TIME AND TIDE

Split Enz

Crossover Prog

3.73 | 29 ratings

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H from Marillion expresses it when he says Neil Finn (Splitz Enz and Crowded House) wrote some corkers, a couple of them featuring on this album. Big brother Tim is no slouch either with the pen, contributing one of his best known songs, Six Months In A Leaky Boat, which was famously banned by the BBC during the Falklands war.

This is the seventh album from Split Enz. They're still predominantly an art band performing most of their songs in full costume, but much of their progressive elements have disappeared since the departure of Phil Judd. Song writing craft can be a trade off between the daring and often incoherent originality of mixing genres to baffle audiences, or the more disciplined approach of strict structuring to a simpler aesthetic. Personally I much prefer the former but for bands it doesn't pay the bills, so Split Enz follows the trajectory of so many other progressive rock bands in the 1970's in moving to the pop sphere where they had most of their success in the early 80's. Basically this is a pop album with enough progressive elements to make it interesting.

The album has a nautical theme. The opener Dirty Creature has a jazzy feel to it with Eddie Raynor on keyboards using synthesizers to emulate the actions of ocean waves. On the next track bassist Nigel Griggs contributes to a Neil Finn number, Giant Heartbeat, which has a great electric guitar riff going through it but doesn't really go anywhere. Hello Sandy Allen is another immature Neil Finn track which features a cacophony of instruments and gives just a hint of what was to come when Neil Finn formed his own band, Crowded House. Never Ceases To Amaze Me is typical Tim Finn music hall with grand chorus and effects. Tim Finn's Small World reduces the pace to a gentle pace before we speed up again with a great Neil Finn track, Take A Walk. This is full blossoming of Neil Finn's talent with a great piano riff and guitars.

Pioneer is the Eddie Raynor lead in to Six Months In A Leaky Boat, the two always performed together in live concert. The keys represent the prelude of the storm brewing before the weather strikes the boat. Six Months has a Polynesian feel to the song but the hook that gets you in is just after the piano accordion in the middle section when it builds into the chorus.

Haul Away and Log Cabin Fever are really one song with brothers exchanging biographical tales. The Tim Finn is autobiographical describing his childhood in New Zealand to travels overseas, all being played to a military drum roll and ship's whistle. Transitioning to acoustic guitar, Neil Finn's is a tale of mad old Jim going crazy in his cabin waiting to join the human race again. Could this be Neil Finn stuck in New Zealand waiting for his call from brother Tim to join the band in England?

Time And Tide represents Split Enz at the peak of their popularity. Soon after Tim Finn left to go solo while Neil Finn continued carrying the band for another couple of albums before winding the band up.

iluvmarillion | 4/5 | 2020-4-24

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