Been there done that (Tim Finn) (LP 831)

Tim Finn  Tim Finn (Vinyl, Capitol Records, 1989) ****  

Genre: NZ pop rock

Places I remember: Vinyl Countdown (new Plymouth)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: How'm I Gonna Sleep

Gear costume: Young Mountain

Active compensatory factors: This third outing is, for my money, Tim's best solo album. It escapes from the eighties production tropes and simplifies its approach to make it a really good adult pop album.

It went pretty much ignored in 1989 - certainly by me - it's only of late I've picked up on its charms thanks to amigo G Knowles' recommendation (K Simms' recommendation of Imaginary Kingdom from 2006 is also spot on).

Mitchell Froom produces and plays along with some crack sessioners like Jerry Marotta and Tony Levin and their easy musicianship is perfect for these emotionally raw songs.

Tim has a great voice and he sounds in full command throughout. Special mention to the cover too - superbly captures the sunny, thoughtful, stoic mood of the songs.

Where do they all belong? As I say - the wonderful Imaginary Kingdom and other Tim solo albums to come when I get back to the CD collection