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I'll be honest; my introduction to the Split Enz was in the form of Pearl Jam covering one of their songs. Pearl Jam has covered several Split Enz songs actually. I guess Ed is pretty fond of them. I liked what I heard, so I picked up The Best of Split Enz: History Never Repeats. Upon buying the album, I learned that Neil Finn, one of the primary singer/songwriters for the Split Enz was also the driving force behind Crowded House...what do you know, it's a small world. I dig Crowded House too. What can I say, I'm a child of the '80's.
This isn't the kind of music I tend to listen to, and I rarely find myself listening to this album all the way through, but I'm certainly glad I picked it up. It makes for excellent mix tape (cd) material. The Split Enz were from Australia (originally New Zealand) and were around in the '70's and early '80's. Basically they were a synth pop/guitar band with a fair amount of songwriting talent. They made some small waves in the states and in Europe, but they were never nearly as popular on the top half of the world as they were down under. It's kind of unfortunate, because they had some really good songs. The two most notable (to me) songs on the album are the opener and the closer. "I Got You" has a great vocal driven melody based on a simple guitar riff and wandering, somewhat distant keyboard that steps fills in the gaps, especially in the bridge. The lyrics are a big part of what makes this song so catchy; they're easy to follow and they stick in your head (mine anyway). The other really great song on the album is "Poor Boy", written by Tim Finn. It's kind of a spacey song (with cool spacey soundbits) with a little funk to it in places. "Poor Boy" is another song with really strong pop lyrics, "the crackle of the radio, the message in the evening sky, you're looking at an interplanetary Romeo..., I’ll never see her face, between us there's too much space, ooh hoo hoo, what can a poor boy do..." It's pretty lighthearted stuff...fun to listen to.
There are plenty of solid songs on History Never Repeats. It is a greatest hits album after all. Some of the earlier stuff isn't so polished, but it's entertaining for sure. Probably my least favorite song on the album is "I See Red". I think it was their first real hit in Australia. The song is just a little too fast for me, and guitar and piano solos just come out of nowhere...weird song. Most of the stuff on this album is more conservative. There are some great, catchy melodies on songs like "One Step Ahead" and "Message to my Girl". The only song that I can think of that I would have liked to see included on the album is "Stuff and Nonsense" History Never Repeats is only forty minutes long...I'm sure they could have found a way. I guess I'll just have to buy that album. If anything, this music sure does get me in the mood to listen to some Crowded House. Neil Finn's newer stuff isn't half bad either. Actually it's much more mature/subdued/refined than the Split Enz stuff.
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