Crowded House - Recurring Dream (34 tracks) +Album Reviews

One of the best albums in my collection

Dr Jeremy Buddle | Battery Point, Tasmania Australia | 10/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Definitely buy this album if you don't already own it!! Crowded House mastered the art of songcraft and were also a terrific live band judging from the archived concert tracks that make up disc 2 of this limited-edition 2CD set - alas I never saw them in concert. I bought this on release in 1996 and it remains a firm favourite of mine. Most of the songs here have words and music by the master songwriter and lead vocalist Neil Finn, with Tim Finn featuring on a few 1991 songs from Woodface, and guitarist Mark Hart appearing on later CH songs from Together Alone and the 1996 songs included here for the first time. Drummer Paul Hester and bass guitarist Nick Seymour are the other core mebers of CH and appear on all songs as the trusty rhythm section. Together, these fine players create musical magic and a true spirit of togetherness and harmony.

My favourites are timeless melodic classics like Weather With You (my favourite Crowded House song), Four Seasons In One Day, Better Be Home Soon, and Don't Dream It's Over (their biggest worldwide hit single), but I also like the more up-tempo stuff like the joyous Something So Strong, the perfect pop of It's Only Natural and the newer stuff from their last year together like Instinct nnd particularly Everything Is Good For You (their last chart hit).

The bonus live versions are definitely worth having, and some of the band's famous joviality comes through on the snippets of talking between songs.

I rate Crowded House as one of the best bands ever in pop/rock music and Recurring Dream is one of my 10 favourite albums of the 90's.

5 stars!!!"

Captures the live Crowded House magic

D. Coulcher | London, UK | 09/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having all their albums already I wasn't interested in the greatest hits but the live compilation. It's a great mix which includes all the spontaneous banter that was a trademark at their shows. Q magazine readers voted them live band of the year in the early nineties. This album shows why. Nick Seymour's meandering on Sister Madly is hilarious. A sad day when this band split and denied us the chance to see them live again."

SHEER EXCELLENCE!

D.C. Hanoy | 01/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album was, for me, a superb introduction to the band that would come to dominate my CD player aned my life! Quite simply this is a must for anyone - and I mean anyone. The songs are simply infectious - Neil's mastery of lyrics, harmonies and anything musical, all shine through here. Personal favourites include "Fall at Your Feet" - which gives me a lump in my throat whenever I hear it! "Don't Dream its over" and the previously unrealeased tracks "Instinct" and "Not the Girl you think you are". The songs are saturated with honesty, intelligence and emotion and can make you cry one day and smile the other. The album also has lovely up-beat pop songs: "Weather with You", "Distant Sun" and "It's only natural" spring to mind. This album is essential and I can't stress that enough. It is one of the few albums that I would pay ridiculous amounts of money for! Track it down! If you are disappointed then you are in an almost negligible minority! Happy Listening!"

A must for CH fans and a great intro for new ones.

06/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The only sad thing about this cd is that it reminds me that I will never be able to see this band live. The Finn Brothers tickets is the closest I can get. The live cd gives the listener a perfect representation of the band's versatility. The sound quality is wonderfull without losing the feel of a live show. This band is most underrated and Neil Finn should be a legend. A great cd to play LOUD in the car!"

4 1/2 Stars: Nice Live Disc

D.C. Hanoy | Athens, Georgia | 08/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While Neil Finn has made albums with several entities, including Split Enz, the Finn Brothers and a solo career, perhaps his best known work was written during the course of Crowded House's four studio albums. Some of the best loved songs ever produced by a New Zealander are compiled on Recurring Dream: 'Don't Dream It's Over', a timeless ballad with a memorable organ solo, the jingle-jangle of 'Weather With You', and the sensitive ballad 'Better Be Home Soon'. The selections from each album are solid, although the democratic policy of allowing exactly four songs from each albums means that great Woodface songs 'There Goes God' and 'Chocolate Cake' miss out at the expense of inferior tracks such as Crowded House's 'Mean to Me.' The three new songs recorded for Recurring Dream are a disappointment; 'Everything is Good For You' is quite possibly the worst track that Crowded House ever recorded, 'Not the Girl You Think You Are' may be Beatlesque but it isn't particularly interesting, while 'Instinct' is merely the best of a bad lot. Recurring Dream inexplicably ends with new song 'Everything is Good For You', rather than 'Better Be Home Soon' which is tailor-made for the position. Despite its faults, Recurring Dream is a good introduction to Crowded House, containing key album tracks such as 'Into Temptation' and 'Private Universe', although fans will want to dig deeper especially into Together Alone and it might be simpler just to get each of their four albums individually.

Recurring Dream Bonus Disc

I'm not usually too excited about live albums, but this record, released as a bonus disc to Recurring Dream is good enough to stand enough on its own; as a bonus it's simply superlative. There's also very little crossover with the greatest hits tracks, as only four songs appear on both discs, and it covers a bunch of excellent Crowded House songs that didn't make the cut. `There Goes God', `Whispers and Moans' `Kill Eye' and `Love You Til The Day I Die' all could have held their own on Recurring Dream, and they're all presented in excellent live versions, making the 2CD version a much more valuable Crowded House anthology than the first disc alone. There are also a couple of otherwise unreleased songs - the catchy and atmospheric `Newcastle Jam' and `Left Hand'. Most of the recordings come from the 1990s, with Mark Hart featuring as the keyboard player or second guitarist - he's almost the ideal foil for the band, either able to reproduce or improve the original arrangement. While Hester and Seymour were fine musicians their influence wasn't always that apparent on record, but they were much more integral on stage - Hester's pranks (an extreme example entailed coming on alone for an encore in a Santa suit playing metal guitar riffs, stripping naked, then making obscene noises in the mike) were an important part of the band's charm.

I'm rather indifferent to the live versions of the Together Alone material here; `In My Command' lacks the energy of the studio version and `Pineapple Head' and `Private Universe' lack a bit of atmosphere, but otherwise these songs are pretty much all at least as enjoyable as their studio counterparts. Particular highlights include `There Goes God', much punchier here than on record, while the epic ten minute take on `Hole In The River', ending with traditional Irish ballad `The Parting Glass', blows away the studio version and might be my favourite Crowded House track ever. Lots of compilations throw on a couple of otherwise unavailable songs to entice completists, but there's a whole disc of first rate material here that any Crowded House fan will want to hear; it's not too hard to find copies of the bonus disc edition in New Zealand, but overseas fans may struggle to track it down. - Fyfeopedia Music Reviews"

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