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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, Jan 21, 2019.

  1. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Tomorrow I'm going to start on The Collected Works of Harper Finn 2018-2021.

    Harper Finn comes from the third generation of Finn music makers: I say 'third generation", because even though he is a cousin to Liam and Elroy, and the son of Tim Finn, Harper is literally young enough to be Liam's son: to put it in perspective, when Harper was born to Tim and his wife Marie Azcona in January 1998, Liam was recording Betchadupa songs in Neil's basement and preparing to go on a world tour playing guitar and drums for Neil's Try Whistling This tour.

    Harper grew up mainly in Auckland and was subjected to piano lessons at a young age, which he didn't like, but which became the foundation for his songwriting: he doesn't, yet, play guitar, at least not well enough to play on his records. He considers making music a normal part of family life with both he and Tim often writings songs at the same time in the same house and has said that on the rare occasions when he meets with the other Finns (who have mainly been scattered across the world living in LA, NYC or touring for much of his life) music follows as a matter of course.

    He began his career playing keyboards in his father Tim's band, perhaps as early as 2013 -- and he participated in both the Finn Family Christmas show in 2013 and the Finns At the Zoo concert in 2014.

    I don't know a lot else about him at this point: there is not even a Wikipedia entry for him. He said in an interview that lyrically, he wrote about the things he was going through at the moment, namely "leaving school, going to uni, going out into the world." That may indicate that he is a university student, but I don't know. He is currently 23 years old.

    Harper's work has largely been self-produced, and he records his music in a tiny closet-turned-studio in a wine cellar which his family owns. His music is mostly written on piano, though he sometimes writes on computer as well: however, he has said that he prefers the music which he's written on piano. He counts Tame Impala and other 21st century artists as his primary musical inspirations, though he also has indicated a fondness for what he called the "retro futurism" of early eighties pop.

    Although he's expressed interest in recording/releasing an EP or a solo album, no current plans are underway for that and all of his music has been released through digital platforms, a song at a time. (Except for one single which was released on vinyl in 2019.)

    Like most modern pop singles, several versions with different mixes get released. I'm not planning on holding up every single remix separtely...I"ll hold all of the mixes of a given song up at once.

    While his first single was released on Tim's Periscope label, at some point Harper was signed to Warner.

    From what I can tell these are the songs that we are going to go over:

    1. Look Who's Sorry Now (Harper Finn)
    2. Conversations (With the Moon) (Finn)
    3. Teenage Queen (Finn)
    4. Good For Me (Finn,D. Wilson)
    5. Waiting In Line [featuring Dende the Sensei] (Finn, Fynn Blackwood)
    6. Norway (Finn, T. Kuhn)
    7. Sun Down (Finn, E. Blackwood)
    8. Dance Away These Days (Finn, M. Kelly, T. Kuhn)
    9. Maybe Tomorrow - By Harper Finn & nice enough (Geoff Maddock, Kirsten Reade)
    10. She Said (Finn)
    After those songs, on the 4th of October, I'll start holding up songs from Caught By The Heart by Tim Finn & Phil Manzanera.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2021
  2. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    Dreamers Are Waiting

    Anyone who has been reading my posts about the songs on this album knows what I’m going to say: nice but unremarkable. ;)

    I think this album is better than Intriguer, but that’s not saying much. I don’t dislike it, but can’t imagine ever wanting to play it again. I gave it two multi-day periods of intense, dedicated listening, several months apart, and my opinion did not change.

    There just isn’t anything special here to make it interesting as anything other than pleasant musical wallpaper (other than Start of Something, which will be forever lost here). If I was a more cynical person, I would say this is lowest common denominator music, designed to appeal to as many people as possible, while at the same time challenging and offending no one. Almost like a “brand.” But I’m not that cynical. Or am I?

    An okay album, but a big disappointment after Lightsleeper. They didn’t have to go full on Lightsleeper mode, but this is too far in the opposite direction.

    3/5
     
  3. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I think Dreamers Are Waiting is mostly great, with songs I definitely put above average And a bout of a third of the songs (Bad Times Good, Good Night Everyone" and "Start of Something" I consider Finn classics. OK, that's a quarter, but maybe a third.)

    I think with Dreamers Are Waiting, we see Neil return to the tightly constructed hook-packed style of Woodface , Crowded House, and Everyone Is Here, which is not a huge surprise considering that Mitchell Froom is involved. (For some reason, TOLM seems the least "Froom-y" of all the albums Neil's done with him, and also the most Nick-and-Paul.)

    I took like it better than Intriuguer (which I liked more than most here, if I recall correctly, but which ultimately came off as a bit weary, especially when I heard the live stuff from that.) There is no song I dislike on DAW, unlike Intriguer which included Ïnside Out" which I thought was totally boring, B-side level stuff. I also think it's sustains itself better than Time On EArth, even if that is much better song-by-song.

    There is no doubt that the amount of mind-blowing songs is considerably fewer than the three Froom albums I mentioned above, but it's still very enjoyable.

    But the sound, as some of us have remarked ensures that I'm going to listen to it a little less often than I think the material warrants. I just find it unpleasant sound-wise. So I will listen to it...but, you know. Not that much. I'm docking a full five tenths of a point for that, to be clear.

    4.1/5
     
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  4. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    Dreamers Are Waiting

    This album is released under the 'Crowded House' moniker, and therefore it is reasonable to interpret it as a CH album and compare it directly to the previous CH albums. This is no left-field Pajama Club to be evaluated as a standalone album.

    Initially I felt that the album is a bit less than the sum of its parts when thinking about the album as a whole and I would have said that had I posted without listening to the album again.It took me some time to warm up to Time on Earth and Intriguer, and see them as the equals of the earlier CH albums - which eventually I did. The same is happening with this album - in real time as I write this post.

    There are a lot of songs on this album, all of which I think are at least 'good', and there are some 'excellent' songs. I don't want to commit sacrilege, but I feel that some earlier CH album had a few low points, and this album does too. But, the low points aren't very low and the high points very good.

    Initially I thought this was more of a development from the CH sound and different from previous CH. But, the more I listen the more I realise that it fits well with previous eras of CH, and is a good, valid development of the CH sound. And, when I started this post (listening to the album in real time) I thought I was going to say that this is my least favourite CH album - but that it was a still a very good album and being least favourite CH album is complimenting with faint criticism. But, now that I'm listening to it again knowing the songs better, I think it fits in with my imprecise CH ranking. It's not my favourite (that's still TA), but I don't think it's my least favourite either. It fits - in terms of quality as well. And is a worthy addition to the canon of CH.

    It is sad in some ways that certain members are absent. Paul Hester obviously but also Mark Hart and (I will admit) to a lesser degree Matt Sherod. However, my belief is that we either got this CH album with these members, or we would have gotten no CH album at all. And, given the quality of this album, I'm pleased for what we have received.

    4.2/5
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2021
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  5. UrAWizHar

    UrAWizHar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Dreamers Are Waiting 1/5

    The best you can say about DAW is that, for the most part, it's inoffensive dinner party background music. The worst is that it has at least 3 of my least favourite Crowded House songs on it out of the whole catalogue. There is nothing here that I find exciting, fresh, original or has got under my skin. It got listened to, put on the shelf and when this thread came around to it I looked at the tracklisting and looked blankly at the song titles, especially on side 2, trying to remember any aspect of what the songs actually sounded like other than discount Coldplay with the tempo stuck firmly on middling the whole way through. Variety? Yeah, none of that.

    I will admit I was pretty disappointed when Mark Hart/ Matt Sherrod were replaced by Elroy and Liam, and I don't think they have justified their space in the band at all. The drumming on this album is frankly poor and I have no idea what Liam contributed other than a song and a few bits of guitar here and there. What have they bought to the table? I have no idea. The whole thing sounds like a band firmly in their comfort zone having a lovely time recording but it makes for an album which ultimately is just plain boring to listen to.
     
  6. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

  7. DiBosco

    DiBosco Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Like the posters above I find it hard not to compare Dreamers are Waiting to other Crowded House albums. It's only natural. On the negative side, it just doesn't stand up to the first three albums for my taste. On the positive side, thinking about all they've released since Woodface, this is easily the one I'm most likely to want to play. Time on Earth has some really lovely songs on it but is far too long for its own good, Intruiger has some really fabulous songs on it, Amsterdam is top notch for example, but it has some I really don't care for.

    Dreamers has nothing, song wise, that even vaguely puts me me off and a side two that has a really good run of songs. The drumming is the worst part of it, I don't think any of it is inspiring (and it's sometimes awful) and I think the drums themselves sound a bit tame. The production in general is not brilliant, but it's not sterile, even the bass on side one doesn't at all stop me from enjoying it! Side one is still growing on me and best of all, it has a really cohesive vibe to it, it's less of a make-me-tense-up-and-hold-my -breath, exciting early evening album, for which I would reach for one of the first three, and more of a later chilling out listen. It's one of those where it's greater than the sum of its parts and that's a really good sign for an album for me.

    I would like to say, I have really enjoyed discussing it with you all. I'm dipping in and out of the earlier albums to see what you thought of them and as usual being amazed at just how differently people perceive some of the albums to me!
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2021
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  8. vikinghomepage

    vikinghomepage Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    I'm a big fan of Dreamers Are Waiting. It's playful and sounds like it's not too thought out. The songs are all pretty short and snappy, there are plenty of hooks, the harmonies are good. It feels like a band record too, I get the sense that everyone is playing as if it matters to them. It's lacking in stand-out classic tunes, but maybe it will take time and some live performances to really know this. I feel there is room for an album like that in a band's catalogue, particularly a band that is (hopefully) a going concern again, touring and making more albums. For example, Pink Floyd's sound track to the film More is full of noodles and seemingly throwaway songs but as an album I love it. More than the sum of it's parts etc (Dreamers is not that good). It's still too soon to be sure.

    I'm not too worried about how this album measures up to the various Crowded Houses of the past. Intriguer is a contender for their best album but the production is a bit heavy handed. Time On Earth is mostly Neil at his most boring with session musicians phoning it in. Together Alone... another lifetime ago, hit and miss. Woodface... again, a change from what came before and after. The first two albums have a band vibe with a sense of continuity between the two but really the only real constants have been change and Neil's voice and songwriting. Woodface is the one that I hear most in Dreamers.
     
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  9. BeSteVenn

    BeSteVenn FOMO Resident

    I enjoy Dreamers Are Waiting, but it doesn't excite me the way that previous Neil and/or Crowded House albums have excited me. It almost sounds like another Neil and Liam project, in that I think I can hear the production influence of Liam more than I can hear the musical contributions of Nick and Mitchell. Some have been critical of Elroy's drumming, it's not flashy but I think it's fine, aside from being recorded poorly. There will never be another drummer as sympathetic to Neil's songs as Paul Hester, and I accept that.

    Even though the longest song is less than 4 minutes, the songs seem to go on too long without having a variation in sound. The same musical motifs and riffs will play through entire song, including the chorus or middle eights, making them seem longer than they are. When you listen hard, you can hear excellent bass playing and interesting keyboards, but they're lost, buried in the mix. It could be the influence of digital steps in the modern recording processes, but it all sounds like there's some fluff on the needle, even though most of the music I listen to is coming through a CD player. I miss the dynamics of the recordings of Crowded House's 1986-1995 era, but that's a problem with music in general in the age of mastering for iTunes and streaming. The mixing/mastering smashes all the instruments together and the music just doesn't sound good (LOUDNESS WARS!!). I wonder what the album could have sounded like had it been mixed by someone else and mastered by someone else, but most importantly not mixed for streaming to iPhones. But that's the reality of the 2021 marketplace.

    My biggest problem with Dreamers Are Waiting is that in many places it doesn't sound like a band playing together. That's probably a side effect of the recording limitations brought on by COVID. There were files sent back and forth for overdubbing, but nothing beats four or five musicians in a room playing together (one of the strengths of Out of Silence is that it was mostly recorded live). Music that is recorded by overdubbing parts, like McCartney, McCartney II, Emitt Rhodes, even Pete Townshend's demos, can sound like a band playing together, it's too bad that there are too many moments in Dreamers Are Waiting where I think "overdub!"

    I'm pleased that we got another Crowded House album, I can listen to it start to finish without skipping any tracks. The total enjoy-ability of the album is more than the individual songs, and that's a good thing to say about an album. Unfortunately, it works best if you don't listen too hard to it. It hasn't been work to like this album, unlike Pajama Club or Dizzy Heights, I'm sure I'll keep listening to it for a long time to come.

    4.5/5
     
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  10. DanP

    DanP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Dreamers are Waiting/Live from the Island

    Coincidentally, given that we're wrapping up the album discussion, this afternoon I watched the first half of the Live from the Island livestream, which is finally available on-demand in Australia. I don't remember it being held up for discussion? Anyway, it's very very good and, to me, has cast the new lineup in quite a different light.

    A very strong performance, lots of hits and good vibes. But unlike the comparatively underdone production and playing on the new Lp (or any of the other Finn-family productions), this is a far more muscular performance with a much fuller sound. Liam is revealed as a spookily gifted harmonist, more than capable of inhabiting the various guitar styles. He's total natural presence here, without the overly quirky vibes that seems to put some of us off. Less the young upstart, and more a fully credible and committed band member. But the revelation for me was Elroy. No fan of the production of his drumming (though I'm OK with his understated style on the record), live he is very much the spiritual heir to Paul Hester. He is beyond faithful to the recorded versions, proving very capable of inhabiting a similar terrain to Hester, but also has his own musicality behind the kit. Having read many recent disses on the thread regarding his ability (rather than the overall production of the drums), I was very impressed.

    Given the relatively divisive production choices of the Finn's recorded output, please allow me to heartily recommend seeing this. I'll watch the rest tomorrow, but already seeing this lineup in a whole new light.

    not sure the arrangements for viewing it in the northern hemisphere. Sorry if I've thrown the running order @Lance LaSalle
     
  11. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    I saw Live From the Island back in June when it was available to stream here. I agree that it was wonderful, and was Crowded House in every way that mattered. I also agree with what you say about Liam and Elroy in that performance.

    So what’s the difference between Live From the Island and Dreamers Are Waiting? Mostly the songs. They only played the three singles in that performance, if I recall correctly - the rest were all old chestnuts.
     
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  12. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I saw that concert too in June and I also agree.I enjoyed the hell out of it.

    Definitely Liam and Elroy brought the goods without being overbearing with their (Liam’s) solo persona: they served the music. And Elroy’s drumming was great in that show.

    The problem with most of the drumming on the album to me is all down to modern squashed dynamics which has been a hallmark of Finn music for twenty years so is not too surprising. This album is actually better than Everyone Is Here or Many others in that respect.

    but I am not planning on holding that performance up for rating. At least not now. I have plans for this thread and another spin-off thread that I’ll announce here in a month or so and maybe that will be the time to hold up the “From The Island” broadcast.
     
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  13. ToneM

    ToneM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, UK
    Dreamers Are Waiting

    Clearly I wasn't alone in experiencing some trepidation when the new Crowded House lineup was announced. Mark Hart had a major influence on their sound post Woodface, whereas in contrast Liam and Elroy were little known quantities to me. After the lacklustre first two singles my expectations for Dreamers were very low. On the plus side, it meant the album was unlikely to prove a disappointment.

    To me there's little merit in comparing Crowded House Mk 3 to Mk2 or Mk1, as they're different lineups with differing approaches in different eras. Dreamers to me doesn't sound like previous CH records, nor would I want it to, as that would indicate a lack of evolution. It's not straining to recapture the glory days, nor is it pushing the envelope like the experimental Intriguer. It's just a good, solid, if rather safe pop record. Considering it's Neil's 5th decade in the business, this is as good a record as I could expect from him, especially after getting very little out of his past 4 releases. It's a pleasure to hear Neil sounding fresh, energised and in good voice, still capable of penning the odd glorious three minute wonder.

    Having said that, I find the song quality very variable; a third are crackers, a third middling, the rest I can take or leave. I'm normally one for sticking to the sequencing as the artist intended, but the way it's front loaded with 4 upbeat numbers followed by 5 slower tracks does the album no favours. I've attempted to improve the balance and flow a little with my shuffled playlist.

    Bad Times Good
    Playing With Fire
    Real Life Woman
    Sweet Tooth
    Deeper Down
    Show Me The Way

    Love Isn't Hard At All
    Start Of Something
    To The Island
    Whatever You Want
    Too Good For This World
    Goodnight Everyone

    I've picked up a few albums by 'legacy' bands this year, Deacon Blue, Del Amitri, Garbage, yet Dreamers is just about my favourite of the bunch. Now I'm looking forward to seeing what this new CH do next.

    3.75/5
     
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  14. KangaMom

    KangaMom Queen of the Quokkas

    Dreamers are Waiting - Well, I guess I went into this album not having any real expectations. I had such a huge hole in my CH knowledge that most of what I know about the post Together Alone albums is based on me participating in this thread. That's probably been a plus.
    That being said, I do think it fits within a continuum of (what I now know) to be Crowded House music. I think @Lance LaSalle was correct when he mentioned upthread, that he believes that everyone in the band is playing within the confines of the "House" playbook. I've no idea what those ingredients are but this seems to be true, because DAW does not sound like a Neil solo (and definitely not Liam or Elroy solo). Sure, I can hear the production influences but that's part and parcel of evolving your sound and music.

    I wasn't super thrilled with the singles - The Island is the only one I took to immediately, but on repeated listens the other singles work for me. I can see why they were chosen as singles. Oddly, I think there are better songs on the album but they probably aren't as hook-y as those 3. Which I guess brings me to the other point about this album. The absence of hook laden songs. I like the songs a lot, but I've had to give them space and time to breathe, re-listen etc. That sounds like work, but it's more that progressively each time I've played the album or individual songs, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like the songs. To the point now where the songs will randomly pop into my brain while I'm working.

    What I'm saying it has worked its sneaky charm on me and I do think this is a very good album. The harmonies are terrific and I like the sequencing of Side B.
    A month ago I probably would have rated this as average for a CH album, but now I think it's on the same trajectory as Together Alone (for me). A bit of a grower and ultimately in a year's time I'll probably be telling people how great it is!

    I'm excited to see what else gets produced next.

    4/5 (better than first listening suggests).
     
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  15. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    I've only seen the trailer for the concert - a quick search to see if there was some way to see the whole concert failed. From that trailer I thought that Elroy's drumming was fine. It may be just the squashed dynamics hiding his performance.
     
  16. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    I'll write in full about the album this evening (it's another very busy day), but I did want to say something about Elroy's drumming in light of the comments here about the webcast. It's reassuring and gratifying to read that Elroy does a creditable job not he old material--Dreamers Are Waiting had me concerned. That said, I don't think the problems with the drumming on Dreamers Are Waiting are entirely down to bad recording and bad mastering (though those certainly play a role). Part of the problem is down to choices that Elroy (presumably) made (I'm sure he got some guidance and direction, but I'd also bet that a lot of what we hear is down to choices Elroy made). It may be that he is the kind of instrumentalist who is capable of doing an excellent job reproducing what others have done but lacks the ability to be a compelling original player on his own. He wouldn't be the first such musician. At the very least, I think we have to say that the jury is still out.
     
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  17. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I dont have a huge problem with the drumming...in fact, it's a bit non descript but seems to do the job. I think Elroy's drumming on Liam's records (or Liam's drumming on his records) is much more interesting but definitely a different style; and it may be that the restraint of playing in Crowded House is not something he's used to.

    But maybe it's also just a matter of this band not having a lot of experience playing together as a unit on a big tour, with an audience.

    I mean, they did like a a dozen shows in New Zealand, after the record was finished so they hadn't really learned to gel when they recorded the record. Neil, Liam and Elroy have probably played a lot together, and Neil has played a lot with Nick, but in different units: and Mitchell is basically new to them all as a unit. HIs role is different now than it was in 1986-1989 in a number of ways.

    Back in 1985, the Mullanes had a short tour of Australia, were not really that good, by some accounts, and then they recorded the album without Craig and with Mitchell; but they were hungry and young and the world was different and they did tons of showcase gigs in LA and promotional gigs everywhere; they busked on the streets of Europe and played house parties for the press, and they forged an identity together.

    The new line-up hasn't really had that experience (they couldn't because of Covid, but even without Covid I doubt if any of them are really up to the kind of grueling work that forges a real band that, the kind of work they did in 1985-1986. )
     
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  18. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    I wondered if there was evidence of Elroy's drumming and ability to come up with interesting drum lines on other albums. His drumming on a few tracks for the band Wild Nothing seems fairly straightforward.



    There is also a live performance here with Elroy. Again, what I've been able to sample sounds competent but not standout.

    KUTX » Wild Nothing 5.17.16
     
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  19. Jaffaman

    Jaffaman Senior Member

    Streaming at Nugs until November. I gather it’s also coming to some cable/satellite platforms but don’t have further details yet.
    Crowded House live from Live From The Island, Auckland 4K, NZ on nugs.tv
     
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  20. therunner

    therunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    Dreamers Are Waiting works better for me as a whole album than the sum of its individual songs. It comes down to a debate I've long had with myself about whether I prefer albums with some great songs but some clunkers (like Intriguer) or inoffensive albums (like this one) with no standouts either good or bad. In other words, is its blandness a strength or a weakness ?

    When assessing each song on its own day by day I tended to be more negative than positive, bemoaning the blandness, the nothing more than pleasant melodies and lack of hooks. But as an album it has a cohesiveness and style that I can appreciate at the appropriate time, in the appropriate mood - probably in the background as an accompaniment to working at something else when I don't want too much of my attention to be diverted to the music. That sounds like damning with faint praise but it's about horses for courses, and I certainly will be able to find circumstances when this album works well.

    I haven't listen to Dreamers Are Waiting as many times as Neil's other post-Intriguer albums, but I already prefer it to Pajama Club and Dizzy Heights, both of which have many songs I dislike more than any on Dreamers Are Waiting. And I suspect that once I become more familiar with it this album will overtake Out Of Silence and Lightsleeper, which only have some marginally better songs than Dreamers Are Waiting, and yet have a few songs that I dislike more than any on here.

    3/5
     
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  21. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

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  22. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    I don't usually offer comments about albums as a whole but, as I mentioned earlier, I've had a go at only listening to this album the way I used to listen to albums back in the day (that is, a side at a time or all the way through). And, while the album hasn't suddenly jumped out at me, I've found that I enjoy it far more when consumed in full (or half full) than I expected to, given my feelings toward the individual songs.

    That's to say that I think it adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

    I agree with those who say that it's full of pleasant but unremarkable songs. And, compared to Neil's past record, that's a "comes up short" sort of review. However, whereas Time on Earth and Intriguer had higher highs, they also had lower lows. Time on Earth suffered from being over-long and Intriguer suffered from (IMO) poor selection of tracks recorded at the time. Dreamers rarely rises above "good" (Goodnight Everyone is the only song that has lodged itself in my head) but it also rarely annoys me. As a result, it has a cohesion and consistency lacking in the last two CH albums.

    I don't think I'll ever love this album but I strongly suspect that - when I'm in the right mood - it might just hit the spot.

    Edit: I see that @therunner and I seem to share a similar view :)
     
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  23. Djmover

    Djmover Forum Resident

    Mmm what to say .
    First of all I know that this is release under the “crowded House “ name but to my ears it sounds nothing like Crowded House as it is really a Finn Family fun band album collaboration with Mitchell Froom and Nick Seymour coming in to make it semi credible as Crowded House .

    To make this album Neil got rid of half the band and in one of the greatest examples of nepotism I have ever seen put in his 2 sons.
    Guess he did learn a few things from his time with Fleetwood Mac .

    I wouldn’t mind so much if we got a kick **** soaring album with awesome tunes but as others have said this is dinner music at best .

    Having said that though the 3 singles are really good with Playing with Fire especially so .
    Bad times good and start of something are also great .
    But the rest are boring and totally unforgettable. It is hard to imagine how they would have toured this album as besides from the 3 singles the rest of the songs would have certainly brought the tempo down and have everyone running to get food etc.

    It was also quite shocking how far Tim and Neil’s songwriting partnership has declined as this is the 2nd song we have heard after Alone and my god what happened?
    Am glad they are not doing another album as I want to keep my memories of them at the height of their powers .

    This album is a continuation that started with Pajama Club then Dizzy Heights , out of Silence (which are all just awful ) then light sleeper which is actually an album I quite enjoy .
    So Dreamers are Waiting needs to be compared and assessed with those albums as any comparisons with Woodface , Private Universe etc is quite frankly laughable and an insult to the golden era which we all love .

    Dreamers are Waiting
    2/5
     
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  24. StefanWq

    StefanWq Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallentuna, Sweden
    Dreamers Are Waiting

    I had mixed emotions when it was announced in 2019 that Crowded House would be back. It seemed unfair that Matt and, in particular, Mark, were not to be involved and I was a bit concerned that after touring with Fleetwood Mac playing their greatest hits, Neil might be tempted to just do "greatest hits" tours with the new Crowded House. It was a relief to hear there would be a new album, but when "Whatever You Want" was released I was underwhelmed by it (still am).
    "To The Island" and "Playing With Fire" restored my faith in Neil's songwriting and it was exciting when the album was finally released.
    I think it's a great album with several top notch songs and only one track I don't like at all.
    To my ears, it's very much a band album, with basically just the five of them plus one guest appearance each by Eliza Jane Barnes and Sharon Finn, but above all it sounds like they enjoyed making this album. With "Intriguer", I felt it had an overall lacklustre feel to it, like it was something that Neil had been forced to do when he might rather have wanted to do something else. This time, both he and the other members sound committed and enjoying every moment.
    Lyrically the songs are more direct. Some songs seem to reflect life during the pandemic, other songs seem based in real life emotions and experiences, similar to the songs on "Time on Earth" in that respect.
    I also think the album is a real grower and it is one that I will keep listening to for a long, long time.
    4,4/5
     
    therunner, HitAndRun, ToneM and 9 others like this.
  25. Michael Rofkar

    Michael Rofkar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Dreamers are Waiting is a Crowded House album in name only. There are exactly two songs on it that sound like CH to me at all, and one of them isn't very good. The rest just sounds like generic soft rock (the dreaded Coldplay comparison rears its head again.) I'm glad I delayed buying it until after we discussed the record here; now that I've heard the whole thing, I don't think I will make the purchase.

    I also don't think that the group - as a band - sound very cohesive at all. In particular, I don't like the way the drums sound, and I can't help but think it must drive Nick Seymour crazy to be stuck with Elroy's lackluster efforts.

    Sadly, this album underscores the suspicion I've had for several NF releases, namely that Neil's songwriting has run its course and no new masterpieces are to be expected.

    2.8/5
     
    therunner, DiBosco, HitAndRun and 6 others like this.

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