Crowded House (Crowded House in general)

Member Name: davepridd

Product:	Crowded House in general
Date:	23/07/00 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best band 1986 - 1993

Disadvantages: None

Lots of people seem to look to Oasis as being the new Beatles, but I think that Crowded House are the only band of recent years that can confidently claim that title. Although there music is distinctly unfashionable, often sounding similar to the Beautiful South, Neil Finn's ability to write songs is incredible. The music can often be quite unusual, but it is always melodic, with a sing a long quality, as well as being very beautiful and complex. This ability to write a good melody is what he is most frequently praised for, but he is also a very skilled lyricist and vocalist; he is one of the few people in pop music who is able to carry off such poetic, and often abstract words.

Though the singles that they have released were all fantastic, I strongly recommend people to buy the albums as some of their more ambitious work is confined to these; most notably 'Together Alone' which employs a brass band, drummers and a New Zealand choir, or 'All I Ask' with its full string orchestra. They functioned very well as a band, so that the songs feel that they are carefully crafted rahter than just put together, with lots of interplay between the various layers of sound and strong vocal harmonising. They should also be remembered for ending the joke about the drummer's song, with all of Paul Hester's efforts being able to stand up to the quality of the rest of the material, and often adding a new dimension to the album.

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