★★★★★
It's impossible to mistake the nasally falsetto of Crowded House frontman Neil Finn, but on Dizzy Heights , he tries, opening the album in perfectly unexpected lumbering fashion, with his pop aspirations buried under a heavy drone, atmospheric vocals and stingy guitar strikes. Finn's classic style more or less returns in mutated form on the head-spinning title track, "Better Than TV," "Flying in the Face of Love" and most of the 11 tracks...
- www.relix.com
2014-04-16
★★★★★
It's been a dozen years since Neil Finn's last solo album, but that means next to nothing. In the time between 2002's One All and the new Dizzy Heights, the New Zealander has released three Crowded House records, one Finn Brothers full-length, a record with Aussie singer-songwriter Paul Kelly, a Split Enz live album, and a collection of songs by his global side project 7 Worlds Collide, which brought artists from all over the world (but mainly England and America) to New Zealand for a few...
- pitchfork.com
2014-02-17
★★★★★
Anyone who heard ex-Crowded House/Split Enz frontman Finn's previous side project, 2011's often skewed, modern rock-informed Pajama Club, knows that he is too restless an artist to be stuck in one groove. So the more experimental aspects of the appropriately titled Dizzy Heights, the first release under Finn's own name in nearly 12 years, shouldn't come as a total surprise...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2014-02-14
★★★★★
On his first solo record under his own name since 2001's One Nil, the father of Liam shows where his son gets his itch for experimentation. Perhaps unlike other musicians his age, Neil Finn isn't comfortable sticking with what's comfortable, which would presumably be a collection of stripped- down songs. Instead the former Split Enz and Crowded House frontman goes for the jugular by taking a chance with a delightfully fresh sound...
- filtermagazine.com
2014-02-14
★★★★★
Brand New Low?
New Zealand's Neil Finn needs no introduction for those who are into New Wave. He was the late '70s and early '80s frontman for Split Enz, responsible for such instantly catchy classics as "I Got You", "One Step Ahead" and "Six Months in a Leaky Boat". Honestly, if you haven't heard 1982's Time and Tide from Split Enz, here's a handgun for you to fight your way through the hordes to your local record store...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-02-11
★★★★★
Solo-wise, Neil Finn hasn't been particularly productive over the last two decades, with Dizzy Heights his first solo album since 2001?s acclaimed One-Nil. Still, he's been incredibly busy; in-between there have been three Crowded House albums, his 7 Worlds Collide project, one album made with his brother Tim and 2011?s effort as part of Pajama Club with wife Sharon, which took many by surprise with its lo-fi ESG inspired funkiness...
- www.musicomh.com
2014-02-10
★★★★★
Left turns are a good thing, right? 'Progress is impossible without change' said George Bernard Shaw, and he was a man who knew. When someone ditches the artistic safety net, the innovation should be celebrated. We talk about changes of direction and we consider Bowie's Berlin trilogy, Dylan going electric, Radiohead's , the second season of (shut up, it's the second best one) or U2's Nineties output (again, shut up, it's their best work)...
- www.drownedinsound.com
2014-02-10
★★★★★
The ex-Split Enz and Crowded House frontman's decision to get Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala) in on desk duties for his first solo album in 13 years has paid dividends of texture and atmosphere. Opener Impressions is all blurred focus and high harmonies, while the jauntier title track is prettified by sweet synth chords and swooping slide guitar...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-02-09
★★★★★
Neil Finn's acknowledged mastery of songcraft is matched on his third solo album, his first since 2001, by his inventive production alongside Dave Fridmann, best known for his work with Tame Impala, Mercury Rev and the Flaming Lips. The string arrangements in particular thrill and surprise, opening track Impressions recalling Isaac Hayes...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-02-07
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