Woodface (1991)

Woodface is the third studio album by Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol Records in July 1991. It features five singles: "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "It's Only Natural", "Weather with You", and "Four Seasons in One Day". Woodface was a major hit in Australia and New Zealand as well as giving the band their first top ten hit album in the UK. It was listed at No. 3 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums in October 2010. It was voted number 80 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

Background

During a break from Crowded House following the Canadian leg of the tour in support of their second album, Temple of Low Men, band-leader Neil Finn began recording songs with his older brother and former Split Enz bandmate Tim Finn. These songs were originally intended for a Finn Brothers album. Once these sessions were complete, Neil teamed back up with Nick Seymour and Paul Hester to write and record Crowded House's third album. Capitol Records rejected most of the new Crowded House songs, so Neil asked Tim if the band could use some of the new Finn Brothers songs. Tim agreed, on condition that he would join the band, although he has since indicated he meant this as a joke. Whatever the truth of that claim, the group that returned to the studio included Tim as a full band member.

The album was titled Woodface and was released in July 1991. The cover was designed by Nick Seymour and Tommy Steele. It was co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Eight tracks were co-written by Neil and Tim Finn and mainly feature the brothers harmonising on lead vocals, although Neil takes the lead on "Four Seasons in One Day" and Tim sings "All I Ask", which later featured in AIDS awareness commercials in Australia. Five other tracks were solo compositions by Neil Finn and the remaining two were written by Paul Hester, including "I'm Still Here", a hidden track. Former Beach Boys drummer Ricky Fataar, and member of the Rutles, is credited on three of the Finn Brothers songs, "All I Ask", "There Goes God" and "Weather with You". The addition of Tim Finn and the inclusion of songs originally written for the Finn Brothers project gave the album a more upbeat and optimistic sound compared to its darkly personal predecessor, "represent[ing] the joy of reunion and the freedom of a collaborative effort", as Chris Woodstra of AllMusic remarked.

During the UK leg of the Woodface tour, Tim and the band parted company. Multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart, who had played some keyboards on Woodface, was recruited to replace Tim for the remaining dates. The final date of this tour at The Town & Country Club in London was recorded and given a limited release in Australia, while individual tracks were used as B-sides for the album's singles in other countries. The group described their work in the 2007 documentary Great Australian Albums.

Music

Instrumentally, Woodface employs more acoustic guitar and less organ than on previous releases by Crowded House. The album also makes heavy use of vocal harmonies. The album's style has been characterized as pop rock, drawing comparisons to the works of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Terry Staunton of Classic Rock described Woodface as "the sound of a band embracing the pop mainstream with bravado, while slyly biting the hand that feeds."

Reception and legacy

Chris Woodstra of AllMusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five, saying: "Woodface represents the joy of reunion and the freedom of a collaborative effort. ... The songs are easily their finest to date, combining flawless melodies and the outstanding harmonies of the brothers' perfectly matched voices." The album was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Kate Taylor of Beat wrote: "Woodface will be remembered as bridging the gap between the Antipodes and the UK."

Personnel

• Crowded House
• Neil Finn – guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Tim Finn – piano, guitar, vocals

Paul Hester – drums, vocals, keyboards, percussion, lead vocal on "Italian Plastic"

• Nick Seymour – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Additional musicians
• Production