20 to 25 years later an appreciation of two great albums from one of the great kiwi bands of our time and 15 years since the biggest farewell concert Australia (even the world has seen)

2011 marks the anniversary of 2 great albums from one of our countries most beloved acts Crowded house the names of those albums Crowded House (self titled) and Woodface (one of most well known albums to come from this talented group)
First up Crowded House (self titled) this album was recorded late 1985 early 1986 and was released June 86 it spawned the singles Mean to me, World where you live, Now we’re getting somewhere, something so strong and perhaps most notably the biggest single the band has ever released Don’t Dream It’s over which managed to peak at number 1 in Canada and New Zealand and in America No2 in the charts to this day Neil Finn is still winning awards 25 years later for most international airplay of a kiwi song.
5 Years later on July 2^nd 1991 their most critically acclaimed album Woodface was released, this album started out as a project between Neil and his brother Tim but eventually became a Crowded House project. It spawned the singles Chocolate cake, Fall at Your Feet, Weather with You, Four Seasons in One Day and It's Only Natural. The track weather with you tends to be the stand out track from this album, there are a few international books out there called 1001 albums you must hear or own before you die and this album has forever been appearing in those books.
Now lets move forward another 5 years to 1996 when Crowded House decided to call it a day. The date exactly was November 24^th the location in front of the Sydney opera house in front of a crowd of greater then 100 000 people with an estimated 250 000 in attendance this was the first time a concert had ever been set up in front of the Sydney opera house. The video of this show was released with a few alterations including a different version of Weather with you from another show but in 2006 (the 10^th anniversary) a Dvd was released of the show in its entirety along with a cd.

All in all Crowded House is one of the main staples of NZ Music to this day and after all it’s only natural to love this band.