Mental Notes (Split Enz album)

Mental Notes
Studio album by Split Enz
Released	July 31, 1975
Recorded	May–June 1975
Studio	Festival Studios
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	44:17
Label	White Cloud
Producer	David Russell, Split Enz
Split Enz chronology
Mental Notes (1975) Second Thoughts (1976)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Mental Notes is the debut album by New Zealand 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.

Recording

Bassist Mike 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." ^[1]

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. ^[2]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Walking Down a Road" (*)	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	5:26
2.	"Under the Wheel"	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	7:50
3.	"Amy (Darling)"	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	5:18
4.	"So Long for Now"	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	3:19

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Stranger Than Fiction" (*)	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	6:58
2.	"Time for a Change" (*)	Phil Judd	3:46
3.	"Maybe"	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	2:59
4.	"Titus" (*)	Phil Judd	3:02
5.	"Spellbound"	Phil Judd, Tim Finn	5:00
6.	"Mental Notes"	Phil Judd	0:34

Bonus Tracks on 2006 Remaster

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"129" (Live)	Phil Judd/Tim Finn	3:03
12.	"Lovey Dovey" (Live)	Phil Judd/Tim Finn	3:22

Track notes

Songs marked * were re-recorded for the Second Thoughts album.

This version of "Spellbound" has Phil Judd singing lead vocals. A 1974 demo version, found on The Beginning of the Enz album, has Tim Finn singing lead.

Personnel

Split Enz

• Tim Finn - vocals, piano
• Phil Judd - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
• Eddie Rayner - acoustic and electric piano, mellotron, synthesizer, organ, clavinet
• Wally Wilkinson - lead guitar
• Mike Chunn - bass, piano on 'Titus'
• Emlyn Crowther - drums
• Noel Crombie - percussion

Charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [3]	35
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [4]	7

References

1. Alastair Dougal (1 June 1977). "Mike Chunn Interview Part 1". Rip It Up . No. 1.
2. "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.
3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 288. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
4. "Charts.nz – Split Enz – Mental Notes". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2020.