Brothers in song
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/26/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Although it lacks the immediately accessbility of, say, Crowded House's "Woodface" or Split Endz "Time and Tide", "Finn" provides a melodic snapshot of Tim & Neil Finn in a melodic mood with spare arrangements. The two play all the instruments themselves. I caught them on this tour (missed the current one unfortunately), and the two played all the instruments live as well more than making up for the lack of other musicians by their sheer talent and energy.
"Only Talking Sense", "Eyes of the World" both sound like Neil Finn pieces augmented by Tim (and "Mood Swinging Man" and the odd "Bullets in My Hairdo" vice versa). The collaboration recalls the great songs they both wrong for the popular "Woodface". It's a really fine album although I personally like the second album they made together "Everyone is Here" a bit better. The full band sound on that album helps fill out the material and allows it to live up to its full potential.
Nevertheless, this is a terrific album with a handful of songs that stand as the best either one of them has written."
Never understood the fried egg on the album cover
Pastor of Disaster | Wexford, Ireland | 12/31/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is not Woodface part 2, but rather an odd collection of orphan songs that fetched up together on this disc. But because the Finns are together, there is always something to hear, something to learn, something to ponder in their work. It really should be compared and contrasted to the "new" Finn album, this one lacks the emotional cohesion and slick production "Everyone is Here" has, but its nevertheless a charming instruction manual to the songwriters art, and perhaps illustrates more than any other of their albums, the thought processes of the Finn brothers."
Sparse, but good.
Michael G. Romano | Bend, OR | 01/03/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I'm used to listening to Neil Finn's more recent albums and most of his music sounds pretty "full" (multiple instruments, background vocals, etc). This album was a little on the mellow and sparse side, but it is still definately worth buying if you're a fan."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1