Like shooting huge fish in tiny barrels
A little bit of back story, The Frenz Of The Enz forums have always been known within Finn Brothers/Crowded House/Neil Finn/Tim Finn/Split Enz fandom for being wanky, to the point that many fans myself included rarely post there. Crowded House are an antipodean (assigning them a nationality only leads to more wank) pop band that initially existed from 1985-1996. Long story short, the band were immensely popular in the antipodes and were at various stages immensely popular in the rest of the world, the band broke up, Neil Finn went on to a solo career and Paul Hester, their former drummer committed suicide in 2005.

In January of this year Neil Finn announces that he is reforming the band with a new drummer, they will be releasing a new album and going on a world tour through the latter half of 2007. This, at the time led to surprisingly little wank.

Flash forward to mid-June 2007 and the album, which is due for release in late June-Mid July depending on your region is leaked on the internet.

The first member of Frenz, mac to get their hand on it posts this gem.

Well,I hate saying this but.......Ive been listening to TOE for three days now and honestly dont like any of it.It bothers me because Ive NEVER felt that way about ANY of crowded house's work.

Eight pages and counting of wank ensues.



Serial wanker John/WestCoast immediately goes for the personal attack with this:

Mac:
I have been thinking about what you wrote and this is my response:
To go on a site where a lot of us are huge fans of all things Finn and say that you "honestly don't like any of the songs on TOE" is just ludicrous. Don't get me wrong here...I am very open to free speech, your ability to state your likes and dislikes, etc. but to do it here?

In my humble opinion that just reeks of grandstanding and borderlines on someone who needs a lot of attention. You really want us to believe that there is not a single song on the new album that appeals to you? I for one am not buying it. Don't be confused. I am buying the album, just not your post.

You claim that you have seen Split Enz, Tim, Neil and CH so I infer from that you are a fan. To go on a site like this and make the statement that you have seems fairly juvenile, if not dishonest.
Others have stated that this album may grow on you. It really matters not to me. Even if you stick with your original story about not liking "any of it" many people will adore this album. The only opportunity that I have had to listen to the new releases was on the LA Weekly page and I honestly loved each song for different reasons. Tonight while cooking dinner I found myself humming "Don't Stop Now" and smiled to myself.

Here is another wonderful quote from you from one of your postings:
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I dont like the videos at all......except for one..."your not the girl you think you are" thats it,the rest can go out with the trash
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Maybe there is a pattern here, huh?

In my experience there is always someone that will rain on our parade (metaphorically speaking) and you appear to be that guy. For CH to get back together and tour again is possibly going to be the highlight of my summer. Whether or not this was supposed to be a solo album from Neil or not doesn't seem important to me. They are back with new music.

This is the simple truth:
They have a new album.
They are touring again when many thought they never would.
They will develop a new fan base that will reach a younger generation of listeners.
They have made many thousands of people very happy. That includes me.

If you can tip your head to the side and let a little bit of the negativity pour out you will be much happier.

I am done now.
Sheesh.

scottishcrowdie88 chimes in with this response to John/WestCoast complete with the non-use of punctuation:

john/westcoast i applaud you for standing up for what you believe, but i think you're one of the many people blinkered by an unconditional adoration of CH into thinking that everything they do is perfect - it isnt. the album is essentially a neil album, a different CH sound maybe but one so similar to much of Neil's solo stuff that this cannot be ignored. CH and NF music is different - people can like one without liking the other, with some people it just takes a bit of time. i think mac's determination to go to gigs and support the band in spite of his reservations about their new album is to be admired, not cynically questioned. each is entitled to his own opinion, and wherever it's not classed as incitement, each is entitled to express it however and wherever he wishes, just like mac did, and just like you have

nailsinmyfeet drives by with this classic:

I've stopped posting here regularly largely because I'm sick of the whinging and negativity.

And it continues on and on and on.