DIZRYTHMIA

Another good album by Enz. Phil Judd left so Tim comes to the fore, and he delivers, he has assistance from Eddie and Rob, but now Enz will be a Tim led affair until 1983. On guitars is his shy younger brother Neil, still a youth. You can hear their is more of a focuss on hooks and the music is simplifyed somewhatto accomidate Neil because he is not too technical, but make no mistake this is still unconventional prog. Mike Chunn has gone (because of his agrophobia) and is replaced by Nigel Griggs, Malcom Green (replacing Emlyn Crowther) debut with the band is on this album, but he has been with them since their US tour. Bold as Brass penned by Tim and Rob, show they can do it without Phil and is a demeted short song with silly lyrics and an amusing music video to boot. My Mistake is another demeted song very memorable Enz classoc, still played on Classic rock radios in NZ, this song goes back to their vaudivalle sound. Both Bold as Brass and My Mistake may be considered 'pop' songs but this is only in a very loose sense of the word, they are just too quirky to be conventional. Parrot Fashion Love is an upbeat sounding piece that has the theatrical feel of their earlier songs, but its slightly more hook orientated butnevertheless prog, again very Vaudiville that has a slight chaotic feel to it. Sugar and Spice, has a great proggy, Yesish feel to it that links Enz to their influence but still maintaing their uniqueness, although Neil is no virtuoso by any stretch of the imagination he does cad a great rocky feel to the song and complements Eddie's keyboards. There is a slight Elvis Presely feel to this song until the chorus sounds Vaudiville and then descending into a little chaos, but they manage to restrain themselves from insanity. Both rocking and vaudiville at the same time, I love Robs crazy trumpets at the end. Without a doubt starts of as an ambient beginning building up and then kicks off as a slow ballad sounding, I think this is where Tim's real strength lies is meloncholy ballads, he pulls off the songs really well, but its still strange with odd stoips and changes here and there, and then brightens up to a more cheerful piece. Crosswords (my version calls it Crossroads) has a great bass sound to it that reminds me of a Crosswords, an interesting sounding song. I like the guitar and Trumpet sound and of course Eddie's terrific Keys, a great tune, that descends into insanity. Charlie is another classic the lyrics deal with a man who has just killed his friend Charlie and is now saying to him "Wake up Charlie" really chilling lyrics I think they are really fantastic a slow piece and a highlight of the album. Nice to Know is very Elvis Presely sounding piece that will probably remind you of Roxy Music, with a catchy hook again Rob's trumpets add to the chaos. Jamboree has a lot of chaotric ambience which early Enz were masters of, the most inaccessible song of the album, I'll never understand why they played this piece on Ready to Roll (NZ top of the Pops in the late 70s to late 80s) I think this is a solis album with no weak tracks, Tim had proven that Enz can exist without Judd (much like Genesis without Gabriel), I think this is certainly one of Enz better albums and I enjoy listening to it so I'm giving it 4 stars.