Behind the Album: Crowded House’s Instant Classic Self-Titled Debut

The late 1980s offered a burgeoning hip-hop scene, the bombast of hair metal, and heavily produced R&B. Old-fashioned pop songwriting was largely pushed to the margins in favor of these in-your-face styles.

In the middle of all that came Crowded House, relying on subtler traits than just about everything else that was on the radio. And yet, thanks to a late-in-the-release-stage single, the record made a huge dent and set this Australian/New Zealand trio on the path to a long, successful career.

House Call

It helped that Crowded House came with a bit of pedigree. Two of the three members of the group (Neil Finn and Paul Hester) had spent time in Split Enz, a long-running New Zealand band. And Finn had been responsible for writing and singing the band’s biggest hit “I Got You,” which topped the charts Down Under and gave the band their first big success in the U.S. and UK.

In 1984, Neil’s brother Tim, who had founded the band, decided to leave Split Enz. Neil Finn was briefly in charge, until it was decided not long after that the band would call if quits. That left Neil a free agent, wanting to do something a little bit different with his next project.

He formed a unit with drummer Hester and Australian bassist Nick Seymour. The idea was to explore the three-piece sound without much in the way of heavy production embellishment. Because of Finn’s involvement, Crowded House was able to grab a major label deals with Capitol in the U.S. and EMI in the UK.

It was decided the band would record in LA, where they were joined by producer Mitchell Froom and engineer Tchad Blake. Froom would prove a crucial collaborator, not only heeding Finn’s demands for nuanced production, but also delivering integral keyboard parts to several songs.

One of those songs was the dreamy ballad “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Three uptempo singles from Crowded House’s self-titled 1986 debut preceded it and failed to make much of an impact on either side of the Atlantic. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” broke through in a major way, however, especially in the U.S., where it reached No. 2. That gave the Crowded House album a boost, and it eventually reached American Platinum status.

Behind the Music of Crowded House

Even though “Don’t Dream It’s Over” was the breakout, it wasn’t quite emblematic of the rest of the music on the record. For the most part, Crowded House kept the tempo relatively peppy on the debut record, with swaggering tracks like “Mean to Me” and “I Walk Away” typical of the output.

Neil Finn, who wrote eight of the 11 tracks himself and co-wrote the other three, stamped himself on that record as a pop songwriter of rare ability. He wasn’t the type to spell anything out for his audience, as even “Don’t Dream It’s Over” evokes more than it insists. But his melodic gifts made sure everything on the disc was catchy.

Froom’s ability to fill in the gaps with his organ work helped to accentuate the tunefulness. The joyous “Something So Strong,” the stirring “World Where You Live,” and the buoyant “Now Where We’re Getting Somewhere” all gained notoriety among alternative fans once the hit ballad busted down the door.

The Crowded House album certainly carved out a niche at a time when its old-fashioned musical virtues weren’t exactly on the front burner of the culture. And it’s not like it engendered a mass return to songwriting-focused records. But it still shines bright as an example of a band who knew their strengths right from the start, and played to those strengths in scintillating fashion.

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