Hmmm... this is quite difficult to rank one off projects against a body of work but I’ll give it a whirl... This is just based on my personal preference. I guess the way I have thought about it is who/what I would most like to see (while in their prime) or be most excited to see a new album from as opposed to rating against their full recorded output.
1 Split Enz v1
2 Split Enz v2
3 Crowded House v1
4 ALT
5 Finn Family*
6 Finn Brothers
7 Neil Finn and Paul Kelly
8 7 Worlds Collide
9 Crowded House v2
10 ENZSO
11 Neil and Liam
12 Tim solo
13 Neil solo
14 Pajama Club
* The Finn Family entity was based on a single gig - ‘Another F’INN Xmas’. It included both Tim and Neil’s families (and some friends). Elliot (Tim’s daughter) brought the house down when she sang Respect. This was a really special gig.
Not ranked: The Mullanes (given I never got to see them live and there wasn’t enough quality recordings for me to judge).
While Pajama Club come in last, I love the album (and rate it above some of Neil and Tim’s solo efforts) but when push comes to shove, I would choose a Tim or Neil solo gig ahead of a PC gig.
Also Neil and Liam is not solely based on the Light Sleeper output and tour but the gigs they did together a few years prior to the album.
I also considered Fleetwood Mac, but will need to wait a couple of weeks until I’ve experienced a gig with Neil in it first hand...
