Customer Reviews

Neil Finn--Once Removed

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

 

 

Once Removed by Neil Finn and Mark Smith is a photographic and literary journal of sorts created during and after the tour for Neil's first solo album, Try Whistling This. I think one of the reasons I've been a fan of Neil's for so long is because he isn't your typical rock star. He's down to earth, makes music for the sake of making music and loves his family. These traits come through in his music and now in this book. The photo-grapher, Mark Smith, is also a friend of the family. I love how the pictures taken could have been taken by any one of us, in the sense that they show what you see on the road. Giant concrete buildings, firework warehouses and strangers in the same frame as you. There is minimal glamour. Neil and Mark have shown us a bit of what touring is really like, not just all fancy hotels and sparkling champagne. They have also shown us it entails lonliness, boredom and doubt. It's not a depressing book, don't get me wrong, some of the photos are quite amusing and wierd, and I love that! But as an intelligent fan of a respectable musician, I appreciate honesty. I also appreciate Neil sharing his personal thoughts and experiences. Some made me want to cry, swell up with pride and giddiness and, at parts, feel some shame. Neil has always been an intimate person and did not have to make this book. He could just take the money from the records and run but he doesn't. He's a creative person who now has another outlet to express himself. Truly not the typical rock star.

Neil Finn, formerly of Split Enz and Crowded House, shows some real writing talent with his very personal, and at times incisive, commentary on his first post-Crowded House solo tour to promote the superb `Try Whistling This'. His prose offers glimpses into the rigors of such a tour, as well as revealing the effect on his personal and family life. He offers insightful comments on the demands of and skills required to navigate through the business and logistical maze of pulling a tour off. Finn notes, for example, that in trying to remember all of the event details and people he encounters good "short-term memory" is needed, adding parenthetically (and with some humor) "marijuana is not recommended." I read Finn's words in one sitting, and was transported to his world, however briefly.
As pointed out by at least one other reviewer, however, there is a weakness with this book. It is essentially a pictorial, embellished by Finn's writing. Given this, the photography is obviously crucial. Regrettably, the photographs just don't rise to the occasion. While it is true that there are a few really good shots (my favorite being a shot of Neil and his drummer playing chess next to a window, with the vast expanse of the Western states streaking by), there are even more lame shots. With all due respect to photographer and Finn family friend Mark Smith, many of those buying this book could probably do as good (or better) a job than is evident here. Two full, open-leaf pages of airplane contrail? A squashed bug on a windshield? Close-up shots of orange traffic safety cones? Maybe you had to have been there. In any event, I give the book 4 stars for Neil Finn's writing, 2 stars for the photography, hence the composite of 3 stars.

An incredible & insightful pictorial view into the 'Try Whistling This' tour. Seemingly trivial American scenery takes on fresh paint through the camera lens of a foreign eye, and we, the readers, feel like we did the tour with the band.

After finishing the book, I wish I had.

Oh well...maybe next time.

This book takes you inside the Try Whistling This tour with Neil Finn. It shows him as a musician and family man. Neil opens up and gives us a look inside his mind. The pictures have a subtle beauty to them. They show Neil as he really is, sleeping on his wife's shoulder, or playing chess on the bus as it speeds by America. You see that touring and interaction through music are as much a part of his life as breathing. This is a deep book and well worth getting for any fan of Split Enz, Crowded House, and Neil Finn. There have been other books done about Neil and previous bands, but this is the only one done from his point of view. If you want to know Neil more as a person than a "celebrity" buy this book.

The book gets 3 stars because at least 80% of the photos do not have Neil, the band, or any people in them. The photos look great, but they seem disconnected to Neil's text, which is the best part of the book.

The best parts of the book are Neil Finn's insights into what it is like to be a touring musician at the same time you are trying to have a normal family life. His commentary is interesting and insightful--proving he's as good a writer as he is a lyricist.

Mark Smith's photographs are fine, if somewhat monotonous in subject. Perhaps this is intended to illustrate the monotony of life on the road--the artist (musician or photographer) sees the same hotels, the same exterior views, the same interiors, the same faces day in and day out. Only the geographical location changes. If that is the intention, then he succeeds. Frankly, the best photos are the ones that capture Neil and his family trying to maintain their normalcy.

This book is ideal for Neil Finn fans as well as people who want insight into the touring life.

Without a doubt, Neil Finn is one of the most talented, and under-appreciated songwriters of our time. If you are already a Finn Fan, this book will serve as a tool to give you more insight into the man, his life, and his music. If you're not a fan already, Neil's words, along with Mark Smith's beautiful photographs, may very well make you want to hear the music.

If you like to get into the heads of your favorite muscians, and Neil Finn is one of them - then you need this book. The pictures are great, but the commentary from Neil is what makes it worth it. When you read it you can hear Neil saying these things. There are great little stories about his family and tour life during the "Try Whistling This" tour. You just get to know Neil and his family a little bit more. It's nice to see that he is a real person. This is a must for any Neil Finn fan.