Split Enz – See Ya ‘Round
This much maligned album spelled the end of the Enz. Perhaps the reason so many have a dim view of this finale is because Tim Finn left after Conflicting Emotions, and left Neil in charge, who with percussionist Noel Crombie and keyboard-god Eddie Rayner represented the only survivors of the band’s late 70s lineup. Tim’s absence doesn’t invalidate See Ya ‘Round automatically, though; despite the considerably more synthesized approach, the music is recognizably Split Enz material. The sound is geared much more toward synths, sequencers and drum machines than previous Enz fare, and Neil’s somber songwriting conveys the feel of Crowded House much more than Split Enz. Still, there are some fantastic songs within – including “One Mouth Is Fed”, “Years Go By” and the deceptively bouncy “Kia Kaha”, all 
of which center around dark themes such as the unfairness of life and the inevitability of change and death. This album also contains the first appearance of “I Walk Away”, which would be revived in a much more reserved form on the first Crowded House album. I like it a lot, but some with less flexible interpretations of what made Split Enz the band that it was don’t seem to enjoy it as much.
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- Breakin’ My Back (3:53)
- I Walk Away (3:50)
- Doctor Love (4:17)
- One Mouth Is Fed (3:27)
- Years Go By (4:14)
- Voices (3:31)
- The Lost Cat (5:40)
- Adz (4:13)
- This Is Massive (3:18)
- Kia Kaha! (4:07)
- Ninnie Knees Up (3:17)
Released by: Mushroom
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 43:57
Tim Finn’s final album as a member of Split Enz in the studio is a bit uneven. Such Enz classics as Neil’s “Strait Old Line” and the well-known “Message To My Girl” – both revived on the later ENZSO album – came from this album, but there are very electronic and almost disco-esque tunes such as “Bullet Brain And Cactus Head” that I usually skip over. The underlying problem I have with Conflicting Emotions is the predominance of sequencers, drum machines and other synthetic elements – sure, the 
This is Tim Finn’s first foray into the solo arena, and though it’s not bad, it shares signs of age with its successor, 1986’s Big Canoe, in that the year of its release can be guessed on most of the songs by listening to the synths. As a fan of a lot of ’80s pop music, I find “synth aging” as I call it to be somewhat charming myself, but some don’t. Too bad. This album opens up with a nifty mock-reggae number, “Fraction Too Much Friction”, which reminds me a lot of “Parihaka” from his self-titled third album six years later. Much of Escapade could probably go unnoticed by anyone who places no 
My first exposure to the Art of Noise was hearing the upbeat “Close (To The Edit)” on the end credits of some documentary about special effects and computer animation, and it stuck with me. When I finally found the album from which that song came, it was entirely different from anything I’ve heard before, though various elements of the Art of Noise sound have become fixtures in dance music here some twelve years later. Samples of loud, metallic crashes and bangs are common percussion elements, along with samples of other people’s music and voices. The beats are quirky and syncopated,