Which one of the Split Enz studio albums is the best one to get. I have a live Enz cd and a best of cd and the dvd which I really like. I know that I am not a big fan of the early Enz suff so I do not think I would want to get any of the the first 3 albums Can someone help me please?

Hi, Sam28! Hey, that's a difficult question you have but, considering you're not too intrigued
with early Enz, I may say choice is restricted to, I think, two albums, both very good indeed:
True colours and Time & tide. My preference goes, after all, to True colours. Get it, enjoy it!
Bye.

I personally would choose Dizrythmia, which is either their 3rd or 4th album depending on whether the Beginning of the Enz counts as a studio album or not.

I'll have to go with TIme and Tide on that one. Although I really can't say because I've only heard two of them!

Time and Tide gets my vote as well.

Great album...but then again i love them all!

I reckon the 'History Never Repeats: 30th Anniversary' CD is pretty good.

non best of:
In my opinion you should go for Time and Tide: hello Sandy Allen, Haul Away. Conflicting Emotions could be a nice one too. But I prefer T&T.

best of:
Or you could try Spellbound, incredibly complete, with songs from both Enz eras. I'd go for that one, sums up all their career quite well.

Raul

Maybe I'm not very qualified, being in a similar position to yourself Sam.

But, from what I have got - 3 best of's, and two "real" albums - True Colours & Conflicting Emotions... I would definitely recommend Spellbound.

I'm not over-excited (yet!) by the early stuff just yet, so have avoided that so far, and really just bought the stuff I've seen available. Of True Colours and Conflicting Emotions though - I would say True Colours. I found it easy to find in the shops and easy to get in to! I like everything on it and it does encourage me to want other Enz studio albums. The next Enz album on my list though is Time & Tide... and judging by the recommendations on here, may also be a good bet

I'd go with Time & Tide first as well for the aforementioned reasons, move on to True Colours, then maybe move backwards a bit.

Frenzy, for all its perceived faults amongst the purists here, has amazing songs - I See Red, Stuff & Nonsense, Give it a Whirl, Betty... Maybe the finished result isn't what it could have been, but it's still one of my favourites.

And I wouldn't count out Dizrythmia either - it's not quite as proggy as the very early stuff, but it hangs together very well as an complete album and has stuff like Charlie & Without a Doubt. However, it is light years from Time & Tide & the rest of the 80's stuff.

Everyone has their own little favourites tho', and the Enz certainly did enough and changed enough over the years that you'll find your own favourite era I'm sure.

True Colours

True Colours.

You definitely can't go wrong with that one, especially if you get last year's remastered edition with new cover and lyrics!

Well Sam, since you don't like the early Enz stuff (my favourite) I'll go with Dizrythmia. It's what I would call weird pop, really unique. A great crossover betweeen the prog stuff they did and the poppier songs they did later.
Probably the album I listened to the most in 1977.

I'd go for Time and Tide, I personally think True Colours is over rated and a bit dated . Time and Tide is a masterpiece. Pity you don't like the early enz, then I'd be seriously advocating Mental Notes. Dizrythmia is a fantastic album (and one of my favourites), but it has more in common with Mental Notes than any of the later albums, including such prog rock epics as Without A Doubt and Jamboree.

This is a great subject, I'm so glad I found it because I was sure I had a SE cd, but realized I don't have one, so then I was planning to get the Other Enz, Split Enz & Beyond cd, but then I noticed that it doesn't have Message to my Girl on it....The songs I love the most were Six Months,Message,I got you,& maybe a couple of other songs if I heard them...So now I'm wondering if the 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection is the cd I should get instead? Finn Fans, help me...Because I've been on a buying frenzy lately..Lol

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on shoring up your ENZ collection, I would recommend "Spellbound" as it has the best of early stuff and the later stuff....a good all around retrospective......

Lisaa, I'd steer clear of Other Enz until you're a die-hard fan of the Enz. Even though it has a few CH rarities, the bulk of it is aimed at those of us who get more excited by the more obscure rarities related to Tim, Phil, Eddie & the others.

As many people have already said, if you're looking for a good intro to the complete Enz experience, from prog to pop, you can't go wrong with Spellbound. Then again, you sound like you're more into the later stuff, so the Millenium collection might be just what you're looking for, since it has pretty much all of the 80's hits on it (it's also a lot easier to find in Canada). Haven't heard it myself tho', so I can't vouch for the quality.

In my opinion, Dizrythmia and Time & Tide would be good bets. True Colours if you just want the hits and stuff like it.

Time and Tide, whilst in the opinion of most Enz fans here, is regarded as the best album by far (It's one of my favourites anyway) is actually a bit of a grower. I think though once you've gotten into it, it's one that just won't let go of you. Dizrythmia similarly.

If Mental Notes\Second Thoughts appeals to you in anyway, go for it headfirst. Because that is a seriously enjoyable journey. If they get you, you will never forget discovering those albums. I really hit on the early Enz stuff about 4 years ago, and I still remember the process of really getting into it. It just blew my mind.

I'd avoid Conflicting Emotions until you're well into the rest of the stuff. Still to the this day, I only really listen to the CE stuff that was on Spellbound. The album has dated terribly, even though there's some good songs on it. There is some utter rubbish on it though.

Being a Split Enz fan isn't like being a fan of any other group - It's not even like being a CH or Finn Brothers or a Phil Judd fan. It's an entirely different kettle of fish. It's a vocation. A band to beware of if you have another favourite band, because Split Enz become *your band*. They become the group above all others (Ok, The Beatles are allowed). Your desert island group, Because in reality, they are about 5 different groups. Personally, there's enough in those five different bands within that one to service most of my musical needs. It's a badge to wear with pride.

Well said, iarla!!

Lissa, it's true, it's like they are a few different bands, their sound evolved immensly so judging by your favorite songs you will really have to keep that in mind if you listen to their earliest work. Much different! But I love it!

Spellbound is a great place to start.

Now, where's my badge?

That's great, thanx so much for the input everyone, you've certainly given me a good foundation of stuff to pick & choose from as far as SE is concerned....Cheers

Well the band all say that their fav album is Time & Tide and thats also my favourite. If you want a good single disc hits comp then the 30th anniversary version of History Never Repeats is great. But the the double disc set Spellbound is a lot more comprehensive and what I'd go for.

You might be interested to know that Eddie has been working on the tracks from the Anniversay live album, selecting other cuts from that tour, has cleaned up the canned applause and it will be re-released mid this year as a new double live album.

Also worth getting as this will be the last album released with the late great Paul Hester's drumming on it.