She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn [Import]

She Will Have Her Way: Songs of Tim & Neil Finn (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B000B668TA
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,136 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

September 2005 will see the release of 'she will have her way', a unique album that features australia's and new zealand's finest female singer/songwriters paying tribute to the genius songwriting of tim & neil finn. Neil & tim are two of the most successful and renowned songwriters of our time. They have penned countless classic and timeless songs throughout their solo careers as well as during their time in split enz and crowded house. With all of the participating artists (including kasey chambers, missy higgins, renee geyer, holly throsby, sarah blasko, new buffalo, sara storer and natalie imbruglia), choosing songs that resonated personally for them, it is an album that celebrates the complexity, diversity and longevity of the finns and their songs. The album will be released initially in two formats, a single disc of the new recordings and as a very limited special edition double-disc version with all of the new recordings on one disc and the original recordings, from split enz, crowded house and the finn brothers on the other. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Lost Opportunity, October 20, 2005

By 

Chris Noessel "nomothete" (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She Will Have Her Way: Songs of Tim & Neil (Audio CD)

I was disappointed by "She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn." It's cool to have Tim & Neil stuff covered in principle, but the remake artists don't seem to "get" the original songs. For example, Renee Geyer turned Neil's "Into Temptation"-a deeply personal confession full of fear and overwhelming desire-into an overproduced R&B club number that feels like temptation is a simple matter of justifying a guilty pleasure. This is fine and valid as a concept and all, except when applied to Neil's lyrics. How can you scratch and croon the lyrics "straight into the arms of Hell"? And having the backup chorus kind of undoes the sense that it's a deeply personal issue. Anyway, it misses the point of the song and robs it of all of its power. (Oh, and it would have been COOL if she had gone for the gusto and actually remade it as a full on Southern Baptist gospel number, but missed the boat on that one.)

Several of the tracks, like Little Birdy's guitary "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" Missy Higgins' earnest "Stuff and Nonsense", and Sara Storer's accented "Won't Give In" are competent and charming, but do nothing to make the music their own. Even when well handled, I think I'd rather just hear the originals. And since Finn fans are presumably the target audience here, I think they might as well.

Perhaps the most grievous misuse of the music comes when Brooke Fraser, admirably carrying a mostly-acoustic version of "Distant Sun" to its climax, simply OMITS the lines "Like a Christian/Fearing vengeance from above," letting the band continue along without her for the two measures. The absence of lyrics (and the rhyme) is distracting and glaring. It becomes the entire focus of the song. The absence of those particular lyrics reads like some stupid protest by omission. This is the place to celebrate the brother's music, to reconsider it, not to protest it. What makes it worse is that it's otherwise one of the best tracks on the album, but you can't get past that giant hole she cut in the center.

Between these misunderstandings, protests, and simple rerecordings, I find myself returning to the originals instead.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Friends of Finn enz and house buy this, October 16, 2005

By 

David Hirsh "David Hirsh" (Woodmere, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: She Will Have Her Way: Songs of Tim & Neil (Audio CD)

The idea that one can completely transform a song by changing the gender of the performer is not novel. That so many that love the Finn Brothers can add their musical notions and come out the other side is not surprising considering the source material. The only thing missing from this compilation would have been renditions by Lisa Germano, Bic Runga and Sheryl Crow, and other woman artists who have performed with Neil, or Tim or the the bands.

Dave

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Stuff, November 9, 2005

By 

Jonfro "Jonfro" (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn (Audio CD)

I'm a big Finn brothers fan, and love their work! As it seems do these well known Aussie and Kiwi female artists. Highlights for mine are New Buffalo's interpretation of Four Seasons In One Day, as well as Little Birdy's, Amiel's, Lisa Miller's and Clair Bowditch's tracks. Not a big fan of Natalie Imbruglia's contribution, but it is an otherwise outstanding C.D- especially the limited edition one- my c.d shop ran out of copies quick smart! Get One!!!!!