Product Description

"Beauty" is not a word often used to describe pop music. But in the case of Neil Finn and the Australian-based trio Crowded House, it is more than appropriate. On WOODFACE, the group is joined by Finn's brother, Split Enz-meister Tim Finn,for an album that's filled with intelligence, grace, and humor, not to mention absolutely breathtaking vocal harmonies.There is a depth and texture to the songwriting and performance in the songs of Crowded House, which is just not found in most popular music.
The CD opens with "Chocolate Cake", a track that categorised Americans as fat and greedy and didn't exactly earn the band a top spot on U.S. airplay lists. The disc moves to the stunning "Its Only Natural" and "Fall at Your Feet". Just listen to "Weather With You" to find out how perfect pop music can be--it's a track that manages the difficult task of never devolving into sentimentality or inanity. The stirring surrender of "Four Seasons in One Day"further demonstrates Neil Finn's ability to transform his deepest, most disturbed emotions into great songs.

Track Listing

1. Chocolate Cake
2. It's Only Natural
3. Fall At Your Feet
4. Tall Trees
5. Weather With You
6. Whispers And Moans
7. Four Seasons In One Day
8. There Goes God
9. Fame Is
10. All I Ask
11. As Sure As I Am
12. Italian Plastic
13. She Goes On
14. How Will You Go

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12358 in Music
• Released on: 1991-07-01
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

WOODFACE - RUBBER SOUL FOR THE 90's
Woodface is the record that broke Crowded House in the UK and most of Europe. It's also one of the finest albums of the 90's and more than deserved its high sales and 4 big hit singles. Starting life as a solo Finn Brothers collection the project quickly morphed into a full blown Crowded House album full of gorgeous, beautifully crafted Beatlesque songs. It's fair to say that the Finn brothers fully embraced the fab four comparisons on Woodface and ran with it.
Four Season's In One Day, Fall At Your feet, Its Only Natural and the smash Weather With You sound as catchy and melodic as they first did over 15 years ago. But there is so much more to Woodface than the hits - Whispers and Moans, How Will You Go and Shes Goes On are terrific ballads, Tall Trees is punchy powerpop and All i Ask is a Tim sung belter - his voice never sounding better.
Crowded House have recently reformed and released the impressive Time On Earth - but it's Woodface, and the darker follow up Together Alone, that the antipodean band built their reputation around. It still sounds great.
A timeless and beautifully paced record.

cw

Wonderful songs which stand repeated listening over the years!

This is an album which gives you a couple of favourites on first hearing. Repeated playing then allows all the other tracks to shine in their own right. This was used as a demo disc for the top quality audio equipment I used to sell and it served its purpose admirably.

Comparison with the Beatles at their best is inevitable on this collection, the superb production and thoughtful compositions making this easy to do. There's an honesty here which I still very much appreciate - also, for once, there's a real variety in the musical styles on offer.

I must admit to not knowing their other albums as well, although some of the tracks on their "best of" compilation are really good too.

No decent music collection should be without at least one album from this band (or Neil Finn as a solo artist). For me, it's this one - and it hasn't dated one bit...

RECOMMENDED!

Crowded House meets The Beatles
Neil Finn's song writing has often been compared to even the highlights of the Lennon/McCartney partnership. Actually, Paul could/should have learned a thing or two from Finn in the early 90s. Never were the similarities more obvious than on Woodface, an album packed with great melodies, straight driven arrangements and a gorgeous production. Neil's brother, Tim, joined Crowded House on this album and not only does their partnership shine on the song writing level but even more in the harmonizing on many songs, Tim complementing Neil very successfully on many tracks.

The one track that seems at odds with the album was interestingly the first track and incredibly chosen as the first single. Chocolate Cake is a rocking song but the weakest track on the album, with the brothers seeming to salvage a song that just isn't good enough, radio wise at least. I admit having grown to the song in a strange way but yet always have mixed feelings towards it. This odd single selection must certainly have insured a commercial disaster in the States and could have done the same thing internationally.

After Chocolate Cake it's a bonanza of great solid tunes like the joyful It's Only Natural and Weather With You (a huge hit everywhere in the world, including my 3 year old son's world, except the States) and slower tunes such as Fall At Your Feet and Four Seasons In One Day (my son loves that one too and its corny video). The later part of the album is much slower but no less fulfilling. As Sure As I Am showcases an atmosphere of togetherness whilst How Will You Go reminds me of the plight someone close to me deals with daily due to alcoholism.

This album deserves 5 stars despite not being from my standpoint the masterpiece many people regard it to be, maybe simply because their crowning achievement in my view is Together Alone. I have heard few albums with so many solid songs in my lifetime and is of Crowded House's two lighter sounding albums, their first self titled album being the other one, much better, despite of the inclusion of Don't Dream It's Over on the first one (which is available on their Recurring Dream compilation).