måndag 15 Maj 2006, 22:58
I mostly missed Split Enz when they were actually around. I vaguely remember hearing I Got You and Six Months In A Leaky Boat, and that was about it. So when I first heard Crowded House, I wasn't particularly struck. Of course, that may have been because the first video I saw was for The World Where You Live, and at first I thought it was a one-off, with the band name and song title combined some kind of comment on overpopulation. The arrival of Don't Dream It's Over disabused me of that notion. And hearing Mean To Me made me a bona fide fan.
Crowded House is still my favourite album of theirs. Apart from the two mentioned above, it's got the haunting suicide tale Hole In The River, and the slightly psychotic devotion of Love You 'Til The Day I Die.
Temple of Low Men was a bit of a disappointment, despite having Better Be Home Soon as a lead-off single. I was also disappointed with Chocolate Cake, the lead-off track from the next album, Woodface. However, that album turned out to be another great one, particularly the singalong Weather With You, and the charming Paul Hester track Italian Plastic. Their final studio album, Together Alone, I also found a bit disappointing, without a real standout track except possibly for the energetic Locked Out.
At some point I got into their back catalogue a little bit. I picked up History Never Repeats: The Best of Split Enz, and (re)discovered some good songs there, particularly Dirty Creature. Tim Finn's solo work was a little more uneven; his album Escapade seemed too relentlessly poppy, so it's more downbeat tracks like Below The Belt that stick with me. Neil Finn's solo albums, like Try Whistling This and One All, are good listens but again without a standout track.
So when I look back on Crowded House, it's mostly that first self-titled album that I hearken back to. Maybe it's not fair to their later work, but that still seems to me to be the high point of their career.
Thought for the day: Sexy zebras just prowl and vie for quick, hot matings.