Dad-Pop? : Where do you stand on Crowded House?

Heh, not much of a description for the uninitiated! The album is a giant tribute to Paul Hester, former CH drummer, who had taken his own life. In that sense it's a heavy album but Neil's put so much love and light into it that the sadness is well balanced.

And if it hasn't been mentioned, Neil's finest solo album is "Try Whistling This". Such a majestic, deeply-layered album. As the title indicates, it's a different approach to pop but still spot-on Finn.

yeah, i need to look into that, too!

at the in-store i saw him at, he played anytime. this was a matter of weeks or so after 9-11. genuinely moving

Finn's second solo album is great, too, and his son's first is strong as well (and eerily a la dad).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtfmQvndTiI

And just in case folks missed it, that famed NZ show with Finn backed by Johnny Marr, bassist from Soul Coughing, drummer and guitarist from Radiohead and Lisa Germano. Which evinced this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sije12JaKdA

The first album is actually the one I like least. Sure, some good songs (as always from Neil Finn), but the production is kind of boring and got much better and more detailed from the second album onwards. The rest is pure perfection, particularly the pre-hiatus ones.

I don't care for Split Enz aside from the American non-hits -- too damn fussy. But since I listened to Crowded House first I admit to being tainted.

Still love Woodface.

Well, there's Split Enz under Tim and then Split Enz under Tim and Neil. The latter is (more or less) the era with the hits, as such, but even the old stuff boasts some goodies. Like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfytdyMy2-k

But lil bro Neil brought the pop smarts.

possib my favorite neil finn moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJ3th_qhaI

bye-bye blues!

never give up, giving in, it's like kissing good-bye!

not quite the right thread for this, but : time and tide is underrated record imo

Well, there's Split Enz under Tim and then Split Enz under Tim and Neil.

The former - at least the first couple of albums, is effectively Split Enz under Tim and Phil (Judd).

Only to pedants.

Nel Finn's way with ballads is pretty incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VwXNdVMggU&feature=related

I like Crowded House a lot, but Together Alone is miles above the rest of their output. They sound edgier and rougher, with Youth producing instead of Froom. And so many great album tracks - 'Catherine Wheels', 'In My Command', 'Nails In My Feet' are all terrific.

I absolutely love Mitchell Froom's production style (except on the first album, which didn't sound like a Froom production). That said, Youth did an excellent job with the "Together Alone" album as well, except for a couple of tracks where the guitar amps were turned a bit too loud.

'Together Alone' and 'Woodface' are CLASSIC ALBUMS. As is 'One Nil'.

Split Enz is it's own story. 'Dizrhytmia' (sic) is beyond great. 'Charlie' is among the best songs I've ever heard, undeniably.

It's been a while since I heard "One Nil", but in my mind it lacks something compared to "Try Whistling This", which feels like a more complex and layered album to me.

Well, there's Split Enz under Tim and then Split Enz under Tim and Neil. The latter is (more or less) the era with the hits, as such, but even the old stuff boasts some goodies. Like: (youtube preview sceeen with a picture of Tim and Neil)

sorry, obviously I meant sceeeeen

Reissue campaign imminent/in-progress. Remastered catalog, plus bonus discs of demos, b-sides and other goodies. Not that Finn demos tend to be radically different. They call it song craft for a reason!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDm2mUgZg0

Been waiting for Woodface LP reissue for a while now.

Got my copy of Together Alone, one of my favourite albums of all time, yesterday. It's got a nasty scratch on the fourth track, so I'm getting a replacement, but the rest of it sounded lush as fuck. The title track closes with applause, which I've never heard before - it's not on the CD version I've had for years. No bonus tracks on the vinyl edition, but like I said, it sounded divine.

The applause was always on my CD version. It's the Maori choir and percussion troupe clapping.

Woodface deserves a remaster, IMO. Last time I listened to it, I felt it didn't sound as great these days as I could be. Froom's production on it remains excellent, and the songwriting is still as potent as ever. I always listen to it starting from track 2 these days, though!

I heard on Facebook that the download code that comes with the Vinyl includes some bonus tracks.

Oh awesome - relieved to hear that.

The applause was always on my CD version. It's the Maori choir and percussion troupe clapping.

Ha! Crazy. Maybe it was edited off on the UK version for some reason.

The shows I saw them do around Together Alone were some of the best I've seen. The chemistry Paul Hester brought was just wonderful.

Weirdly, I had the UK CD, because it came out a month later in the US. So who knows.

I saw the final tour with Hester (Sheryl Crow opened, cigarette in one hand, beer in the other) and it was good but he was a bit down. For some reason I had a backstage pass. Talked to Nick a bit, iirc. Really nice.

Thanks to my girlfriend Kate -- an absolute CH/Neil obsessive who saw the band numerous times back in the 90s, to the point where the bandmembers and crew knew her as part of a coterie of similarly dedicated souls -- I've been listening to all the remasters here these past couple of days. I never really followed them or any of the overall Finn brothers arc to a great degree -- like a lot of people here in the US, I knew the big hits on the first album, was aware they continued on for a while having greater success elsewhere, and generally knew they made nice enough music. I think I would have enjoyed their work back then just as much as I am now, really, so it's not a great revelation so much as it's a 'yeah, this works, very lovely indeed.' Kate's been mentioning a wide variety of stories and memories in the context with a lot of songs and especially the bonus cuts -- she really liked Paul Hester a heck of a lot as well, and still misses him very much. Since I'm coming into it all pretty cold otherwise I'll be interesting to see what I make of the two reunion albums -- Kate's not really taken by those but she did enjoy the tours for them, despite the one inevitable change in the lineup.

I've loved them since I was a wee Veg. Paul was always my favorite (also he showed his bum a lot which helps) - cried for a whole day when he passed.

I relistened to their best-of after I watched the 20-year anniversary concert the other week; it's crazy how many gorgeous songs they have. Neil turns a lovely phrase, doesn't he?.

I love Woodface still maybe the most for nostalgia & there's no sound better for my heart than Tim & Neil in harmony

I can appreciate a good Finn as much as anyone but I think what makes them boring and dad rock is their lack of mystery, danger, and unpredictability

I don't really listen to Crowded House for "mystery" and "danger", though.

Yeah, that seems...a strange judgment. If anything what I've been appreciating about this deep dive is how they master an approach that is straightforward enough and then heavily finesse it to introduce unexpected twists and turns. It's not 'mysterious' but it's elegantly skillful.

Funny -- I posted my favorite Neil Finn songs the other day.

@MrSotosyn, I think on your list you said you wouldn't include I Got You, but then you did?

I changed my mind but didn't edit the post.

if earnest, sincere & heartfelt = "boring" then all aboard the boring train to dadtown

plenty of mystery and danger on Together Alone, to my ears, but that's not really why I love Crowded House, or that album most of all theirs.

Just put Woodface on and skipped straight to... 'Whispers and Moans'! I get this song in my head quite a lot whenever I think of this LP... this and 'Tall Trees', for some reason. What's with the shouting part at the end, though!?

"She Goes On"!

Man, 'Chocolate Cake' surely must rank as one of the worst things they ever did. Still, even now, I can't believe that of all the songs on Woodface, they somehow decides that 'Chocolate Cake' should be the fucking lead single. I heard that 'It's Only Natural' was originally slated as the lead single but they changed their minds (or lost their minds, IMO) ... and to put it as the opening track, too!

*decided

"Chocolate Cake" must surely reek.

I never heard "Chocolate Cake" on college radio even though it climbed to #2 on the modern rock chart. I did hear "It's Only Natural" a lot that early fall though.

'Weather With You' was probably the biggest hit off the record here... I don't recall seeing the video to 'Chocolate Cake' until well after it was released. I don't think I ever heard it on the radio.

It couldn't have done 'em much favours in the US, either ("and the excess of fat on your Anerican bones/will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone" ... ouch!)

I'm guessing that Tim was mostly the driving force behind 'Chocolate Cake' ... it doesn't feel like a Neil song to me at all.

Saw Chocolate Cake on the Chart Show when it was released, memorable song but no hit. Never understood all the hate it gets

Love "Chocolate Cake." Could have done with more of that darkness & spikiness resulting from Tim's sojourn in the band. (Given how that silly vs sardonic vibe fit Hessie's personality, it would have been interesting if a Tim / Paul cowriting element had sprung up, should Tim have been able to stay: the two were roommates during their overlap in Split Enz, I just remembered while typing this sentence.)

I like/love all Crowded House and Finn solo to varying degrees, but the other day I was reminded of Christgau's massive antipathy toward the group and I was trying to figure out why. The conclusion I came to is that Neil Finn is a great melody guy, good with hooks and gorgeous stuff, but maaaaaaybe not the best songwriter, in the total package sense. Hmm, that's harsher than I mean, since I love his songs. Maybe it's that he's not a particularly memorable lyricist, there's no wit or smarts or much more beyond the most general of things going on with his words. Which is not a problem, really - again, I like/love all Crowded House and Finn solo to varying degrees - but it helped me understand how someone might not like them so much, or how one might approach them as a cult act rather than a proper pop act. Back to Christgau, he mentions pretension, iirc, but that's actually something I think Neil Finn lacks, and, ironically, what maybe makes him fall short for some (but not me).

Anyway, in some ways the first 7 Worlds Collide live album is a great entree. It's a sign of his respect from fellow musicians that he could get Johnny Marr, a chunk of Radiohead, and Eddie Vedder, among others, as his support band. Lately I like his first two solo albums best. For CH, for some reason I've always gravitated toward Temple of Low Men.