Search - Split Enz :: Conflicting Emotions

Good final album just before the Enz--mixed remaster better

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 04/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although "Conflicting Emotions" doesn't quite hold up to the band's best albums ("Corroboree", "True Colours", "Time & Tide", "Frenzy" and "Mental Notes"), the highlights are among the best songs that Tim and Neil Finn wrote. "Message to My Girl" is one of Neil's best ballads with a thick, rich melody and emotionally naked lyric. "Bon Voyage" the closing track by Tim is bitter-sweet as he had already made the decision to leave the Enz for a solo career.



It's a toss up as to which sounds better--it depends on if you want more detail or wider dynamic range on the recording. Although there are no bonus tracks on this release (which is a surprise I would have thought that "Next Exit" would have been put on here but it shows up on "See Ya' Around" the last Enz studio album when Neil fronted the band), we do get the original lyrics and photos of the band. I'm disappointed that we didn't get any liner notes discussing the final album to feature Tim as leader of the band (although it's clear he was ceding leadership to Neil as Neil wrote most of the material on the album).



Bonus live tracks would have been nice here as well but we don't get any which really surprised me. Either way, this edition is the one to go with because Eddie Rayner's remastering gives the album a much warmer, richer sound with better detail although this is louder and more compressed than the original issue (which was just a flat transfer from dubious source material--can't tell if the previous edition was from the mastertape or not)with little dynamic range. It's really a trade off--do you want more detail and clearer sound or more dynamic range sounding as much like the original recording as possible. Sadly, there's no "best of both worlds" when it comes to the remastered Enz catalog."

Classic kiwi music

Db Howcroft | new zealand | 04/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"for those who dont know, this is one of new zealands most enduring bands.if you havent heard this band before this is a good place to start. this being their last album,it is polished and gives a broad spectrum of their later years.listen to the samples.try to get the remastered version."