(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
After the breakup of Split Enz, the Finn brothers went their separate ways: Tim, the true visionary, launched a solo career, attempting to revive the solemn crooning of I Hope I Never with Not For Nothing, while Neil, the more commercial-minded, formed Crowded House. Tim would later record Escapade (Mushroom, 1983), Big Canoe (Virgin, 1986), and Tim Finn (Capitol, 1989).
The baroque pop of Crowded House (Capitol, 1986) draws inspiration from XTC and DB's, as well as the Beatles White Album, so that I Walk Away and Don't Dream It's Over (the track that climbed the charts) come across as limp and weak easy-listening songs. After the commercial failure of Temple Of Low Men, which nevertheless featured I Feel Possessed, Tim rejoined for Woodface (Capitol, 1991) and Weather With You, the new hit, but with increasingly frivolous melodicism.
The ever-restless Tim Finn left the group again to record Before And After (Capitol, 1993), perhaps his catchiest album (Hit The Ground Running, Funny Way, Always Never Now), while Crowded House released Together Alone (Capitol, 1993), highlighted by the superb arrangements of Private Universe and featuring several homages to their homeland (Kare Kare, Together Alone).
Finn (Parlophone, 1995) marks the reconciliation of the two brothers, who are the only musicians on the album, though Suffer Never and Angel's Heap remain saccharine songs. Neil Finn has always been obsessed with the Beatles, sprinkling references everywhere. Unfortunately, his inspiration is not much greater than that of the Beatles. These are sentimental little songs like those made every day in every country in the world. Paul McCartney could write one a minute.
Tim is also active in ALT, with Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers and Andy White, producing the album Altitude (Cooking Vinyl, 1995).
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Say It So (Periscope, 1999) was Tim Finn's first solo album in seven
years, and it showed the artist spanning a broad range of styles, from
orchestral easy listening (Underwater Pop) to
philosophical ballads (Twinkly, Rest), from
lo-fi rock (Death of A Popular Song) to
Peter Gabriel's electronic world-music (Big Wave Rider).
Try Whistling This (Work, 1999) was Neil Finn's first post-Crowded House
solo album.
Both are decent exercises in pop songcrafting, but thousands of melodic
songwriters around the world have been doing the same since World War II.
Afterglow (Capitol, 2000) is a collection of Crowded House's rarities.
Everyone Is Here (Parlophone, 2005) reunited the two brothers under
the moniker Finn Brothers for a collection of classic-sounding pop tunes
(Won't Give In).
The mood on Crowded House's Time On Earth (2007) is exactly the opposite
of their early album, which probably reflects Neil Finn's middle-age crisis
more than anyone else's. Alas, the quality of the material has not improved
over the years, and mediocre pop singles such as Don't Stop Now are
all that the combo can concoct in 2007.
Neil Finn also assembled the charity multi-artist concerts
7 Worlds Collide, documented on
7 Worlds Collide (2001) and
The Sun Came Out (2009).
