Feeding the Gods [Enhanced]

Tim Finn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: What Are Records
• ASIN: B00005O7S5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,459 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Feeding the Gods Electric Guitar, January 11, 2002

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feeding the Gods (Audio CD)

Tim Finn is one of my favorite artists. I gravitate toward the pop sound like the classic "Good Together" from his last "Say It Is So." This CD still combines some of those hooks, but thrashes a lot more with electric guitar. A throbbing keyboard opens "Songline." Tim's lyric originality remains strong, "You got a mind from the 18th century; you tried to prove the world is flat when you turned your back on me." "I'll Never Know" is representative of many of the song arrangements on the CD: a heavy wash of electric guitar with a great pop chorus. "Subway Dreaming" slows things down a bit with a softer sound and another hook-laden chorus. "Say It Is So" sounds a lot like U2 to me with the crunching guitars. More thundering guitars, hooks for the chorus, and a delightful bass that runs all over the place near the end mark "What You've Done." "Sawdust & Splinters" is slower, "Sawdust & splinters at your feet; nobody shall go home in defeat." "Dead Man" is interesting because it alternates from slow to fast and back again. I don't really have a clue about the lyric, "lemon tree is growning lemons again." "Commonplace" is more on the pop side, "It's banal but it's so lovely" Finn sings on the soft chorus punctuated by more guitar thunder. "Waiting for Your Moment" is a breathy wispy techno track I usually forget to listen to. "Party Was You" alternates between classic rock & arena rock. Another U2-like wash of electric guitar comes with "Incognito in California." This CD is less of a favorite for me than "Say It Is So" because it is more of a hard rock sound without the knockout melodies. Sometimes I compare Finn's work to Paul McCartney; and this could be like Paul's new "Driving Rain" in that regard. Tim Finn is an artist who always delivers some great new songs. Enjoy Gods!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Gods' Shines, October 2, 2001

By 

Eliot Wilder "eliotwilder.com" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feeding the Gods (Audio CD)

It must gnaw at the elder Finn that younger bro Neil has accumulated accolades over the years while Tim's equally evocative but woefully underrated work has languished in near obscurity. Last year's low-key "Say It Is So" was both tasty and textured, but who knew it was ever released? Now the former member of Split Enz and Crowded House has teamed again with producer Jay Joyce and returned with "feeding the gods," an album whose central theme, Finn says, is about giving back to the world his gift of music. In a better time and place the world would be listening, because these 11 songs are imbued with an understanding of and a compassion for the human condition. They are also among the least-fussily arranged of Finn's curlicue career. "I just wanted to rein it in and be more simple with it this time," Tim says, and the relatively straightforward production on the new record allows his songwriting and affecting tenor to shine like a spring morning, especially on tunes like the otherworldly "Subway Dreaming" or the hard-charging "Say It Is So" or the impassioned "What You've Done." With not a duff track on it, "feeding the gods" is the work of a true classicist. Now if the gods would only feed his record sales.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tim Finn Just Keeps Pumping Out Solid Jams, September 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Feeding the Gods (Audio CD)

Of all the new releases that include a jamming yet soothing style of music
accompanied by emotional vocals and contemplative lyrics, this album is
definitely the best I've heard in too long a time. The tracks here exemplify
the tremendous and hard-won career of former Split Enz/ Crowded House member
Tim Finn. And as Finn's melodious singing style conducts the gentle rhythm
of the band's harmony (particularly on the sixth track "Sawdust and
Splinters"), there's much to be appreciated to any listener like me who
misses the days of Depeche Mode and Crowded House.

And speaking of the latter, there are certainly songs on FTG that remind me
of the "Woodface". The fourth track, "Say It Is So", enjoys many of the
freestyle jam that can be heard on "Chocolate Cake". In addition to that,
the ninth track displays much of the same kind of easy going rock present on
"It's Only Natural".

Listen to the album all the way through and you will definitely notice,
through the collective genius of producer Jay Joyce and engineer Chris Van
der Geer, that they save the best track for last. "Incognito in California"
is a spirited ballad portraying massive sentiment sung over a beautiful
mixture of acoustic guitar and steady drumbeat, juiced together with Finn's
angelic vocals. It's a song that reminds me of California in terms of
community attitude and friendliness. Amazing how a chap from all the way
over in New Zealand was able to present that with such precision.