North, South, East, West...Anthology is the first solo compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 singer/songwriter Tim Finn

Tim Finn

Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...

. Released in 2009, the two-disc collection features songs from Finn's solo career as well as his time with Split Enz

Split Enz

Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

, Crowded House

Crowded House

Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...

 and the Finn Brothers

Finn Brothers

The Finn Brothers is a New Zealand Rock musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music....

.

Background

According to Finn, the idea of releasing a compilation album came from John O'Donnell, the head of EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 at the time. "It was his baby. He likes my work and it was his suggestion that we create an anthology. I liked the idea that it would take from all parts, starting with Split Enz and I only realised after the title was chosen that there are four parts to my career: the Enz work and Crowded House, the Finn Brothers material and of course my solo work. So that's kind of neat, yeah, the musical north, south, east and west."
Each of the two discs includes a new song, and several of the older songs were re-recorded for the album. Finn noted that the retrospective does not signal the end of his career, as he plans on releasing new material in the future.

Critical reception

Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald

The New Zealand Herald

- External links :* * *...

wrote that some of the 1980s songs on the compilation have not aged well, but that the later material "holds up better." Baillie complimented "How Will You Go" amongst the revised songs, and said that the anthology "remains a fascinating map charting just how far this Finn has sailed."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 of Allmusic suggested that the album does not portray a completely accurate summary of Finn's career, as the combination of new songs and revisions ends up "downplaying the progressive pop of the '70s and the new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

leanings of the '80s." Still, Erlewine concluded, the compilation "does make a case that Finn has been consistently delivering fine songs for over 30 years."

CD1

1. "I See Red" - Split Enz
2. "My Mistake" - Split Enz
3. "Poor Boy" - Split Enz
4. "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" - Split Enz
5. "I Hope I Never" - Split Enz
6. "Dirty Creature" - Split Enz
7. "Maybe" - Split Enz
8. "Stuff And Nonsense" - Tim Finn & Missy Higgins
9. "Fraction Too Much Friction"
10. "Made My Day"
11. "So Deep" {New Version]
12. "How'm I Gonna Sleep"
13. "Not Even Close"
14. "Many's The Time" - ALT
15. "Persuasion"
16. "Into The Water" - The Finn Brothers
17. "Nothing Unusual" [New Song]

CD2

1. "Weather With You" - The Finn Brothers & Liam Finn
2. "How Will You Go" [New Version]
3. "It's Only Natural" - Tim Finn & Bic Runga
4. "Underwater Mountain"
5. "Dead Man"
6. "What You've Done"
7. "Subway Dreaming"
8. "Angels Heap" - The Finn Brothers
9. "Disembodied Voices" - The Finn Brothers
10. "Luckiest Man Alive" - The Finn Brothers
11. "Winter Light"
12. "Couldn't Be Done"
13. "Astounding Moon"
14. "Straw To Gold"
15. "Out Of This World"
16. "The Saw And The Tree"
17. "Light Years Away" [New Song]