keepers 2
keeper avg .181
Crowded House's debut crosses singer-songwriter strumming with occasional 80's production overload. Album opener "Mean To Me" at first sounds folky, but it's soon rocked-up with horns and honking saxes (similar to what George Harrison would have). "World Where You Live"**** is more funky but also it's also a simpler production closer to power pop. The fun, hoppy "Now We're Getting Somewhere" features some cool Beatles arpeggios. The big single "Don't Dream It's Over"***** is restrained and spacious compared to the rest of the album or almost everything on the radio at the time, and still sounds amazing. The heavily-delayed opening riff supports an odd verse melody, followed by Neil Finn's impressively sung chorus, and closing with the poignant and resigned request "don't let them win." "Love You 'Til The Day I Die" is the exact opposite, an angular and comically weird soup of 80's production excess. I also remember "Something So Strong" well, but musically it's one of the least interesting parts of the album. The brooding "Hole In The River" almost hints at U2 except for a bizarre jazz-funk piano bridge (it also returns for the outro). "Can't Carry On" resembles Paul Carrack's "Don't Shed a Tear" (which came out the next year). "I Walk Away" and "Tombstone" are similarly anthemic power pop, while "That's What I Call Love" closes out the album with another noisy, angular example of everything in the 80's that would soon sound dated.
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