This is Tim Finn’s first foray into the solo arena, and though it’s not bad, it shares signs of age with its successor, 1986’s Big Canoe, in that the year of its release can be guessed on most of the songs by listening to the synths. As a fan of a lot of ’80s pop music, I find “synth aging” as I call it to be somewhat charming myself, but some don’t. Too bad. This album opens up with a nifty mock-reggae number, “Fraction Too Much Friction”, which reminds me a lot of “Parihaka” from his self-titled third album six years later. Much of Escapade could probably go unnoticed by anyone who places no 
significance on the name of the artist, as its style is generally more mainstream than Split Enz, which was taking a break the year this album was recorded. A couple of good pieces here include the very adult-contemporary “Wait And See” with some good keyboard work, and “Made My Day”, which sounds like it could’ve been a good 1970s Doobie Brothers number.
- Fraction Too Much Friction (4:15)
- Made My Day (3:25)
- Not For Nothing (3:29)
- In A Minor Key (3:47)
- Grand Adventure (3:52)
- Staring at the Embers (3:06)
- Wait and See (4:01)
- I Only Want To Know (4:05)
- Growing Pains (3:03)
- Through the Years (3:50)
Released by: Mushroom
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 36:55
