Table Of Content
- The Warning Share Music Video For ‘Qué Más Quieres’
- Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ Becomes First Album to Get One Billion Streams on Spotify in a Single Week
- Neil Finn on the return of Crowded House: ‘I am ultimately very optimistic about the world’
- Billy Idol Releases 40th Anniversary Edition Of ‘Rebel Yell’
- Crowded House: Dreamers Are Waiting review – record of understated hope is a Finn family affair
- Nike Releases New Air Jordan 3 Retro Sneakers: Here's Where to Get A Pair Online
Since starting in his brother Tim’s beloved new wave band Split Enz (Tim played in Crowded House for a time too), Finn has released seven Crowded House records and at least a dozen others. The new tracks, as well as some from the previously rejected recordings were combined to make Woodface, which was released in July 1991. The album features eight tracks co-written by Neil and Tim,[9] which feature the brothers harmonising on lead vocals, except on the sombre "All I Ask" on which Tim sang lead. The track was later used on AIDS awareness commercials in Australia.[9] Five of the album's tracks were Neil's solo compositions and two were by Hester, the exuberant "Italian Plastic", which became a crowd favourite at concerts[9] and the hidden track "I'm Still Here". It is one of seven songs on Woodface penned by Finn with his brother and former Split Enz colleague Tim who joined the band for this album but then departed. After their American-sounding debut, the group’s decision to follow a more intimate and inward-looking direction with the follow-up Temple Of Low Men won over many critics, but its lack of obvious radio hits scaled back their US chart ambitions.
The Warning Share Music Video For ‘Qué Más Quieres’
As the group rose from the ashes of Split Enz, they often performed various Split Enz songs, in particular "This Is Massive" because it was written by Paul Hester for Split Enz's last album, the only studio album he performed on. It’s not easy to connect the first four albums Crowded House made in their first life (from their formation in 1985 to their dissolution in 1996) to the three released since the traumatic passing of drummer Paul Hester in 2005. Although still the main and most popular vehicle for Neil Finn and original bass player Nick Seymour, there’s a clear musical divide that makes them feel like the works of very different bands. For antipodeans, those early albums are akin to Graceland or Born in the USA, with the prolific Finn our version of Tom Petty.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ Becomes First Album to Get One Billion Streams on Spotify in a Single Week
“I’m not downplaying what is important in ordinary people’s lives, but some of the bigger picture items – you would expect New Zealand to be doing much better at,” Finn says. “Like the environment, poverty and mental health, and acknowledging the incredibly important role of teachers and nurses. “There is momentum when you come off the road … there’s a good energy for music. Somehow there’s this willingness to express yourself and aspirations are set high, because you’re fresh from the sound of applause,” says Finn, poking fun at his profession’s desire for adulation. Crowded House last dropped new music in 2021 with studio LP Dreamers Are Waiting.
Neil Finn on the return of Crowded House: ‘I am ultimately very optimistic about the world’
Below we’ve collected eleven little known facts in celebration of this truly special outfit. For Finn, Hester’s spirit lives on in Crowded House’s new lineup, which officially includes Liam and Elroy (now in their 30s, the brothers have played solo, together and with their father for years); founding bass player Nick Seymour; and longtime producer Mitchell Froom, who joined the band after decades of convincing. Together they’ve released Dreamers Are Waiting, the band’s first album in more than a decade. Following the 1996 break-up of Crowded House, the members embarked upon a variety of projects. Neil Finn released two solo studio albums, Try Whistling This (1998) and One Nil (2001), as well as two live albums, Sessions at West 54th (2000) and 7 Worlds Collide (2001).
The second album’s direction is also reflected by the haunting, emotive ballad “Into Temptation” about seduction and infidelity that showcased Finn’s poetic lyrics as well as his melodic gifts. While the album only climbed to No.40 in the US, it became the group’s first No.1 in Finn’s New Zealand homeland and their second successive Top 10 entry in Canada. Crowded House’s best songs are masterclasses in pop songwriting, belying their depth and emotion. “I look forward to seeing Primary Wave’s plan for the ongoing care of my songs. A rare Finn composition where he's trying to tell a direct story, the song deals with the suicide of his aunt. But it’s worth making the effort, because the beauty of this record is in the detail and deceptive tonal shifts, like the way Bad Times Good begins with an understated three-line chorus before quietly blending into its first verse.
There’s no instant gratification, but like much of Dreamers Are Waiting, the song gets under your skin like an itch you just have to scratch, almost subliminally addictive. Crowded House, which now includes Finn’s sons Elroy and Liam, will release its eighth album, “Gravity Stairs,” next month. More recently, global superstars Miley Cyrus and Arian Grande covered 'Don't Dream It's Over' for a Happy Hippie Backyard Session while dressed in cute onesies, helping bring this masterful pop song to a new generation. A band as big as Crowded House has picked up a few surprising fans along the way, including Dave Mustaine of thrash metallers Megadeth, Princess Diana, Liam Gallagher, and Paul McCartney.
Crowded House: Dreamers Are Waiting review – record of understated hope is a Finn family affair
While the album had its lighter moments, its more reflective mood was obvious from album opener “I Feel Possessed,” a stirring and powerful song about being completely dominated by someone and which sounded like nothing on their first album. Crowded House undertook an extensive world tour in 2010 in support of Intriguer. This was the first album where the band regularly interacted with fans via the internet on their own re-launched website, Twitter and Facebook. The band sold recordings of the shows on the Intriguer tour on USB flash drives and made individual live tracks available for free download. Finn and Hester performed "Not the Girl You Think You Are" with Largest Living Things, before being joined by Seymour for "Sister Madly" and a version of Paul Kelly's "Leaps and Bounds", which also featured Kelly on vocals.
Neil Finn interviewed: “I took acid and slept in John and Yoko's bed.” - MOJO
Neil Finn interviewed: “I took acid and slept in John and Yoko's bed.”.
Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:35:03 GMT [source]
Singles
Crowded House themselves frequently perform a version of the Hunters and Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me" and Paul Kelly's "Leaps and Bounds" during their live sets (including at the ARIA Music Awards of 1997 ceremony, inducting Kelly into the Hall of Fame). Their version of The Zombies' "She's Not There" was used on the soundtrack of The Crossing, a 1990 film starring Russell Crowe.[40] In addition to these, the group often would perform The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon", among many other Beatles songs. The group would also often perform Irish folk traditional piece "The Parting Glass".
Love Isn’t Hard at All is a co-write between Elroy and Neil, with Sharon Finn (married to Neil since 1982) on backing vocals. The first two songs, Bad Times Good and lead single Playing With Fire, are group compositions. A crucial part of Crowded House’s personality was lost with Hester besides his deft percussive touch, and that is throwing no shade on drummer Elroy Finn (Neil’s youngest son). Crowded House was never going to be the same after that tragedy, and some of the band’s natural joie de vivre – along with the tightly wound pop hooks and effortless anthems – went with him.
Crowded House set the quality bar extremely high with their debut album and over the following decades have repeatedly delivered masterclasses in pop songwriting and performing. However, the accessibility of their music with its infectious melodies and sumptuous harmonies should not belie the fact this is a band with real depth and emotion and who have never compromised to tell their truth. While Time On Earth had originally begun as a Finn solo album, the 2010 follow-up Intriguer was from the outset a band project. Much of it has a mellow, sophisticated vibe, but its opening song and lead single “Saturday Sun” is jaunty and upbeat with electronic effects that enhance the band’s classic pop sound.
While they lost the US mainstream with third album Woodface, its set of uplifting, sonically-pleasing songs won them newfound popularity in the UK and Europe. However, the death in 2005 of Paul Hester after years of fighting depression brought the band back together for two more albums. Another long hiatus followed when Finn returned to his solo career and became part of Fleetwood Mac’s touring band, but they reunited again at the end of 2019 with Mitchell Froom and Finn’s two sons Liam and Elroy joining the line-up. The appropriately titled Dreamers Are Waiting, the group’s first studio album in 11 years, was released in June 2021. Neil Finn formed Crowded House out of the ashes of New Zealand power-pop band Split Enz and it edged him closer to pop perfection with a series of beautifully crafted and melodically rich songs built on depth, emotion, and self-reflection. Initially comprising vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter Finn, Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, and bassist Nick Seymour, the group found their immediate musical direction when they signed to Capitol Records and relocated to Los Angeles to record with producer Mitchell Froom.
But the musician decided to bring back Crowded House in 2021 with his sons Liam and Elroy as official members.
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