Crowded House

Crowded House's finest album, this was a commercial misfire in the States but was a huge hit across Europe and the rest of the world. Tim Finn, Neil's brother and old Split Enz cohort, joined the band for this one and helped co-write many of the numbers. "It's Only Natural" and the scathing "Chocolate Cake" (key lyric – "the excess of fat on your American bones will help cushion the fall when you sink like a stone") received plenty of alt rock airplay while the aching "Fall At Your Feet" and "All I Ask" deserved the kind of crossover soft rock classic status that Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" achieved.

Crowded House is presently the leading exponent of a comfortingly familiar style that
began with Cole Porter and took on further luster in the hands of Buddy Holly, the Beatles,
the Kinks, the Police and Squeeze. A sophisticated style that has maintained its popularity
for several decades, this kind of classic pop tends to be cheerful yet sardonic, sleek,
urbane and highly melodic. At its worst, it's quaint. At its best, it combines the es... More >