Originally issued on CD in 2010, The Very Very Best Of Crowded House is set to make its long-awaited vinyl debut on 12 July through Capitol Records/Universal Music.
Due for release in a glorious gatefold sleeve including notes & printed inner bags, The Very Very Best Of Crowded House has been compiled & cut from original analogue master tapes at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios to 2 × 180-gram Heavyweight Black vinyl LPs.
Boasting 19 career-spanning tracks, the collection documents Crowded House’s legend-enshrining period with Capitol Records/EMI which began with their self-titled 1986 debut and concluded with their 2007 reunion album, Time On Earth. The tracklist features all the celebrated antipodean outfit’s signature hits (‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, ‘Better Be Home Soon’, ‘Weather With You’, Fall At Your Feet, ‘Distant Sun’) in addition to ‘Instinct’ and ‘Not The Girl You Think You Are’ from the 1996 compilation, Recurring Dream, and ‘Don’t Stop Now’ and ‘Pour Le Monde’ from the well-received Time On Earth.
The Very Very Best Of Crowded House was a Top 20 hit in both Australia and New Zealand on its initial release in 2010 and it attracted considerable international acclaim, returning to the Australian ARIA Top 5 in 2016 around their 30th Anniversary ‘Encore’ performances on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
Classic Rock’s review remarked, “its hard not to be wowed by this back catalogue of golden pop genius” while the BBC declared, “Crowded House have a catalogue that features so many gems that they should be held in the high regard primarily reserved for acts that came before them, the likes of The Beatles and The Stones.”
First formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985, Crowded House’s original line-up featured New Zealand native Neil Finn (vocals, guitar and primary songwriter) along with the Australian rhythm section, Nick Seymour (bass) and Paul Hester (drums). This core trio recorded 1986’s multi-platinum-selling Crowded House and 1988’s Temple Of Low Men, before being joined by Neil Finn’s brother Tim for 1991’s Woodface and multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart for 1993’s highly-regarded Together Alone.
Crowded House split after a high-profile – and extremely emotional – final show performed for an estimated 250,000 people outside Sydney’s famous Opera House, on 24 November 1996, which was captured on the Farewell To The World DVD. Despite Paul Hester’s tragic death in 2005, Finn and Seymour reformed the band in 2006 alongside Mark Hart and former Beck drummer Matt Sherrod, going on to record two further albums, Time On Earth and 2010’s Intriguer.
Crowded House was inducted into Australia’s ARIA Hall Of Fame in November 2016 and to date have sold upwards of 10 million albums worldwide.
