Mental Notes (Split Enz album)

Mental Notes is the 1975 debut album by New Zealand art rock band Split Enz. The album cover was painted by band member Phil Judd. Original vinyl copies featured Judd saying "Make a mental note" in the runout groove of the record's second side, causing the phrase to be looped ad infinitum on manual turntables until the stylus is removed.

Mental Notes
Studio album by
Split Enz
Released31 July 1975 (Australia)
7 August 1975 (New Zealand)
RecordedMay – June 1975
StudioFestival Records Studio 24, Sydney, Australia
Genreprogressive rock
Length44:17
LabelMushroom Records (Australia)
White Cloud Records (New Zealand)
ProducerDavid Russell, Split Enz
Split Enz chronology
Mental Notes
(1975)		 Second Thoughts
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Recording

Chunn later complained about the "totally unsympathetic treatment we'd had when we were recording in Australia. The engineer in Sydney thought we couldn't tune our guitars and that we were unprofessional and he just showed total disinterest right through."[2]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Walking Down a Road *"Phil Judd, Tim Finn5:26
2."Under the Wheel"Phil Judd, Tim Finn7:50
3."Amy (Darling)"Phil Judd, Tim Finn5:18
4."So Long for Now"Phil Judd, Tim Finn3:19
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Stranger Than Fiction *"Phil Judd, Tim Finn6:58
2."Time for a Change *"Phil Judd3:46
3."Maybe"Phil Judd, Tim Finn2:59
4."Titus *"Phil Judd3:02
5."Spellbound †"Phil Judd, Tim Finn5:00
6."Mental Notes"Phil Judd0:34
Bonus Tracks on 2006 Remaster
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."129 (Live)"Phil Judd/Tim Finn3:03
12."Lovey Dovey (Live)"Phil Judd/Tim Finn3:22

* These songs were re-recorded for the Second Thoughts album.

† This version has Phil Judd singing lead vocals. An earlier version (found on The Beginning of the Enz) recorded in 1974 has Tim Finn singing lead.

Personnel

Split Enz

Production
  • Engineered by Richard Batchens
  • Produced by: David Russell and Split Enz
  • Recorded at Festival Studios, Studio 24, May/June 1975
  • Tapes and Equipment: Murray Ward
  • Artwork: Graeme Webber
  • Cover painting by Phil Judd

Special Thanks to
  • Robert Gillies
  • Geoffrey Chunn
  • Peter Madill
  • James Farrell
  • David Russell
  • Miles Golding

History and features

The album was a moderate success on its release in July 1975. It sold 12,000 copies in Australia, reached #35 on the album chart for one week, and peaked at #7 in New Zealand. Much of the material derived from Tim Finn's and Phil Judd's fascination with the work of the renowned English writer and artist Mervyn Peake – notably Spellbound, the epic track Stranger Than Fiction (their concert centrepiece) and Titus, named after the hero of Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.[4]

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Alastair Dougal (1 June 1977). "Mike Chunn Interview Part 1". Rip It Up. No. 1.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20061230010245/http://www.radionz.co.nz/nr/programmes/enzology/ep02
  4. "From Enzology, [[Radio New Zealand National|Radio New Zealand National's]] story of Split Enz". Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
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