Neil Finn's Amazing Body of Work: A Buyer's Guide, Part 1

I've always felt that Neil Finn isn't afforded the fame/success that his talent warrants. He's been writing, consistently, some of the best songs of the last 25 years, ever since his days with New Zealand's Split Enz.

It's been years since I heard any Split Enz albums, so I'm satisfied with this budget hits comp, including "I Got You", "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (gotta love those massed mandolins!), and the revved-up "I See Red". Older brother Tim wrote most of the 'hits', but when Neil joined after the second album, he quickly came into his own. The band eventually broke up, and after some woodshedding, Neil's next band was the mighty mighty Crowded House.

Crowded House's first album featured some of Neil's best songs, and the fact that they were idiosyncraticly cute meant they enjoyed some quality MTV video time. This album has The Song That Neil Will Perform Forever ("Don't Dream It's Over") and it's front-loaded with the hits, but the formerly-known-as-Side 2 keeps up the quality, with "Hole in the River" sounding even better in live versions. Very 80's production (shiny shiny), but some darker themes amidst the sunny sides.

Next album "Temple of Low Men" didn't hit the heights of the previous album, but it still contains many of their "classics". "Into Temptation" is one of the best songs depicting the slippery slope that leads one to stray into an affair, "Sister Madly" features label-buddy Richard Thompson, and "Better Be Home Soon" sounds like "Don't Dream (Part 2)" -- in a good way.

Older brother Tim comes aboard for the 3rd album "Woodface" after the disappointing sales of "Temple". Opening with a clunker, the album's next 7 songs are gold. 4th album "Together Alone" from 1993 is another retrenching, with the addition of keyboardist par excellence Mark Hart as Tim leaves for his own projects and producer Youth experiments with murkier textures and the boys return to record in New Zealnd. This one for me is the most consistently great: "Pineapple Head", "Private Universe", "Walking On the Spot" (!), "Catherine Wheels" (!!) -- as good as the other albums are, this is probably the one I play the most. And of course, it was their last album! (There's more to that story, but that's for another post...)

"Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of" followed (try to get the one with the bonus live disc), and eventually "Afterglow" with B-sides and more (including "Recurring Dream" the Crowded House U2/Big County mash-up which isn't on the album "Recurring Dream" -- go figure!) but still the quality is right up there -- "Anyone Can Tell", "Help Is Coming" -- Neil's leftovers are still better than most other writers' A-list.

Sadly, drummer Paul Hester committed suicide, which brings this chapter of the Crowded House story to a dismal end. The DVD "Farewell to the World" is their last performance from November 1996 outside the Sydney Opera House", and that's how I'd like to remember Paul, the bittersweet moments of being onstage with his mates for the last time. Don't dream it's over, indeed.

Next: Neil, The Solo Years!