Customer Reviews

Conflicting Emotions

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

for those who dont know, this is one of new zealands most enduring bands.if you havent heard this band before this is a good place to start. this being their last album,it is polished and gives a broad spectrum of their later years.listen to the samples.try to get the remastered version.

"Message To My Girl" has got to be the best song Split Enz has ever recored and is one of the most moving love songs around. The rest of the cd is pretty uneven but an uneven Split Enz effort is still heads above the rest of what's out there.

I bought this on vinyl when it was released. This collection of songs has some wonderful gems - although not the "big hit" breakthrough, "Message to My Girl" is a beautiful song and as always, the Finn brothers can sing like no other. "Our Day" and other songs - well, there was a common thread through these songs making the album very listenable, almost like an escape, taking you on a journey with the artist, a thoroughly enjoyable on. This makes me remember a time when music really went straight to my emotions, my senses were wide awake. This record does this to me.

Although "Conflicting Emotions" doesn't quite hold up to the band's best albums ("Corroboree", "True Colours", "Time & Tide", "Frenzy" and "Mental Notes"), the highlights are among the best songs that Tim and Neil Finn wrote. "Message to My Girl" is one of Neil's best ballads with a thick, rich melody and emotionally naked lyric. "Bon Voyage" the closing track by Tim is bitter-sweet as he had already made the decision to leave the Enz for a solo career.

It's a toss up as to which sounds better--it depends on if you want more detail or wider dynamic range on the recording. Although there are no bonus tracks on this release (which is a surprise I would have thought that "Next Exit" would have been put on here but it shows up on "See Ya' Around" the last Enz studio album when Neil fronted the band), we do get the original lyrics and photos of the band. I'm disappointed that we didn't get any liner notes discussing the final album to feature Tim as leader of the band (although it's clear he was ceding leadership to Neil as Neil wrote most of the material on the album).

Bonus live tracks would have been nice here as well but we don't get any which really surprised me. Either way, this edition is the one to go with because Eddie Rayner's remastering gives the album a much warmer, richer sound with better detail although this is louder and more compressed than the original issue (which was just a flat transfer from dubious source material--can't tell if the previous edition was from the mastertape or not)with little dynamic range. It's really a trade off--do you want more detail and clearer sound or more dynamic range sounding as much like the original recording as possible. Sadly, there's no "best of both worlds" when it comes to the remastered Enz catalog.

I've had this album when it first came out but have recently started listening to it again. Every song is absolutely awesome! Hard to tell the difference between this album and the Finn's newer stuff with Crowded House. I would love to know what other albums the Split Enz made that has the same sound. I recorded this album on one side of a tape and Thomas Dolby's Golden Age of Wireless on the other and I'm in total bliss.

Now here's a record you can't hear often enough. Conflicting Emotions, by my favorite crazies Split Enz. These guys just always catch it right. Time and Tide is dearest to my heart of their many discs, but this comes right up to it. And possibly their really early stuff--resolute, eh? Didn't you already get the impression this group rides high on my list of ALWAYS? This album has percussion going in every mix. Really keeps it moving. Guitars percussive as well. Trademark harmonies, lyrics--excellent keyboards everywhere. Eddie Rayner. Also the remasterer of this collection. My favorite tracks here are Strait Old Line, Bullet Brain and Cactus Head, Working Up An Appetite, No Mischief, I Wake Up Every Night, Conflicting Emotions--hey, wait--that's almost all of them. Yes, there are four others I like too. I recommend this conflagration of hot tunes whenever I can. This is mighty good for dancing with your pals, I might add. Also, while we're on the topic, you might like Schnell Fenster. The Sound of Trees. Check out my review of their world. Post-Split Enz with original Enz member, Phil Judd. Nigel Griggs, Noel Crombie, and Michael den Elzen. Phil Judd is a wonderment. Great voice and attitude. Bon Voyage.

"Conflicting Emotions" is without a doubt my favorite Split Enz record. I first discovered this record when I was 13yrs old & I was completely obsessed with the Crowded House debut LP. Since CH had no other releases, I began to collect Split Enz. I would say that you can see exactly what direction Neil Finn was going with his songwriting when you listen to this LP and listen to Crowded House. "The Devil You Know" is the best Split Enz song ever recorded, in my opinion. The first time I heard it, it gave me chills. "Message to My Girl" is pure pop magic; what more can I say other than if you love Neil Finn, this is the Split Enz record where he really begins to show his "True Colours" (no pun intended...)

This is Split Enz after Tim Finn's first solo album. Contrary to other Split Enz albums, this is a first to be made up of most Neil Finn compositions rather than Tims. Neil contributes some classics (Messege To My Girl, Strait Old Line and Better The Devil). The Tim Finn track that I love ... is Bon Voyage and it is an appropriate song for Tim to sign off to.
Produced by Eddie Rayner and Hugh Padgham.

Time and Tide was thier masterpiece and this is one step below that. There is plenty of great pop music here. Melodic funk on "Strait Old Line", Aborogine sounding disco on "Working Up an Appitite", Noisy, Revved up dance music on "I Wake Up Every Night", then there are rock numbers that start out mellow then hit thier peak near the end ("Our Day", "Bullet Brain & Cactus Head), and to top it off two really great ballads ("Message To My Girl", "The Devil You Know"). The rest (which I might add is only 3 tracks) leaves me flat and in my opinion the title cut might be the worst song Split Enz ever recorded. All in All though a good effort.

To the contrary, this is my favourite Split Enz album. every song is brilliant wheter it is the pure glorious pop of message to my girl , the art pop of bullet brain and cactus head or the beautiful we'll see you around bon voyage. no one, not even the great xtc, married thoughful and tuneful pop with literate writing and rock experimentation better than the enz's. i miss them...