I’m guessing there are at least two readers of this blog that care about Crowded House, but MSN Music has a full concert recorded of a recent Crowded House concert from the House of Blues in Chicago — August 18, 2007. It’s over at MSN Music (USA link) and played just fine on my Mac.
After the band broke up in the mid-nineties, a handful of Crowded House tracks surfaced on Recurring Dream (a greatest hits compilation) and Afterglow, a mishmash of unreleased recordings.
So my Crowded House Intra Album Rank project is done — here are the albums ranked from best to worst, with links to the reviews:
By Crowded House’s fourth album, Tim Finn left the group and touring musician Mark Hart became a full band member. Hart played piano and lead guitar (the latter of which he wasn’t particularly good at) lending an unpolished edge. The recording took place in a remote New Zealand house on Kare Kare beach — literally near the end of the world — with new producer Youth.
Woodface has an odd history in that some of the songs were intended for use on a “Finn Brothers” album by Neil and his brother Tim (the lead singer for the Split Enz). Eventually that material was combined with songs Neil had written for the third Crowded House album which were initially rejected by the record label. The result is alternately fascinating and frustrating in the same manner as the Beatles’ White Album. There are some simply incredible compositions while others seem unneeded.