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

Together Alone is a solidly wonderful album. 'Distant Sun' is just about the perfect Crowded House tune. Surprised they don't have more fans on this thread, tbh.

hmmm. the first album has some great moments. am a huge HUGE fan of some of the stuff he wrote and sang w/split enz. but much of CH never really sank into me the way it might have. saw him play at a record store almost a decade ago and it was one of those crazy moments-- couldn't believe that i was in the same room with someone from the other side of the planet (literally!) who wrote so many amazing songs. like i was obsessed with split enz and neil finn from age 10 on. what a sweetheart.

THE SOUND OF TE AWAMUTU HAD A TRULY SACRED RING!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP2u5fA4g4Y

this song is all-time afaiac

can't get enough of that frenzy era, when all their chips were down, on the verge of breaking up, and they would blaze through all of these barrelhouse piano-driven songs before their sound magically coalesced into the mtv-friendly true colours period

"Time On Earth" is shockingly good. It's the sound of Neil Finn refining his craft and pouring his heart and soul into it.

wow, thanks, gerald. i had no idea that record even existed. listening to a couple of songs right now, and your description is spot-on.

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.