It's all good. The different albums show the many faces of Tim, I guess I just like all of them. (OK, maybe the herbal tea's getting to me...

Before and After - numero uno

Imaginery Kingdom next...

But what about ALT - it's pure MAGIC!

I didn't include ALT GentleHUM because, well, it's not a Tim solo album per se.

Eponymouse ajust nipped it from Before after for me

Now I have Before & After, I prefer it over the self-titled effort.

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and "In Love with it All" which is a Finn Bros pre-Woodface song (although I think Tim does both vocal parts on the final recording).

No, that's definitely Neil on the record...

my vote is for Tim Finn. I have this on vinyl and played it over and over and over and over when it first came out. There's just something about the songs that catches me. I find most of them easy to sing along to and stick in my head. I think I'm probably a sucker for Mitchell Froom's production.

For me, one of the signs of an album will always truly love, is if I can play it after not having listened to it for a while, and still capture the emotion I felt when I first played it. There are not many albums that can do this for me, but Tim Finn is one of them.

Second would be Imaginary Kingdom. I have to say, other than Tim Finn, I'm not a big fan of his solo work and I probably wouldn't have bought Imginary Kingdom. It was an unexpected (but very welcome) Christmas present and turns out I'm really enjoying it.

I went with Imaginary Kingdom. After seeing him live, it made me appreciate the album all that much more. I didn't hate it before or anything but I love it now.

I voted for Imaginary Kingdom

I just got Imaginary Kingdom today, and am wondering what is on the disc design. It looks like some sort of old weather instrument, can anyone clarify this? By the way, love the music. Well done, Tim!

I went for Feeding The Gods, great rocky album. Just ahead of Imaginary Kingom, (Tim still in top form), and Escapade.

Thanks for reminding me of this topic, Silent House. Went for Feeding the Gods, too. Imaginary Kingdom and Say It Is So share a close second.

It took a while for me to get into FtG, but now I can't think of any track on it which I don't like. Instead I'm absolutely in awe of songs as "Sawdust and Splinters", "I'll Never Know", "Party Was You",... Might become one of my very few alltimefaves, fan or not.

So true! Feeding the Gods has the *best* songs! It's totally one of my all time favorite albums.

1. Songline - part of Tim's trilogy of songs about songs (Songline, Still the Song, Death of a Popular Song). It's high energy with a driving beat and some great lyrics ("a good walker leaves no tracks").

2. I'll Never Know - one of my friends referred to this as "stoner rock" but I don't know what that means. I guess there's something easy going about the groove. I think his use of female vocals has really improved compared to how they're used on SIIS (the album). This was an early favorite, probably because it's catchy and straight forward.

3. Subway Dreaming - This is one of my favorite Tim Finn songs ever. A soaring chorus, very nice harmonies. "And it comes to me like white light through a tunnel". I love the way the electric and acoustic guitar blend together.

4. Say It Is So - This song has the energy and eclecticisms of Frenzy-era Split Enz. I love the way he never comes out of the chorus the same way twice. I love the guitar feedback during the "say it is so, I've got to know" section. It's such a joyful love song without being remotely cheesy.

5. What You've Done - I don't know why he went back and re-recorded this ALT song but this version is a completely different beast. I love the line "All the frenz have gathered" because it reminds me of us =). The bridge has always been a favorite of mine too. There's a line about "a poet in the back room who is boring everyone" and it's one of the many lines on this album that make me feel like I'm at some beatnik 60's party at a Finn family home.

6. Sawdust and Splinters - I love the organ opening and the overall sentiment of the song. A nice statement about the power of performance and music.

7. Dead Man - OK, if there's a bad song on this album it's "Dead Man". There are some questionable lyrics but I let them slide because I love the little euphonium section, it's very catchy and more than once I've had a friend ask about what I'm listening to when it comes on.

8. Commonplace - This one has a bit of the modern production from the previous SIIS album and some of the pan flute from IK. I really like the way the song unfolds in the beginning. It starts with one guitar, then two, then a drum machine, then real drums and pan flute. I feel like this could be a song about Tim meeting his wife at a concert. (I don't know how they really met).

9. Waiting For Your Moment - This one sounds like something from IK. He sings about rain and it certainly feels like a nice rainy day song, but a hopeful one.

10. Party Was You - I think this song has got to be about his mother Mary Finn. I love the lyric about the piano in the corner burnt by cigarettes. I remember hearing stories about parties at the Finn family home during their childhood when Mary and friends would play songs on the piano and all sing-a-long. This song also carries a strong Frenzy era Enz vibe.

11. Incognito in California - Again, doing a song that Phil Judd wrote in the late 70's helps carry the Split Enz vibe. Tim's high energy performance also helps. I think it was a great idea to close the album with a rocker.

All in all, this album gets high marks for songwriting, energy, performance, and it's straight forward, no frills production. It's Tim finally reclaiming his lost voice and in a way giving his pop singer image the finger and surrendering to rock n' roll. He's paying homage to music in general and to his mother specifically for shaping his life. Too bad it was released around 9/11/01 and he had to cancel his American tour to support it ... very sad because he hasn't planned an American tour since.

Thanks for the in-depth review there. One song I'd have to ponder on what may seem to be a pedantic technicality. I don't know about Party Was You being about Mary, although I'd never thought of it that way and it's certainly an interesting point. Just that I don't think she was ever one to play the piano much when there were others around. The guys have described her as inclined to sing and play in a monotone, but perhaps it was all such fun that nobody cared. I could be wrong on that, but yes the cigarette stain on the piano certainly reminds me of "Uncle George" playing with his cigarette.

I thought I read in an interview somewhere where Tim said it was about his mother....I can't remember unfortunately where, so I could possiblly be totally wrong.

Thanks for the blow by blow on FTG, Painaporo - I always like it when people go into detail when explaining songs they like or dislike. Makes for interesting posts.

No, I read that too somewhere, Kazzie.

Sawdust and Splinters is one of my all time favourites, and I'd always assumed it was about Tim's love of performing, but if anyone knows anything more definite or detailed, be glad to hear it. I do remember reading Tim saying he was enjoying playing with the move from major to minor, and that is one of my favourite parts of the song also.

Yep, this is an interesting topic .

Silent House wrote:

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...and Escapade

Ha - another person with impeccable taste

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Originally posted by Texas Rose:
Silent House wrote:

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...and Escapade

Ha - another person with impeccable taste

Just kidding, I just don't know what you see in that album.

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Originally posted by Kazzie:
I thought I read in an interview somewhere where Tim said it was about his mother....I can't remember unfortunately where, so I could possiblly be totally wrong.

I'd be curious to read that interview. It's possible I have it somewhere among a few I've yet to read, but I don't *think* so.

I read somewhere that Party Was You was about his Mum too, but I can't remember where. It's one of my favourites off Feeding the GOds, along with Sawdust and Splinters and Incognito In California