Say It Is So

Tim Finn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 22, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: What Are Records
• ASIN: B00004NHEI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,775 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finn on Form, June 11, 2000

By 

SRC (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Say It Is So (Audio CD)

Tim Finn's new album rewards repeated listening: it's compelling, textured and intensely melodic. Many of the songs are trademark catchy (Good Together, Roadtrip, Death of a Popular Song, among others) but not cloying; the album is well served by its rough-edged production. Don't believe the naysayers who say Finn's voice is gone, or that the songs on "Say It Is So" are sub-standard. His voice is changing, and his delivery along with it, but that doesn't undermine Finn's unique musical gift or diminish the richness of this album.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best work Tim has done since Split Enz, March 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Say It Is So (Audio CD)

_Say It Is So_ is easily the best work Tim Finn has done since the _Tim Finn_ album (and that's coming from someone who did not care for _Before and After_ but loved _Finn_ and _Altitude_). It might even be his best work since _Time and Tide_.

You see, I was a bit disappointed in _Before and After_. While there were a few songs there which I'd put up against any of my favorite songs, it just mostly falls flat for me. Because while I like editing and gloss and sophistication, I don't like air-brushing, and I really think that is what happened in lots of spots on _B&A_. (and yes, part of the blame for that album lies squarely with the singer/songwriter as well) I adore the _Altitude_ album, however, and I also liked almost all of _Finn_, so I know that Tim still had it. Somewhere. I kept my expectations low, but, yes, my hopes were high.

And my expectations were raised to the level of my hopes when I heard the first song, "Underwater Mountain" which begins with a mysterious dark sound which resolves into something much more joyful. "Shiver" is a tremendously amusing song, from the line "she was a shiver/looking for a spine" to the resolution of "and the spine/was mine."

Perhaps it's easy to dismiss "Always GoodTogether" with it's Nashville twang (and stop with the Rod Stewart comparisons already!), but I think the arrangement fits the simple and unaffected lyrics and emotion. I love the sound of "Roadtrip"--lots of things to listen to but with the kind of beat which turns it into a "good driving song." Or how about the shimmering guitar on "Currents" and its tremendous sense of joy?

I am absolutely IN LOVE with his strangled vocal on "Need To Be Right" although I hated it at first. I love how the strained voice adds to the tension of this song. It's like onomatopoeia, you know? Did you ever have a dream where you were so angry that you work up with your jaw clenched and totally tense? Because this song is the musical manifestation of that. It's raw and powerful and REAL, and unlike the soft-focus stuff which makes up so much of _B&A_.

I guess that "Twinkle" is thought to be the obvious single? Placed after something as powerful as "Need To Be Right" it just seems,well, wimpy. This would not be my choice for the first US single. It'll just get lost in the shuffle of the dial. Much too bland and, oh I dunno, diaphanous. You need something with meat in it for a first single.

Something like "Big Wave Rider." This song knocks me out. I know that it was his brother Neil's album _Try Whistling This_ which was supposed to be so experimental, but it appears that it is Finn the Elder who has been truly willing to go out on a limb." Or what about "Death Of A Popular Song"? Tim goes post-modern on us. It's probably too smarty-pants for US radio, but it's still perversely radio-friendly. A great pop song, and those are so few and far between these days with a great freak-out in the middle. I suspect the other obvious choice for a single is "Some Dumb Reason" and it IS a great song, but again, apart from the chorus--so wonderfully ironic and giddy--I'm not sure that there is not much meat there.

The first time I heard the album's closer, "Rest", it was sunset on a snowy day. I was looking out the window and the snow diffused the fading light and for a few minutes everything had a faint rosy glow. The snow muffled the usual sounds of the city and provided the perfect background for the elegiac sound of "Rest."

So what I guess I'm saying is, as Tim sings, "I've found my thrill." And it's about time!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Waited 25 Years For This....Thanks Tim...., March 19, 2001

By 

james smith (LA MESA, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Say It Is So (Audio CD)

I was first introduced to Tim's singing when I was 13 years old, living in Canada...way back in 1975....I borrowed a copy of Split Enz's Mental Notes and my musical barriers were blown wide open. Initially I was smitten with the combination of Tim's and Phil Judd's vocals -- I loved how they contrasted each other and how they sounded so 'dangerous' together. I lost that sensation when Phil left the group. Even though Tim remained, I felt that he had somehow painted himself into a corner -- afraid to stray from the vocal style that had made him what he was up to that point. Finally, Tim has taken the complete plunge, and not only as a singer, but also as a songwriter -- he dares to be naked -- and he let's the scars show....and it's all beautiful... ...thanks Tim for an album that I wil cherish forever....