Neil Finn & Friends - 7 Worlds Collide - Nettwerk
One of pop's more inventive songsmiths, Neil Finn has come up with a different spin on this live record. He convened a supergroup - including his brother Tim, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Radiohead's Phil Selway, and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano - for a five-night club engagement in New Zealand. The result is an outstanding document of those gigs and a good Finn primer, representing his solo work as well as songs from his stints with Crowded House, Split Enz, and a duo with his brother. His gift for engaging, intelligent pop is on display on such tracks as the muscular ''Loose Tongue'' and the delightfully breezy ''She Will Have Her Way,'' featuring Germano's tender harmonies. Vedder offers up a lovely, lilting, piano-based ''Stuff and Nonsense'' from Split Enz's 1978 ''Frenzy.'' Finn and company sizzle through a punky version of ''I See Red.'' There's also a spooky, trebly cover of Pearl Jam's ''Parting Ways.'' This is an otherworldly collection that shouldn't be missed.
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