Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

I wondered about this too. Without hands on access to Capitol/EMI's tape library, I couldn't listen to everything when putting the bonus tracks together and the documentation was vague, but there were no other studio versions in Neil's collection. Maybe the "Creek Song" recording was submitted to Capitol. It would have been a different mix, as we only had the multi-track to work from in 2006.

 

"Left Hand" is a decent outtake, but isn't at the quality level of some of the others from the larger Woodface era. It received periodic live airings on that tour, although the studio version of the track wouldn't see release until 1999's Afterglow compilation. The wah-wah style guitar is relatively unique in the CH catalog, but the track doesn't have a very strong melodic thrust. It seems more of a jam than a completed song. I probably prefer the live version (from Gent, Belgium in '91) that was issued on the bonus disc that came with the Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House compilation in 1996, if only because it exhibits more energy than the studio take.

3.6/5

 

I also prefer the Ghent version, the harmonies bring it up a notch.

 

Definitely my least favourite version of Left Hand is the one on Afterglow as it just reminds me too much of Joe Cockers “you can leave your hat on” with the piano sounding similar and at the same tempo at least to my ears anyway .

Totally agree with Robcar and Lance re the live version we got on the Recurring Dream bonus disc is the best , way more energy and the harmonies are excellent also .
Re a studio version Greek Song is much better but after so many years of listening to Left Hand live then Afterglow Greek Song sounds definitely like the mash up that it obviously is so it’s a bit weird to me , then to top it off it was truly bizarre to find out Left Hand was once part of Fall At your feet as well .
Very complicated history .

left Hand 2.5/5 for me
Not a favourite

 

Anyone Can Tell

3.5/5 I like it a lot but I don’t think it would have worked in Woodface. More like a TOLM sound.

Left Hand
2.5/5 not that keen on it really. Sounds like a jam. Also sounds like early CH and would better suit the debut album.

 

While we’re still in the Woodface era, I came across a special edition Woodface cd yesterday online. It has a fold out sleeve with the eyes and mouth cut out of the front artwork. I never knew about this. Anyone else?

 

I saw it once at a Best Buy in Denver circa 1999 or 2000, very expensive (probably imported) so I didn’t buy it. I think the bonus tracks have all been released elsewhere by now.

 

Tools me a while to find it on discogs Crowded House - Woodface

Don’t think there’s any bonus tracks.

 

It’s a 2-CD re-release from 1997 to celebrate EMI’s centennial. On the second disc there’s five Finn Brothers demo’s that are available elsewhere.

Edit: crosspost ;-)

 

They are actually 2 different releases
The 1st mentioned came out round late 91 and was a fold out with each of the individual band members photographs on the fold outs which are the same ones in the booklet .It is just a single disc with no bonus tracks .

The 2nd mentioned was in the late 90’s and was for an EMI celebration and the 2nd disc just contained the same Finn Bro’s Demos that were on the Suffer Never /Angels Heap CD singles so nothing new either .

I suppose that was at least disappointing to me re the recent Woodface 2 disc edition that it was decided to again put out tracks that have been available for 20 years or so .

Considering the convoluted history of Woodface and the fact it was 2 albums merged into 1 there would be no shortage of material to use ,like the 1st attempt to record Its Only Natural which we have heard a lot about and we know exists but was not used , not to mention Good Luck Morning.

Personally I found the re issues overall disappointing, except for Intriguer which was the perfect mix of rare live tracks , studio rehearsals, alternative versions and unreleased studio recordings .
They should have all been like that .

 

Left Hand is a tough one to rate, I want to give it a high rating because the performance on Afterglow cooks along quite nicely, but it seems like as a piece of songwriting it's undercooked. It might well be the prime example of a song that Neil forced through when he was struggling to come up with material in the early Woodface days. I'm glad to have it because it helps complete the picture of where Neil (and Paul and Nick) was (were) at in 1990, but the point at which Neil gave up on developing the song into a finished product doesn't move me all that much. 3.8/5

 

I was pretty pleased with them. I hadn’t heard most of that stuff then. Sure there are things missing, but there was still a lot of good stuff there.

 

I take your point Lance and your right there was a lot of stuff on these editions.
But to me there was an over reliance on Neil’s demos vs band studio recordings so to me these sets felt more like a Neil Finn Demo retrospective at times .
Demos are interesting but after 1 or 2 listens the novelty wears off and because of their low fi nature do not stand up to repeated listening.

In hindsight I think Afterglow version 2 would have been preferable which is what Neil originally had intended as mentioned on the US afterglow CD track commentary.

but that is just my opinion of course and am happy that others enjoyed these sets .

 

“Left Hand” is proof that combining elements of different Wong’s-in=progress doesn’t alsways work. As others have noted, the song feels unfinished. The main line of the chorus seems capable of supporting a song, both lyrically and musically, but the rest doesn’t provide the necessary support. The song’s redeeming feature is the energy with which the band plays and Neil sings. That’s enough to raise the song to the level of “eh,” but no higher.

3/5.

 

I’m glad to have them but I would’ve loved more alternate/rough mixes rather than demos. The few glimpses of them in the studio are very interesting.

 

Left Hand

Neil clearly felt the hook line had something, but he couldn’t quite nail it. Finally, he left it alone. In my opinion, his instinct was right on. It’s just not that strong, lyrically or melodically. Also, blues is not really their thing. Still, nothing they ever did was bad.

3/5

 

I sadly have to say I am not a fan at all of "Left Hand". As @Djmover pointed out, the verses are too alike the Joe Cocker song and also, to my ears, zillions of other songs. It sounds like something any third-rate covers band could whip up on the spot, like generic jamming. All of this could be forgiven if the payoff was a great chorus but I think that too is just mediocre and the angry lyrics just seem like a poor cousin of "Sacred Cow" and "You Got Me Going".

Obviously Neil, the band and Mitchell Froom heard something special in this song as they kept returning to this one over and over for such a long time. Unfortunately I don't hear what they must have been hearing.

I wish the band had spent more time and energy developing "The Creek Song" instead. To me, "Left Hand" is just the absolute nadir of Crowded House Mark I.

1,4/5 (and that really hurts me)

 

The studio version of Left Hand is, perhaps, one of the most disappointing outtakes of all. The live version (featuring one of Hessie's most bizarre interjections - unless I've been comically mis-hearing it for all these years) absolutely swings. It just has that groove, whereas the studio version just seems stilted, like they were too embarrassed to just let go.

I give the studio version a 2/5 and the live performance the full 5/5. It's one of my favourite CH tracks, period.

 

For much of the morning, I’ve had “Get on the Right Thing” by Paul McCartney & Wings (from “Red Rose Speedway”) running through my head—obviously triggered by “Left Hand,” with which it shares one particular musical line. “Get on the Right Thing” is one of my least favorite songs from Macca’s occasionally brilliant but wildly uneven post-Beatles career, so I’m tempted to dock ”Left Hand” a point just for that.

 

“Left Hand” was a disappointment when Afterglow came out. I had known the live version for some time by then and that version is superior. The studio version is clunky, mainly because of the piano, slightly lagging tempo and lack of harmonies.

Neil sure wanted to save this song as he kept returning to it between ‘84 and ‘91, I really wonder why...

“Left Hand” was a set list staple when the band was still The Mullanes in early 1985. It was a surprise set list addition once in a while during 1990-1991. After that it was very rarely requested and honored (once in 1994, 1998 and 2010).



2.7 / 5

 

My copy of Woodface (dated 1991) has those fold-outs with the cut-out cover. I bought it used years ago; no idea if it originally had a bonus disc.

 

"Left Hand": 2/5

 

Based upon Chris Bourke's book:

"Creek Song", with the "Left Hand" section is from March/April 1990, recorded at A&M. A version of "Left Hand" was in the can by June 1990, recorded at A&M and/or Ocean Way, Los Angeles. Producer was Mitchell Froom. It was re-recorded from scratch in Melbourne at Periscope in August 1990. At that point Tim had become a member of the band. I'm not sure if the version on Afterglow is partly or wholly from either of those periods, because to my ears the Afterglow version is similar in sound to the songs from late 1989 recorded in Melbourne ("Time Immemorial", etc). I don't hear Tim on the studio track, for example.

 

@Lance LaSalle just a quick note to say thank you, and other contributors, for this thread. Although I’ve only joined in recently, I am reading through it; I skipped through the early days of Split Enz etc because it was all a bit before my time (and I have never really delved into their back catalogue apart from a couple of compilations) but I’m now on page 98!!

 

I agree with the general consensus that the Afterglow version of "Left Hand" is nowhere near as good as some of the live versions, but I'm not very keen on the lyrics or musical style of the song anyway.

2/5