Neil Finn & Friends - 7 Worlds Collide - Live At The St. James
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.24 You Save: $2.74 (27%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.75 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for 7 Worlds Collide - Live At The St. James
Free Music Review: You can't miss here.
Hit: 4 Stars
Although never an enormously huge Split Enz or Croweded House fan, I saw this album and immidiately had to have it for some odd purpose of reminiscence. Seeing the line-up on the disc was enough to sell me, although after a few listens...I'm hooked. The songs are exremely well crafted, plus it's live so it adds to the overall excitement of the project. If you love great hooks, songs you can sing to and exceptional songwriting buy this...buy this now!Free Music Review: Ladies and Gents, Neil Finn!
Hit: 4 Stars
This disc is a great listen. Some highlights: "Take a Walk" with Eddie Vedder signing lead vocals, "She will have her way", Johnny Marr's "Down on the Corner" and nearly everything else. The only clunker is Lisa Germano's dirge-like "Paper Doll". (I'm not knocking Lisa...I just wished they'd picked a different song for the disc.) Worth owning, especially if you're already a Finn fan.Free Music Review: Well received gift!
Hit: 4 Stars
I picked up this CD for my nephew who is a huge Pearl Jam fan, as well as a talented guitar player in his own right. He loved it and was most impressed that his aunt was cool enough to find him something like this.Free Music Review: A mixed bag
Hit: 3 Stars
Disclaimer: Neil Finn is a brilliant songwriter.
That having been said, I'm a little ambivalent about this album. There are some good performances of some good songs. There's also an execrable performance of a good song. There are several performances of "songs" that should have been locked in a small tin box and dropped in the middle of the South Pacific. A good number of the tracks are in none of the preceding categories. Here it is in a nutshell:
(1) Tracks that will send shivers down your spine: "Edible Flowers" and the deliciously stripped down rendition of "Don't Dream It's Over".
(2) Other reasons why you should buy this album: "Anytime", "The Climber", "My Loose Tongue", "Turn and Run", "She Will Have Her Way".
(3) What should have been left on the mixing room floor: "Paper Doll" (it sounds like she's singing "Paper Towel". Stick to the violin, Lisa), "Stuff and Nonsense" (a little known Tim Finn number from the late seventies that reminds us that good songwriters usually don't start that way), "There is a light that never goes out" (for the cringeworthy lyrics).
(4) What they stuffed up: "Weather With You" (what's with the idiot tinkling on the piano in the background, anyway? Talk about a surefire way to destroy a great song's ambience.)
Free Music Review: a big disappointment
Hit: 2 Stars
before i start, let me say i'm a huge fan of neil finn's work - i've seen him 3 times in concert (all great shows), i have all of the enz catalog, crowded house, the finn brothers, his solo work, and a couple of imports. as infrequently as he tours in the u.s., i was anxious to get this disc to hear another live performance. i should also say that i've never been a big fan of most live recordings - imho, the only really great live recording i've ever heard is "frampton comes alive". for me most live recording don't measure up to the studio versions of a band's work - the sound isn't as good, vocals haven't been tweaked to perfection, the energy of being at a live show is almost never adequately captured, and then there is the occasional distracting yelp from someone in the audience.... with that said, i was ready to cut neil a bit of slack, just to listen to another one of his rare live performances. unfortunately, this recording does little to change my opinion of live discs.
for my tastes, i really enjoy a well produced studio album which has had the opportunity to be polished until it sparkles. that setting is where finn's work is at the peak of performance. a couple of the numbers on this disc are pretty good reprenstations of what neil is capable of, but on most of them the recording is sub-par, the songs are no where near as full as originally recorded, and a lot of the vocals are just not very good. neil has one of the most beautiful and unique voices in pop, and it's beyond me why he wanted to share the vocal duties with marr, vetter and germano - granted finn's voice here isn't up to its usual crystalline quality, but all of the guest vocalists flat out stink. none of them come close to neil's vocal qualities, even on an off night for neil. even his brother tim drops the ball in several places with the vocals. as a side note, compare tim's vocals on his solo release "escapade" (absolutely beautiful) to his cd "say it is so" - he has lost a lot of quality in his voice. vetter is absolutely the worst - i find myself fast forwarding through his singing, or skipping his tracks all together. it almost seems like the best looking girl in school hanging out with the plain ones - all of the guest vocalists make neil sound better, but i can do without them ruining some great songs (vetter singing "take a walk" is particularly irritating to me - nails on the blackboard stuff....).
i guess if you like the rawness of a live show as it usually translates to cd, then most of what i've complained about won't be a problem for you. but if you're the type of listener who likes to sit down with a new disc and a great pair of headphones so you don't miss a note of a true craftsman's work, and you already have most of finn's catalog, i'd recommend that you save your money for his next studio recording, or for a ticket to his next live show. neil can do better than this. a lot better.