Before And After - Tim Finn (1993)


 

Anybody who knows me well, knows of my unabashed and intense passion for both Neil And Tim Finn's music. I honestly think that the only reason they aren't gigantic stars is the fact that, being from New Zealand, they have basically had a rough time getting North Americans on board iwth their music in general. 

On Before & After, Tim Finn, smarting from his break up with actress Greta Scaatchi,  bounced back from his short-lived stint as co-leader the of brother Neil's band's Crowded House. The album they made together, Woodface, was probably the band's most successful (everywhere but the US, that is)  but the chemistry wasn't right onstage and Tim left the band after only a few months. 

 Before & After is a bit of a hodge-podge: there are four songs recorded with English sophisti-pop producers Langer & Winstanley, two songs produced by Crowded House cohort Mark Hart, some Finn Brothers songs (rejects from Woodface) featuring the brethren with Irish folk-rock band Hothouse Flowers, a song recorded with old friend Ricky Fataar (ex-Flames/Beach Boys/Rutles), and a couple of songs recorded in Dublin. Despite that, and despite the obvious difference in sound (The L&W songs are pop R&B, the other songs, more organic pop/rock not dissimilar to Crowded House)  Before & After has a surprisingly cohesive flow and some thematic coherence (mainly seems to be about spirituality as healer of wounds.)

You end up with a thoroughly adult alternative pop/rock record that is intelligent, sensitive and even has a bit of humor and fun embedded in it.  One of Tim's finest albums, actually.

4.5/5

You can stream the album on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5OkzhtgN0WBGeAO0pun6yG?si=4ab6ca345ae14485

There was a number of good B-sides released alongside singles from this  Before & After, three of them produced by Langer and Winstanley, and they, along side with some outtakes that have surfaced on bootleg or very rare releases from the Frenz of the Enz fan club lead me to believe that there could have been a really good double length album. I make a  75-or-so minute long playlist with those songs which I really enjoy.  

This album has only been relased once as far as I know and only on CD and cassette. No vinyl. It sounds great on CD, though there is a bit of early 90s treble on this, that just happens to be a sound I like so no matter!

Coming Up:

All This Useless Beauty - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Alpha Mike Foxtrot -- Wilco

The American Dream

American Idiot - Green Day

Amnesiac Radiohead

Another Life - Another Life

Arrival - ABBA

B

The B-52s

Bachelor No. 2 (Or, The Last Remains of the Dodo) - Aimee Mann

The Ballad of Easy Rider - The Byrds

Bambu - Dennis Wilson

Band on the Run

Bangles EP

The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan & The Band

BARB

The BBC Sessions -- Belle & Sebastian

The Beatles [The White Album] 

Beatles For Sale 

Beauty and Sadness -- TheSmithereens

Beauty and the Beat -- The Go-Go's

Become What YOu Are - The Juliana Hatfield 3

Before & After - Tim Finn

Beggar's Banquet. The Rolling Stones

Begin Here - The Zombies

Being There - Wilco

The Bends -- Radiohead

Berlin - Lou Reed

The Best of Badfinger

The Best of Dark Horse - 1976-1989 - George Harrison

The Best of Sam Cooke

Best Shots - Pat Benatar

Betchadupa

Between The Buttons - Rolling Stones

Big Canoe - Tim Finn

the Big Express - XTC

Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi - Camera Obscura

Billy Idol

A Bit of Previous - Belle & Sebastian

The Black Album - Prince

Black Gold - Nina Simone

Black List - Alex Chilton

Black Market Clash - The Clash 

Black Sea - XTC

Black Snake Diamond Role -- Robyn Hitchcock

Black Spring - Lush

Black-Eyed Man - Cowboy Junkies

Blind Man's Zoo - 10000 Maniacs 

Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan

Blondie

Blood And Chocolate - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan

Blue Kentucky Girl -- Emmylou Harris

Boats Against the Current -- Eric Carmen

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan In Concert: Brandeis University 1963

Book - They Might Be Giants

Bookends -- Simon and Garfunkel

Booker T & The M.G.'s

The Bootleg Series 1-3 Bob Dylan

Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen

Born toDie - Lana Del Rey

Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Bossanova - The Pixies

The Both

Boy - U2

The Boy with the Arab Strap - Belle & Sebastian

Boys Don't Cry - TheCure

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin

Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan

Brutal Youth - Elvis Costello

Bryter Layter - Nick Drake

Buena Vista Social Club

Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield Again

Buoys - Panda Bear

Byrdmaniax - The Byrds

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