Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Fraction Too Much Friction 4:14
- A2 Made My Day 3:25
- A3 Not for Nothing 3:28
-
mandolin
-
- A4 In a Minor Key 3:46
- A5 Grand Adventure 3:52
- B1 Staring at the Embers 3:05
- B2 Wait and See 4:01
- B3 I Only Want to Know 4:05
- B4 Growing Pains 3:02
- B5 Through the Years 3:49
- Total length: 36:47
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
10 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
-
Escapade [p] 33 rpm
-
-
Escapade 33 rpm
-
Escapade 33 rpm
-
Escapade 33 rpm
-
-
-
-
-
5 Reviews
review #8
as another reviewer on this page aptly put it, this is "almost great".
there's a lot to like in tim's mid split enz debut. he's standing on the threshold of something special here, but something's holding it back.
moving into solo artistry frees him from some of the constraints of 'the brand' that so often plague collective bands, so he's spreading his wings with a variety of sounds, like the tropical rock infused 'through the years' or the synth-exoticism of 'grand adventure'.
and in truth it's not so much a propensity for bad songs which keeps it from its full potential. there's really only one properly bad one, 'growing pains', but even that's an infuriatingly noble failure. all the other tracks are at least cromulent. so what is it?
well he can't seem to step out of the shadow of his influences. traces of split enz remain, obviously, mostly in 'staring at the embers', and this is despite a clear concerted effort on his part to distance himself from it. but more pronounced by far is a clear streak of billy joel. it's honestly comical how much he attempts to ape joel's songwriting and vocal mannerisms on tracks like 'in a minor key' or 'wait and see'.
which isn't to say any of these proxies are bad. hell i like 'staring at the embers' and 'wait and see', but as a declarative statement of artistic individualism, it's a flop. the only track i would say tim can hang his hat on as his own is the opener, 'fraction too much friction', but it's also tonally incongruent with the rest of the album. kind of a monkey's paw.
escapade is a good album, do not get me wrong. there are many immeasurably worse ways to spend 37 minutes. but it, quite ironically, is possessed of too many growing pains. he can't shake the trace remnants of other, better, music.. it's derivative but not enough to be a one-to-one proxy of its predecessors. it's instead a half-formed trace born out of fragmented and incomplete gestures of individualism.
'made my day' is super fun though.
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
I was a big enough Split Enz fan that i figured i needed to pick this up when i found it cheap. Never really gave it much chance, though, and got rid of it eventually. Listening back later, i made the right choice. A couple decent songs but mostly forgettable.
no longer in my collection
acquired some time at some place
sold along with True Colours and Crowded House for $6.00 11 May 2002 on eBay
RYM review 13 Nov 2008
acquired some time at some place
sold along with True Colours and Crowded House for $6.00 11 May 2002 on eBay
RYM review 13 Nov 2008
Published
Almost great...
Late last night I went on a walk with "Escapade" playing in my headphones. I was listening to the international version, with different sequencing than we've discussed: lacking "Grand Adventure" and with "Below the Belt" (to be discussed tomorrow) added.First, I really think the international version's sequence works better. I do think that "Grand Adventure" should have been retained, perhaps as the last track. I like it much better than "Growing Pains", which ends the international version.
Anyway, to the music. This is an easy album to make fun of. It's like Tim Finn was presenting himself as an Abba-style pop star. This seems odd and incongruous in the light of his career as a whole but I think it helps to rememember that he meant it as a detour on a break from the band; as a lark.
But the music for the most part is not bad. I like giddy pop (though it's not what I generally listen to the Finn Brothers for) and when I listen to this, I hear an incredible amount of melodic invention: not only the vocal melodies which are, as always, effortlessly catchy and fun to sing along with, but the various keyboard riffs and horn arrangements. Tim's melodies go down like a cool glass of iced lemonade. They are mainly sweet yet there's a slightly sour underflavor that keeps them interesting
Overall this album is a warm breezy summer album poised somewhere between yacht rock and synth pop. I like the sound. Yes, it's dated, but that's not a criticism that ever makes sense to me, to be honest. It's either going to have been dated to 1983 or retro, after all.
The drums snap and crack: it's at least organic. The 80s were entering a time when organic sounds were becoming passe: see Conflicting Emotions, Big Canoe, and to a certain extent even See Ya 'Round or some of the Mullane's demos. These songs on Escapade have dynamism; they breathe and swell. It's not just computerized angles and robotic thuds.
There are a couple songs that I do dislike: "Growing Pains" and "I Only Want to Know" -- the former sounds too trite and the latter just seems unfinished...but both of them have elements that are musically kind of interesting or humorous. There's something there.
My two major problems with the album as a whole is that I feel that there's a saminess to it. Another ballad or two would have helped: that's why "Below the Belt" kind of worked. But I'd like something a bit more gutsy. There is a lack of crotch...and a lack of soul.
And that brings me to my other problem: Tim's vocals.
Tim Finn had a wonderful singing voice. An incredibly wide range, pitchwise, he sounds great singing theatrical rock, rock, pop, folk-type stuff. On songs like "Through the Years" or "Living in a Minor Key", he sounds beautiful.
But honestly, as much as he obviously liked the genre, I feel that he didn't really get R&B singing. The lite R&B focus on half of this record really drives that home; and indeed his lack of soul would plague parts of the first half of his career.
Now, perhaps if he had looked at this album as the start of his solo career, he might perhaps have done a better on job on some songs -- at times, it really sounds like he's just hitting the notes. Half of the singing on this album sounds completely devoid of heart to me...and that's what half of those songs need to really sell them as great pop music. As it is they come off as great examples of Tim's songcraft, but I sort of wish someone else would sing them. I wasn't really joking when I mentioned Michael McDonald earlier. Pop music like this needs some kind of character in the voice to provide the heft...when I think of pure pop albums contemporary to Escapade I think of, for example, Madonna or Make it Big by Wham. I love both albums. Both of them have elements in common with Escapade, too.
Both of those albums succeed where Escapade doesn't, though, because George Michael and Madonna bring a character and personality to their singing that goes beyond mere technical expertise.
There's something "musical theatre" about Tim's approach that turns me off. I think the best thing that ever happened to him vocally was getting old, actually, because it gave his voice a certain weary character. I like musical theatre, but pop singers should offer more than that.
But there's no denying the breezy atmosphere the whole thing brings or the amazing amount of melodic ideas, the sheer density of which remind me of great pop composers like Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson.
Incidentally and completely without plan I listened to Flowers in the Dirt immediately following this album and I couldn't help but compare the two. Some of the sounds (production-wise) of McCartney's 89 album are similar to this one, actually.
I'd say that the melodic ideas of Escapade are far stronger in general and the songs are better. But McCartney does understand R&B vocally and generally has a better, more varied way with arrangements.
With better vocals and I'd probably give this a 4.0, even with "Growing Pains" and "I Only Want to Know." However, we got what we got: and I'll give what we got a 3.4/5 I think the album does overall succeed on its own unpretentious, giddy terms...just not as well as it could have.
Still, it's going on my "summer barbecue" playlist alongside the bossanova records, the Ray Mancini and Friends by the Beach Boys. Music that cools you off on the hottest summer day. It'll sound best there.
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
Tims first solo album and very much a good early 80`s pop record.
With alot of Tims albums you get maybe 3 or 4 decent tracks and some filler or tracks that have you reaching for the skip button Escapade you can listen all the way through.
The last two songs on here are very good and sing a long quality.
With alot of Tims albums you get maybe 3 or 4 decent tracks and some filler or tracks that have you reaching for the skip button Escapade you can listen all the way through.
The last two songs on here are very good and sing a long quality.
Published
Votes are used to help determine the most interesting content on RYM.
Vote up content that is on-topic, within the rules/guidelines, and will likely stay relevant long-term.
Vote down content which breaks the rules.
Vote up content that is on-topic, within the rules/guidelines, and will likely stay relevant long-term.
Vote down content which breaks the rules.
Catalog
12 Apr 2024
10 Feb 2024
19 Jan 2024
16 Jul 2023
26 Jun 2023
-
A1
Fraction Too Much Friction
-
A2
Made My Day
-
A3
Not for Nothing
-
A4
In a Minor Key
-
A5
Grand Adventure
-
B1
Staring at the Embers
-
B2
Wait and See
-
B3
I Only Want to Know
-
B4
Growing Pains
-
B5
Through the Years
27 Apr 2023
24 Mar 2023
21 Mar 2023
30 Jan 2023
6 Jan 2023
4 Oct 2022
3 Oct 2022
30 Sep 2022
-
A1
Fraction Too Much Friction
-
A2
Made My Day
-
A3
Not for Nothing
-
A4
In a Minor Key
-
A5
Grand Adventure
-
B1
Staring at the Embers
-
B2
Wait and See
-
B3
I Only Want to Know
-
B4
Growing Pains
-
B5 Through the Years
28 May 2022
11 May 2022