I sometimes wish Neil or Tim would release more albums like this. It's full of ideas, not as polished as others, but full of ideas, the best keyboard sounds of all Finn related records i reckon, and songs like "only talking sense" have an intensity that all them "Finn's are too nice" critics could not deny.

I don't know why this is the only one i never tire of but it kinda feels like Neil Young's After the Gold Rush in that the raw and unrehearsed takes give you more detail to listen to.

yeah I love that album. Some great songs the simplicity and some strange new sounds make it great. Some people think there were some weak tracks but for me there was at least 7 great songs - Only Talking Sense, Mood Swinging Man, Eyes of the World, Angels Heap, Where Is My Soul, Paradise and Suffer Never.

Road to Raratonga and Niwhai probably didnt work (although they are not terrible just a bit lightweight) but they were not artocious.

Bullets In My Hairdo is sort of out there - some will love it some will hate it. Last Day of June was great live but the recording seemed to lack something - perhaps a stronger vocal from Neil, some work on the lyrics and the removal of that really annoying snare drum!

Overall though it remains their most intimate work and definately the most experimental. EIH was good but it didn't match FINN. I would love to see them do something like this again.

Agreed in spades.

This album was the closest to capturing the live energy that the Finns had in their shows (including CH), but was always absent in the studio and the rest of their recorded catalog.

It is certainly a "rougher" recording, but we (or I at least) are not saying its better simply because it is rough (and this is where many people who appreciate this album less often misunderstand). It is the fact that it was recorded in such a manner that it allowed that certain energy (which is often lost in studio overdubs and careful backing tracks) to be maintained. The "roughness" is just a side effect or consequence of such a process.

I wonder if the Finns could get away with something like this again. I mean, I know they could record something like this and release it again if they wanted but I doubt it would get the kind of promotional push that the Finn album got (a world tour, TV performances).

I believe it was the success of Woodface that allowed them to produce such an experimental followup album. I also think Tim's experiences with ALT around that time strongly influenced the stripped back approach.

Personally, I think "Last Day of June" is one of the best songs on the album and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Anyone who digs the stripped back approach of "Finn" would also love Tim's 08 album "The Conversation". Mostly acoustic guitars, only drums on one track but lots of atmospheric percussion. Also has the brilliant Ed and Miles from the early Enz.

The pressure is off and they sound relaxed.

Maybe the closest thing in the near future will be the Pajama Party. I hope so anyway!

To me, Niwhai is a song Tom Waits should be jealous of

Yup - their best by far for me. Can't really listen to EIH. I hear the first one as a Neil-led effort and EIH as a Tim-led effort.

Paradise
Only Talking Sense
Where Is My Soul
Kiss The Road Of Raratonga (a polarizing song I know - there was a whole thread here on that back in the day - I love Neil's guitar work esp)
Last Day Of June
Suffer Never

All good to great songs, with warm, real, lo-fi production values. Great harmonies, good instrumentation/sounds.

Angel's Heap almost makes the grade for me but not as good as the others above. Niwhai and Mood Talking Man aren't faves but they're not bad.

I think Into The Sunset and Wherever You Are would have fit in very nicely on this set too (in the place of my two least faves I guess).

John, that's a really low blow there to blame EIH on Tim! I personally like EIH but that's beside the point.

All you need to do is take a look at the careers of both Tim and Neil at the time they recorded Finn. Neil was taking a break from Crowded House where all songs are immaculately produced and nothing as rough as the Finn album would ever even be considered. Recording and releasing Finn was a big step outside the box for Neil.

Tim, on the other hand, had just finished working with ALT on the Altitude album. An album that I would argue provided the inspiration for the writing and recording of Finn. Both albums are stripped down and warm with great harmonies and lo-fi production.

I think you've got it backwards. If anything, Finn was more Tim-lead and Everyone is Here, a return to mainstream production, was the Neil-lead project.

For further proof, look at Neil and Tim's current projects. Tim has released The Conversation, a stripped back acoustic album with minimal production. Neil is about to release Intriguer which, like all Crowded House albums, is full of top-notch fancy studio production.

If either brother is more drawn to lo-fi production, it's Tim.

I thought the 2nd one was very popular (more so than the first), and therefore a feather in Tim's cap, not an albatross - no? (Isn't the first one deleted in the US??)

Good point about the production values though. Definitely more Tim than Neil in that regard. The tunes though I hear as more Neil on the first one.

Horses for courses.

quote:

Originally posted by John:
I thought the 2nd one was very popular (more so than the first), and therefore a feather in Tim's cap, not an albatross - no? (Isn't the first one deleted in the US??)

Well this is that crazy fan zone where we think the less popular songs and albums are the better ones isn't it?

I think that Finn was produced in the way that Tim generally prefers and that it was a bit of a challenge for Neil and still is.

In the book Songwriters Speak (extensive interviews with heaps of Australasian songwriters including the Finns)Neil says he still thinks that the FINN album sounds unfinished.

Also in the same book Tim outlines some of the drivers in terms of songwriting on that album and notes that there were lots of things that weren't typical. For example Only Talking Sense, which most people would think of as mainly a Neil song was actually the combination of Tims verses with a chorus by Neil. Mood Swinging Man which most people would probably think was mainly Tim was in fact Neils chords with Tims lyrics (and melody?).

EIH was definately very different, especially with the recruitment of Mitchell Froom at the end. I like that album but it is very much an attempt at Woodface Part 2. Ironically in the end the production and I suspect time spent on the songs robs them of lots of vibe.

So while FINN has its shortcomings it captures them in a way no other album has. I also like the fact that they play nearly all the intruments and I loved the concerts at the time with just the two of them. Intimate is the right word along with some cracker songs and some experiments.

I'd love to see them do this again but doubt Tim could talk Neil into it again.

quote:

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That's interesting, I always sort of thought of FINN as a more Tim recording. I still play FINN reasonably regularly but rarely listen to EIH.

Ohh sounds like I am the 'odd' one out but Angel's Heap, Bullets in my Hairdo and Niwhai would be the tracks I play the most

quote:

Originally posted by Paināporo:
Well this is that crazy fan zone where we think the less popular songs and albums are the better ones isn't it?

LOL, oh the sting of your sarcasm!
I actually had this discussion with another fan in Auckland. We both prefer Finn, though for me it's a tough call. I love "Mood Swingin Man" to absolute death. Reminds me a little of a certain track off Seargent Pepper. I hear it and think of a flickering candle flame in the dark and watching the shadows dance across the walls and ceiling.
"Niwhai" totally rocks! I would so love to come out to that song, when I enter my 1st bikini contest. (Will have to wait for Bodybuilding Australia to include such a division, but I promise to post the vid.) And how cool to write a song about a trannie, shining just a little light in a world filled with ignorance and prejudice.
I love EIH too. "Gentle Hum" is so dreamily beautiful. I remember bursting into tears, 1st time I heard "Luckiest Man Alive" (cos I'd been a naughty little cheat.) I cried all over again when I read the story behind it. Elliot is so adorable, can't wait to hear her sing.
My partner is sound asleep (as I should be) but I can still hear him telling me to stop dribbling.
PS: My favourite Finn Brothers song of all is "Sunset Swim". The intensity of feeling that song creates in me almost defies description. For those unfamiliar, it is a bonus track on the deluxe edition of EIH. Beats me why it never made the album.

yeah it beats me why the left off Sunset Swim, Way Back Down and The Land Torments the Sea. All really good tracks.

I think the argument was it made the album too long but both Woodface and TA had more tracks than EIH.

Who nows? I think Eddie is right when he said the Finns are great songwriters but that they frequently have trouble with track selection for albums.

quote:

Originally posted by titus:
yeah it beats me why the left off Sunset Swim, Way Back Down and The Land Torments the Sea. All really good tracks.

Agreed. Love The Land Torments The Sea and also find that I liked both the released version with it's slide-guitar and slightly country feel as well as the much different demo (I assume it was a demo) on the ukulele. Can't remember where that came from - maybe it was on the Nilfun website if that's possible (can't remember the time frame now). Sounded a little like Paradise. Better than a b-side I think.

The audio is on youtube now days

LOVE Way Back Down


It makes me wonder what else might have been a 'did'nt make Finn'

I would really like to hear another lofi album like Finn. Love Kiss the road, Niwai and essentially everything except Bullets and Paradise.
The songs on EIH are great but it somehow does not work. The album is also very tiring for the ears, can never listen to more then two songs in a row. Especially homesick and part of me.

'Finn' is a wonderful album