Since we're on the subject of music - let's just say that Neil Finn is awesome (yet another album recommendation).

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7 Worlds Collide (Neil Finn and Friends, 2001)

It's like this - you have the former front man for a moderately successful 80's pop band who is apparently so good at writing melodies, he commands enough respect to form a momentary band with the likes of Eddie Vedder (Mr. Vox), Johnny Marr (Mr. Guitar), and other eclectics from artists like Radiohead, Soul Coughing, and John Mellencamp. Even scarier is that this live CD isn't even close to the beauty he concocts with his studio stuff.

(Link to CD | DVD)

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Neil Finn is the man. I can't say I like this album, though, for the simple fact that Eddie Vedder's voice makes me want to mangle kittens and yet he's the one singing my favourite Neil Finn song on this album. Bah! Neil Finn is my all-time favourite songwriter, followed closely by Jimme O'Neill - whom nobody knows, I'll bet.

I too am a "Finnatic." Songs like "Last to Know" and "Fall at your Feet" literally make me shiver. Definitely, one of finest song writers ever. And yet - why is it that hardly any of my friends, know who the hell he is?

Why Neil Finn is under-appreciated in North America is one of the great mysteries of the music industry. He's a national treasure in Australia and his native New Zealand, and is even close to iconic over at the UK. But here? Most folks don't even know who he is, or only vaguely remember Crowded House and its hallmark song "Don't Dream It's Over."

But why am I complaining. When he comes through Canada, we still get to see him at relatively small venues, so in the end, it works for me.