WAIATA / CORROBOREE

Waiata was my introduction to Split Enz. It's pop, not progressive, but as far as pop goes, its pretty good - especially considering the competition at the time. The songs of course sound a bit dated now, but other pop tunes from the early 80s seem worse somehow. If you appreciate acts like Elvis Costello, this might appeal to you. Stand out tracks are "Iris", which is my favorite (listen for the fretless bass work in the intro) and "History Never Repeats". Strictly speaking, the album would normally barely rate a 2 on this site, but as long as it is understood that this is not a progressive album, but a decent 80s pop album, I will let it sneak up to a 3, as a favor to Iris.....

Originally called Corrobree in Australia and Waiata in the rest of the world, this is like a sister album to True Colours , there are elements of prog in here especially Eddies input, such as the new wave influenced prog instrumental and the song Albert of India which adds eclecticism to this album. Some songs are pretty lame new wave dance pieces such as Tim's I don't Wanna Dance and Hard Act to Follow, but again Eddie's keys keep even those songs in contact with prog. Both the masterpiece and most frustrating song on this album is the classic HISTORY NEVER REPEATS, a great song in terms of Neil's songcraft, what is frustrating about this song is that its beginnig, no screaming to be either a longer more epic piece with a decent intrumental slap bang in the middle of it, or else this album should have been made into a concept album with the song HISTORY NEVER REPEATS as the reocurring theme. But lets face it this album was released at a really stupid time in music, only singles mattered at this point and not artistic expansion. HISTORY NEVER REPEATS will leave you both thrilled and frustrated at the same time, check out the video of it downloaded onto this website and you'll see what I mean, its too condensed for such a great tune and Enz should have developed this song some more. The other pieces are new wave pop songs but slightly unorthodox with an added eclectism. Both ONE STEP AHEAD and HISTORY NEVER REPEATSwere reasonablyt successful singles, although nver quite making it into the states due to bad marketing. I think Neil shines moe than Tim in the songwriting department, Tim's more new wavy pieces seem more forced, I think he is more natural writing more reflective piece than catchy pop songs for which Neil is the master of, but when the work at their appropriate roles they really complkement each other. Not a terribly proggy album, but never the less still inspired songwriting, some of this album could have been truly frantastic if not for the fashoin at the time. I'm giving it three stars not essential because its leaning more on the new wave side of the fence than the prog, but some of this album has some real inspired and frustrating potential, it should also be noted that the record company was pressuring the boys to come up with a True Colours 2 since the US missed out and mayby that is the albums downfall less creative freedom and less risks. Fortunately Enz would get a bit more proggy on their next album and forget about trying to be stars. This album will interest Eno (his early poppier albums), Talking Heads and Kraftwerk fans (Eddies keys).

Certainly a better album than its predecessor True Colours. Hints of the sophomore '80s effort Time & Tide. Great sounding production. This would also appeal to fans of XTC for it's quirkiness, as well as 10cc for production values. Definitely headphone pop.prog and an album to put on during sunny days. Nothing gloomy here, except maybe...Ghost Girl.

The opening song says it all. 'Hard Act to Follow' is ostensibly a boy-girl song, but one reflection it could be seen as referring to the difficulty of following SPLIT ENZ's break-thought 1980 album, 'True Colours.'

The band was, in my opinion, only marginally successful. The new-wave pop is repeated here, no longer new ground for the band, more of a formula, and it feels like it. The production is lush, befitting a major act, but the pots of money thrown at the songs don't disguise their compositional thinness. Most of the ENZ's quirkiness is smoothed away by the lavish arrangements, and the same-ness of the sound rob the tracks of their personalities. Gone are shark attacks and radio romances with aliens: this is all about dancing and kissing and laments for unrequited love. NEIL FINN writes the best tracks, precursors to the dreamy pop of CROWDED HOUSE, but TIM delivers the better vocal performances, albeit on sub-standard material. EDDIE RAYNER slots in a splendid, energetic instrumental ('Wail'), proving his talents were severely under-utilised by the band. But apart from this highlight and the single 'History Never Repeats' (sounding so much like a HOLLIES song), the album is largely devoid of interest.

Pop is just like every other form of music: it needs to be good to hold the listener's interest. This isn't, and it doesn't.

Waiata (Corroboree in Australia) is usually seen as an acceptable, yet somewhat less original, safe follow-up to Split Enz's breakthrough album, True Colours, released a year earlier. Indeed, this is perhaps Split Enz's only lateral move, essentially maintaining the sharp, new wave-like sound of True Colours, albeit in a slightly darker vein; although considering that the band had practically changed its style on each of their previous 5 albums, one can hardly blame them for capitalizing on the style that finally brought them some of the attention they very much deserved. And to its defence, Waiata has some very fine moments, making it an enjoyable album in its own right. Best of all, the lead track, 'Hard Act to Follow', is an endearing piece of unrelenting, rhythmic melody, penned by Tim Finn, which should have been a major new wave hit. While the song received some AOR air play in parts of the US and Canada (notably, it was one of Split Enz's most played songs on our main local rock station in Montreal in the early 1980s), for some mysterious reason, it was nearly ignored in the band's Australasian home turf. However, the more mainstream, yet still strong Neil Finn compositions, 'One Step Ahead' and 'History Never Repeats', did become big hit singles down-under (the former also a moderate hit in Canada, and the latter on the US mainstream rock chart). The album also contains one of Split Enz's most dignified instrumental compositions, 'Albert of India', and continues with some of True Colours' playful use of synthesizers and humours lyrics, notably with the quirky and enticing 'Clumsy'. Other songs that deserve and received some attention include 'Iris' and 'I Don't Want to Dance', though beyond these (and others aforementioned), the material may be a little thin, or at least less interesting, to most audiences. Waiata went platinum in Australasia and gold in Canada, and there are enough strong tracks on the album to consider it a good effort even if it generally does not break any new grounds (and Hard Act to Follow still stands as one my favourite under-appreciated Split Enz tunes).