Crowded House - Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of Crowded House
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Free Music Notes for Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of Crowded House
Free Music Review: What was I doing all these years?
Hit: 5 Stars
Recurring Dream is Crowded House's main Greatest Hits compilation. It represents 4 tracks of each of the group's 4 albums. The selection process has hardly been difficult; all the big hits are here. Omissions of note are Chocolate Cake, the first single of their Woodface album (and also a commercial disaster), Fingers of Love and Nails in My Feet from Together Alone. These songs were, however, minor hits and thus understandably omitted.
There are also 3 songs Crowded House recorded towards the very end of their career. Not the Girl You Think You Are and Instinct are fine tunes while Everything Is Good for You is sub-par Crowded House. The magic often associated with the group had though gone and an indication that maybe it was time to wrap it up.
This album highlights the greatness of Crowded House. I have played these tunes to death and yet never seem to get bored of them. There is Beatles-esque quality littered all over the album. If Paul heard it he must have wondered what in the world he was doing all that time (until recently, he couldn't muster a fine tune for ages).
There are at least 3 editions available. One is the standard one with a single CD. Another one released initially during the same period includes a fantastic live CD. Songs such as There Goes God and Sister Madly showcase their drive that lacked on the studio versions. Mediocre songs from their debut like Love You `til the Day I Die and Hole in the River become fresh, as if they have been released from some kind of bounds. There is humor spread all over the set with the audience participating without ruining the songs. The fun and energy associated with Crowded House shines more on this live CD than any other studio recording of theirs (even including their masterpiece Together Alone) making it worthwhile for many to buy this edition, although it is rather expensive. Recently another edition emerged with a greatest hits DVD included. The songs are still great but most of the videos have aged rather poorly. An exception is Weather with You (my son's favorite!) which is joyful and fun and Distant Sun, a dreamy video that tastefully complements one of their best songs. My son actually loves most of the videos post Weather with You but he may simply like the overuse of colors (huge Yellow Submarine fan) and actually great songs. Being a big fan myself, this is a must have for me but friends and family mostly laugh when they see most of these videos.
Recurring Dream is thus a great buy for most people. Any fan should add a few extra dollars and purchase the edition including the live set and only the hard core fans should also get the DVD version (that can be actually bought separately).
Free Music Review: A Timeless Collection
Hit: 5 Stars
One of my clearest memories of growing up in the early 1990s in Australia is hearing "Weather With You" on my half-brother's radio. I didn't know much about what I was hearing at the time, being too young to have heard of Split Enz and only having the vague conception that this was something very special indeed.
Of course, the older I got the more special I realised Crowded House actually was. Reams and reams of press have been devoted to this band, so I won't bore you with the history and success they enjoyed, except to say that it's quite clear why they achieved so much success.
While this collection is obviously no substitute for owning the individual albums, "Recurring Dream" is a perfect collection for anyone whose knowledge of the band is confined to their (many) appearances on the charts.
The album opens with "Weather With You", a deceptively simple tune which seems to have been written to get people singing along madly, and basically continues in much the same vein. Classics such as "World Where You Live", "Four Seasons In One Day", "It's Only Natural" and "Better Be Home Soon" are all included - in their perfect-harmony glory. While the lyrics can be reasonably elusive at times, the general effect is superbly attained. A sort of dreamscape of lyrics which must mean something, but can mean different things to different people.
Of course, the centrepiece of the album is "Don't Dream It's Over", which is the last song the band ever performed live. I may be in a minority, but I disagree with the prominence this track is given in the folklore surrounding the band. Not that it's a bad song, by any means, but just that it isn't necessarily their greatest moment. That said, it is a soaring piece of pop anthem-writing which never fails to impress.
It is rather entertaining to read some of the other reviews on this collection, including the claim that Crowded House had their best songs on their first album (which is admittedly a matter of opinion, but a very odd opinion). As for the claim that the songs and sound are mired in the 80s, nothing could be further from the truth. They are creatures of the 80s, but one of the reasons they have remained so famous to this day is due to their refusal to be slavishly 80s-esque (of course, the videos are a different matter).
Nevertheless, this is an essential album for fans of Australian or otherwise non-American rock music. You won't get anything new if you've bought all the albums, but if not, this is something to invest in.
Free Music Review: Perfect!
Hit: 5 Stars
It's taken me a long time to get around to writing this review. Not because I'm lazy, or because this album isn't a favourite which sits at the at the top of my pile (far from it!)..... but because I struggle to find the words which can describe such genius as Neil Finn and the rest of Crowded House.It was the amazingly perfect pop piece "Weather With You" that stayed in my memory long enough for me to take an interest in Crowded House....
....and how glad I am that it did.
I often dream of situations, and imagine the artists, albums or songs that accompany them perfectly. For instance, if I were to be in a fighter jet - shooting down the enemy - speeding along at 1000 miles per hour, I think that Motorheads Ace of Spades would coincide nicely with the moment. Or if I were strolling through NYC on a hot July day - Jimi Hendrix's Crosstown Traffic fills the funk void quite nicely....
...Ok Ok, I'm rambling. But the point that I am trying to make is that however hard I try to pigeonhole 'Recurring Dream'....I fail. I personally find Crowded House's Greatest Hits album to contain the most perfect 'popular' music that has ever been produced. But I also find that you can't make it fit into one genre.
Although I had convinced myself that songs like "Locked Out" and "Distant Sun" were perfect for cleaning the house to, I also found that "It's Only Natural" was THE shower song, "Weather With You" was THE driving song, "Fall At Your Feet" was THE Love song, "Don't Dream it's Over" was the "pull myself together" song...in fact, "Recurring Dream" is THE album filled to the brim with THE songs. A greatest hits compilation that stands the test of time because you fail to notice a time that these songs belong to. And thats what makes it so perfect.
"Recurring Dream" is an album which confirms all that fans knew, and where newcomers find the genius that is sadly no longer harnessed as a group.
In short "Recurring Dream" is a timeless album, filled with timeless songs that you can listen to with ease and interest at any time... an album that you can take anywhere, put in any situation - and it will still fit...
Perfectly.
Free Music Review: "Don't Dream", buy this album!
Hit: 5 Stars
`Best-of' compilations are really attempts by record companies to get a few more bucks out of a waning or defunct music act. These albums should be called "the singles of (insert name here) to attract people who enjoyed their songs on radio with some new ones so that diehard fans will buy it too"-a title to rival Fiona Apple's last album.There are times (albeit few) when a best-of compilation is worth the price. Take Crowded House, for example. They had a huge hit back in the eighties with "Don't Dream It's Over", then were doomed into one-hit wonder land. It's a real shame, considering that Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House is full of nineteen well-crafted (even classic) songs.
The band took an unique approach to Recurring Dream. The song which gave the album its title is no where to be found. The obligatory filler songs ("Not The Girl You Think You Are", "Instinct" and "Everything Is Good For You") are mixed around with sixteen other singles that span the band's career. The album starts out with "Weather With You", a feel-good pop tune featuring the impeccable harmonies of Neil and Tim Finn. Tim Finn, formerly of Split Enz, also contributes his songwriting and harmonizing skills to "Four Seasons In One Day" and "It's Only Natural".
The remainder of the album shows off Neil Finn's incredibly underrated talent as a singer/songwriter. He sings ballads ("Better Be Home Soon"), rocks out ("Mean To Me") and creates songs that will stay in your head for days ("World Where You Live"), just like any other good songwriter would.
For the majority of their career, Crowded House recorded in Los Angeles with producer Mitchell Froom. However, the highlight of Recurring Dream, "Distant Sun", comes from the band's New Zealand sessions with Youth (one producer of The Verve's "Urban Hymns"). The instrumentation, singing and lyrics blend smoothly together to create a perfect pop song.
When you can listen to every song on an album and can't tell when it was made, you know it's a good one. That's what Recurring Dream is like.
Free Music Review: Essential compilation of severely underrated band
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree with most of the other reviewers: Crowded House were massively underrated. The critics were fond of their albums at the time, and in the years since Neil Finn has been acknowledged of one of the master songwriters of his generation. Still, outside of their home turf of Australia and New Zealand, few people are familiar with the name Crowded House. Play them "Don't Dream It's Over," their brilliant 1987 chart-topper, and you'll probably get a vague, "Ohhh, they did *that* song." This is simply a shame.
Almost every band purported to be the Next Big Thing eventually gets compared to The Beatles, whether it's Duran Duran or The Strokes, and it's usually quite a stretch in any number of ways. Not so with Crowded House. In superficial aesthetics the two bands share a lot in common: the Rubber Soul-like harmonies that adorn their album Woodface; the driving, melodic basslines of Nick Seymour (much like Paul McCartney); Paul Hester's non-technical, but undeniably toe-tapping drumming; and Neil Finn's voice, which can break into Lennon-esque, hoarse rock shout, or have a soothing clarinet quality like McCartney.
But the songwriting is where the comparison is most apt. The Beatles' best songs seem almost inevitable and cosmic: *somebody* was bound to happen upon a melody this perfect eventually (as in "Yesterday"), and for some reason Lennon and McCartney were able to pluck such songs out of the air regularly. Neil Finn did the same, several times for each album, with Crowded House. Listen to "Four Seasons In One Day" just once, and you'll hear what I mean.
With this album, all these songs are collected in one place. I can't say how essential this disc is for anyone who appreciates outstanding pop songwriting that goes beyond catchy and crafted and into the realm of something deep and transcendent. The first 10 listens you'll be enjoying the melodies, energy and fantastic production; after that, you'll feel like you've found a new musical best friend. It's that good.