Crowded House Album: “Afterglow [UK Bonus Interview Disc]”

I, for one, did not lament the end of Crowded House too much because I am a Neil Finn fan and there was no doubt he would go on making great music, with or without his Enz or Crowdies bandmates. "Together Alone" is their crowning glory, so it was best that they went out with that. Having said that, however, basking in the afterglow isn't too bad. I already own or have heard these songs on various singles or fanclub CDs . . . but to have them all in one place, they sound better than ever. The three TA outakes are great, as are "Recurring Dream" (version two), "I Love You Dawn," and "Anyone Can Tell." I've never cared for "Dr. Livingston," but this improved version is better . . . If anything, it just makes me more eager for Mr. Finn's second solo CD.

This is that most rarest of rarities collections, one that serves equally well as a salve for fans mourning the demise of the band and as a primer for people new to the band's music. Crowded House made beautiful, haunting pop music with a warm sense of humor and the good fortune to have been fronted by Neil Finn, one of the greatest songwriters of the last 20 years.

The hits compilation *Recurring Dream* is also a good place to start, of course, but for some reason you won't find the *song* "Recurring Dream" there, and you'll encounter a fair amount of overlap when you go on to pick up the other CH albums (as you surely will!).

The songs here (with the exception of the drummer's intolerable "My Telly's Gone Bung") are brilliant. Good mastering and great liner notes round out the project. Fans of *Together Alone* will find particular delight in outtakes from that session ("I Am in Love," "You Can Touch"), as well as in the *TA*-esque "Help is Coming" and a gorgeous acoustic version of "Private Universe."

I have to admit, at first thought, an album of "leftovers" was probably better left alone. But, because I can listen to Neil Finn's voice forever, I had to buy it! Then, at first listen, I fell in love once again with the band I had seen in concert 3 times here in Vancouver. "Help Is Coming" is atmospheric and moody and Neil's voice just sails on it. Lyrically strong, as well; "Anyone Can Tell" is better than some of the stuff released on any of their previous albums. I'm glad "Recurring Dream" is on here, but my question is why wasn't it on the greatest hits release titled "Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of! " Overall, a very worthwhile package, that indeed follows-up on the demise of a wonderful band with an "afterglow."

Afterglow, the result of some spring-cleaning by Crowded House, gels like a proper album. It is dominated by the preparation for Woodface and the Together Alone sessions at the New Zealand beach village of Karekare. There are some excellent songs here that were never released, or seemed inconsequential when they came out as B-sides. It reveals a lot not only about Neil Finn's perfectionism, but also about the band itself. With all the acclaim of Finn as a songwriter, it's often overlooked that Crowded House was a true band glued together by its rhythm section and harmonies.

This is instantly apparent from the opening number. `I Am in Love' is compelling; it must have kept all of Karekare awake the night it was recorded. The band's chemistry and rapport is obvious, and it shows what a loosening of the bowels those sessions were. `You Can Tell' is also a rescued B-side; recorded at Karekare one night after Paul Hester took an early shower, Finn's guitar and drumming explore a raw nerve.

A sparse version of `Private Universe', all harmonies and reverb, completes the visit to Karekare, but `Help is Coming' - recorded nearly three years later - has the same atmosphere. It dates from the wet winter of 1995, when Crowded House spent a unsatisfying month recording in Auckland. By then, Peter Jones was on drums; he brought the R&B out in Nick Seymour's bass playing, an Al Jackson to Hester's Keith Moon. Seymour's basslines weren't so much walking as wandering, a melodic counterpoint that added to the musical mood.

In 1989-90 (as described in my book Something So Strong) Crowded House was in limbo. Seymour was briefly out in the cold, and Neil was finding more success writing with Tim than for a follow-up to the rich Temple of Low Men. The absolute gem is `I Love You Dawn', a captivatingly simple romantic acoustic ballad that will enter the canon of great love songs. Similarly heartfelt and charming is `Lester', Neil's serenade to the family dog, written after the dalmatian caught a car.

The songs meant for Woodface show how crucial it was to start over and bring in the Finn brothers' co-writes to give the album its strength. `Sacred Cow' and `Anyone Can Tell' reveal Mitchell Froom's method of patching together unrelated choruses and verses doesn't always lead to a `Fall At Your Feet'. (Froom astutely declared the waltz `Time Immemorial' was "too folky"; he also felt Woodface was too long.) Also from the abandoned Woodface rough mix, `Dr Livingston' never takes off, and while `Left Hand' has a ballsy `Come Together' groove, it's like an after-hours improvised wig-out.

Was that the word "Beatlesque"? There are worse slurs, and Crowded House pulled it off better than most. But `Recurring Dream', the earliest song here - a dated, one-riff relic from 1985 - is not enough to resurrect the Pete Best of the group, original guitarist Craig Hooper, and Hester would be the first to admit his slight `Telly's Gone Bung' was "Ringo's song on the album".

Thanks to its strong opening, variety but consistency, Afterglow can be seen as a worthy fifth album rather than an archaeologist's dusty discoveries.

This album was the first Crowded House CD I bought, and now that I have all of the others, it remains one of my favorites. All of the tracks are great, and they range from the silly ("My Telly's Gone Bung") to the sublime (most of the others). I actually prefer this version of "Private Universe" to the version on Together Alone. The great thing about Afterglow is that it is not just for die-hard fans--anyone who appreciates good songwriting will like it.