Top Artists – Crowded House

Crowded House – Woodface

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Reviews and Commentaries for Crowded House

  • An outstanding European import pressing of Crowded House’s 1991 Pop Masterpiece boasting Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • The care and effort that went into every aspect of the recording and production of Woodface more than justifies the effort we put into finding this excellent copy – one of the better sounding copies we have played
  • It is our opinion that this is some of the most original, melodic, hook-laden, sophisticated popular music recorded in the last thirty years, the kind that should find favor with any audiophile who likes the popular music, starting with The Beatles and ending who knows when
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The songs are easily their finest to date, combining flawless melodies and the outstanding harmonies of the brothers’ perfectly matched voices.”

This excellent copy of Woodface fulfills the promise of this extraordinarily well-recorded album beyond all expectations. The effect so totally immerses you in the musical experience that you forget you’re listening to a record at all. In your mind, you have the sense that you’re hearing the music exactly the way the musicians, producers, and engineers intended it to sound. The sound is everything you want it to be as you experience every element of the music without limitation. (more…)

Crowded House – Self-Titled

Reviews and Commentaries for Crowded House

  • A stunning sounding copy with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish
  • Both sides here are super punchy, musical, clean and clear with a solid bottom end – what album from 1986 sounds as good as this one?
  • The best sounding Crowded House album ever recorded? It gets our vote!
  • Great songs like Don’t Dream It’s Over, Something So Strong and World Where You Live
  • “… the record was blessed by good timing, and the majestic ballad “Don’t Dream It’s Over” became an international hit, while its follow-up, the breezy “Something So Strong,” also turned into a hit. Both revealed different sides of Finn’s talents, with the first being lyrical and the second being effervescent…” – All Music

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Crowded House / Self-Titled – What To Listen For

Reviews and Commentaries for Crowded House

Number one: Too many instruments jammed into too little space in the upper midrange. When the tonality is shifted-up, even slightly, or there is too much compression, there will be too many elements — voices, guitars, drums — vying for space in the upper area of the midrange, causing congestion and a loss of clarity. This is especially noticeable on the second track of side one, Now We’re Getting Somewhere.

With the more solid sounding copies, the lower mids are full and rich; above them, the next “level up” so to speak, there’s plenty of space in which to fit all the instruments comfortably, not piling them one on top of another as is so often the case; consequently, the upper midrange area does not get stuffed and overwhelmed with musical information. (more…)

Crowded House – Temple of Low Men

Reviews and Commentaries for Crowded House

This British import pressing came right out of my collection. I would love to be able to keep an album as good as this one in my collection, but when would I ever find time to play it? Those days are gone. We play records all day long, five days a week. Weekends we do other things now.

Both sides are smooth and very analog sounding, and both are quiet, The big sound of a Tchad Blake recording with a Bob Clearmountain mix.

Musically both sides have some of the band’s best material. A few of our favorite tracks would be: I Feel Possessed and Into Temptation on side one, Love This Life and Better Be Home Soon on side two.  (more…)

Crowded House / Woodface – A Desert Island Disc

Reviews and Commentaries for Crowded House

This album easily meets the definition of a Desert Island Disc. I’ve played this album hundreds of times and enjoy it more with each play, which insures that on my desert island I’ll never get sick of it. To my way of thinking it contains some of the most original, melodic, hook-laden, sophisticated popular music recorded in the last twenty years. Astonishingly (to me, anyway) it didn’t even chart here in the states, a sad commentary about the state of the music biz, a state that only seemed to worsen as the decade wore on.

When people ask me what kind of music I like, a common question from non-audiophiles seeing my house full of records and a living room stuffed with stereo equipment, Crowded House is a band I can happily lay claim to as a favorite. Sophisticated Pop with Audiophile Quality Sound makes up a large part of my record collection, with Crowded House taking its place up near the top, not on the same plane as The Beatles, say, but not far below. This is a record that belongs no less in your collection than it does in mine.

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Crowded House / Woodface – A Simply Vinyl Winner

Sonic Grade: B (or better!) 

Woodface easily meets the definition of a Desert Island Disc. I’ve played it hundreds of times and enjoy it more with each play, which insures that on my desert island I’ll never get sick of it.

To my way of thinking it contains some of the most original, melodic, hook-laden, sophisticated popular music recorded in the last twenty years.

Astonishingly (to me, anyway) it didn’t even chart here in the states, a sad commentary about the state of the music biz, a state that only seems to worsen as the decades roll on.