a sucker for solo piano noodling on the fade of a song. The rest of the song also works, and the Marble remix works even better, if it had the piano intro and outro it would be perfect. The melody is a bit Tim by the numbers, but those are really good numbers. The video kind of creeps me out.

Water Into Wine - Brock is no Chris Difford, but he's trying here. It's another song that could have been pure pop pleasure, but the lyrics too busy. On an album with not a lot of guitar, the guitar on this song sounds a bit intrusive, where it should have been welcome.

Hyacinth - I'm not sure how Hyacinth fits into the album's theme, there is no search here, just a celebration of the object of his affections. If the album had been built around this song, I think the album would have been much more successful. Burying it halfway through side two was a big mistake. It should have been the lead single, but I think Tim wanted to assert his serious side. 5/5

Big Canoe - A hidden pleasure of the album is this title song. It should have also been given an honored spot, either a closer on side one of the lp, or the final song on the CD. I wonder what Brock's contribution to the lyric was, to me it sounds like Tim start to finish. Maybe he contributed "archipelago".

Hole In My Heart - Again, the placement of this song in the running order of the CD marginalizes it. It's a fun little pop song, putting it here as a preliminary concluding statement just tells me they didn't know where to put it, so they left it off the Lp and buried it on the CD.

Are We One Or Are We Two - What I said about the previous song goes double for this one. And I think the transition between these two songs is misguided. At first I thought that it was just a false end to the previous song and that a guitar freakout was coming, a strange choice for an album with so little guitar. And then for an album with such typically 1980s sound to have a early 1970s guitar workout to end the album was a really weird choice.​

In short, although the songs individually are all over the place, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, most are unified by that theme. I do think the songs are lyrically strong individually, but as a whole are simply too wide-ranging to hang together over a 50 minute album. Front-loading the album with Big Statements didn't do Big Canoe any favors. On the other hand, as an album it hangs together well musically and sonically, but individually I wish that Tim and Nick Launay had gone for different, more unique arrangements and sounds for each song. But that's the Big 80s Sound to me, it fools me into thinking every song sounds the same, even when they don't.

The best songs really elevate Big Canoe, the poorer songs don't drag it down too far.

4.3/5

 

Quick update on this. So I guess YouTube does have a custom speed setting (which I totally didn't see for some reason) where you can set the speed by .05 intervals. 1.05x is the correct speed of the song for anyone wanting to listen to it in its accurate speed. It still sounds a little sloggy (vocals are still a little lower pitch) because it's artifically sped up, but it's very close to what the original sounds like in that speed setting (find it by clicking the setting icon-->playback speed-->custom, slider to 1.05).

 

I gave it a 4