Spellbound: Very Best of Split Enz [Import, Original recording remastered]

Split Enz | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Mushroom Records
• ASIN: B000007V54
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,110 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dirty Creature

2. Strait Old Line

3. I See Red

4. I Got You

5. Late Last Night

6. One Step Ahean

7. I Hope I Never

8. Voices

9. Pioneer

10. Six Months In A Leaky Boat

11. Message To My Girl

12. Take A Walk

13. Nobody Takes Me Seriously

14. What's The Matter With You

15. Poor Boy

16. Shark Attack

17. Charlie

18. Time For A Change

19. I Walk Away

20. History Never Repeats

See all 39 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Ori Release 97. 06 Limited edition digitally remastered to coincide with their reunion tour of Australia and New Zealand. Features 39 of their best tracks, plus a version of Stuff And Nonsense thats been completely remixed for this compilation! --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars World Famous In New Zealand, October 13, 2002

By 

O. Buxton "Olly Buxton" (Highgate, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spellbound: Very Best of Split Enz (Audio CD)

First off, disclosure: I may live in old Blighty but I'm a kiwi, and therefore like all my countrymen, am insufferably partisan about the half-dozen New Zealanders (and one sporting team) who have, across the whole spectrum of human endeavour, actually been better than anyone else in their chosen field.

New Zealand is (by and large) an egalitarian, progressive, pleasant place, which builds solid, earnest, probably above average but, if truth be known, not entirely interesting citizens. And if that's New Zealand generally, then it's Te Awamutu, the Waikato farming town which spawned Split Enz, specifically: Dull doesn't begin to describe the place.

So the first remarkable thing about Split Enz is the fact that they are in anyway remarkable at all. Their origins couldn't possibly have been more mundane.

When you've got over the shock that this great music has its origins in Nowhere City, the next remarkable thing is that, seeing as they did escape the sheep paddocks, got as far as London and even managed to attract the (disdainful) attention of Margaret Thatcher (she ignorantly banned "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" for its apparent (but non-existent) political connotations on the eve of the Falklands campaign), that Split Enz didn't conquer the world, rewrite pop history and finally give the UK music press something to write about other than the Beatles (alas, this is something it still does monotonously.)

This I am not able to explain and, should you listen to the forty odd tracks on this compilation, I daresay neither will you.

Split Enz rocks, it fizzes, it boogies, it piano-rolls, it slinks, and it pops. It's witty, it's poignant, it's smarty-pants, (but never too smarty pants for its own good), it's consummately performed and beautifully recorded, the Enz had an outstanding live show. For a band which didn't manage to beat the world, there are more world-beating songs on this collection alone than can be rationally explained.

Enz were a good fifteen years ahead of their time. Maybe that's the problem - indeed, fifteen years after their heyday, one of their number did manage to forge his name on rock history, with a diluted version of his old band.

The proof that I'm not exaggerating (should you need it) is the success Neil Finn did manage, second attempt, with Crowded House. You have to feel sorry for the other Enzers, though, who have by and large drifted back into obscurity. The thing is, Split Enz's material is every bit as good as Crowded House's - much of it better - it's not like Crowded House represents any sort of paradigm shift or critical development in the blueprint.

The good news for Crowded House fans is, of course, that there are another dozen or so records to delve into once they've worn out the Crowded House repertoire. For the more casual listener, there's this double album.

For my money, truly essential pop music.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Tunes from a Long White Cloud, February 3, 2002

By 

"dgnunan" (Qld, AustraLIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spellbound: Very Best of Split Enz (Audio CD)

There is an undefinable quality that makes pop music good or bad, respectable or ignorable, brilliant or downright lazy and most of all important or unimportant.

And I a m pleased to say that this compilation, Like the ENZ carrer, is Good, Respectable, Brilliant and definatly important.

Good song writing trancends cultures, nations and even decades and these songs still have a feeling about them which I can honestly say will make any good music fan sing on for years to come. Neil and Tim Finn are New Zealand's, or for that matter, the southern hemispheres, Lennon and McCartney. Just see what Paul thinks of Neil Finn as a song writer.

All the good stuff is here and to a new listener you may find some of the 'have not heard before' material a little dated. But once again, after a few listenings you won't be laughing at 'Haul Away' but singing along to it.

A true show case of the ENZ talent as a band, and as a nod towards the Neil Finn best known in Crowded House.

Best songs: Always up to you but, Then again, History Never Repeats.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb. Varied, funny, wistful, powerful, gentle..., March 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Spellbound: Very Best of Split Enz (Audio CD)

Few bands can have managed quite the variety of Split Enz, from the off-beat artsy stuff from their first album (Second Thoughts, Titus) through to some of the most beautiful pop songs ever written (Stuff and Nonsense, Message to my Girl) and on into the pre-Crowded House sound of their last recordings (including I Walk Away). The Finn brothers complemented each other brilliantly, and this CD is a breathless tour through over two hours of their greatest moments. My desert island disc, for every mood under the sun, even if I have to wait there six months for a leaky boat. Thank you Enz!