Mental Notes is the debut studio 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.

Quick Facts Mental Notes, Studio album by Split Enz ...

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)

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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."

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.

* 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.

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