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Rating:
The return to the scene of Crowded House is a very pleasant surprise for me.
We had left them with their last studio album "Afterglow," followed by a couple of successful anthologies, and I must say that their music was missed. As I had the opportunity to say in one of my very first reviews on DeBaser, this band has embodied (and still embodies, given the results of this latest work) the admirable continuation of Beatlesque pop-rock, based on a songwriting ability that simultaneously has the characteristics of simplicity and sophistication, and an extraordinary melodic taste, which in my opinion directly refers to the historic feats of the Fab Four of Liverpool.
The album is dedicated to the former drummer Paul Hester, who died by taking his own life in 2005; however, the atmosphere doesn't really suffer much, at least in the musical lines (though in the lyrics you can notice it a bit) from moods marked by sadness. Instead, the style is the same as always, the one, to be clear, that made albums like "Woodface" and "Together Alone" real milestones in the history of pop.
Listen to the opening track "Nobody wants to", and you'll hear echoes of "Kare Kare," the opener of "Together Alone." But what might be a limitation for others (remaining faithful to their own musical recipe) is not at all an obstacle to the freshness of the songs for Crowded House; indeed, it must be said that their talent for churning out winning choruses, embedded in "light" but never banal arrangements, is astonishing... and once again the wonders of the Beatles come to mind...
I struggle to contain my enthusiasm for this "Time on Earth", because I am convinced, after listening to it numerous times, that it is a masterpiece, one of those albums capable of illuminating a recording year on its own. It's difficult to choose among the many gems present here; "She called up", "Even a child", and the single "Don't stop now" are examples of the energetic-carefree side of their repertoire, and they easily get into your head... "Heaven that I'm making" has a sly pace, with the Wurlitzer electric piano that feels very "Don't let me down" (yes, always Beatles); "English trees" is sweetly melancholic, "Walked her way down", and "Say that again" have energy and mystery, and it's still great music....
But the slow songs deserve a separate discussion. In particular, I have to point out two authentic marvels: the first is "Pour le Monde", a piano ballad in pure John Lennon style, that makes you think "but how is it possible that no one had written a song like this yet?" Spectacular. The second is more electric, underlined by guitar arpeggios, and endowed with a melodic crescendo that raises the tension until the explosion of a refrain that is simply ecstatic.... standing ovation worthy!
The conclusion is no less; shorter but very intense is "People are like suns", with a vaguely Radiohead atmosphere, especially in the choice of joint piano-guitar chords, and a masterful interpretation by Neil Finn.
There is also room for a crooner-style song (similar to "All I ask" on "Woodface") titled "You are the one to make me cry", which further enriches an album already at stratospheric levels.
Perhaps I should have waited to let some euphoria settle and write a more calm and detached review, but behind every review, there is a fan, and after this "Time on Earth", I am even more passionate than before!
Crowded House, thank you for these emotions!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Don't Stop Now (03:54)
Another pleasant day in the countryside
Has ended up in tears on a stormy night
Cause you can't follow my directions home
But don't stop now
God knows where the satellite's taking us
I can't tell what is right in front of us
But I hang on every word
But don't stop now
No, don't stop now
Give me something I can write about
Get fooled by the lightning every time
See the after image of my outline
And you turn the wrong way round
Well, don't stop now
No, don't stop now
Give me something I can write about
Give me something I can cry about
In a church house ten miles out of town
Is the devil gonna track me down
And travel through a tunnel in the trees
Just remember that's how you get to me
There's no number on the house
The birds are heading south
Sometimes you have to turn the wrong way round
Sometimes you get too close to nowhere now
This is helpful in the silence I wait
With a blank piece of paper on the top of my head
And all I want is something I can write about
All I want is something I can cry about
08 A Sigh (03:17)
A sigh
From the deepest well
You can tell a lot
By not saying a thing
This truth
Between us, my friend
This longing
A sigh
For loneliness to end
No changing
The story now
A sigh
From the emptiest part
It's a tender place
A sigh
Is more than I can bare
This show is not fooling anyone
But it's all for you
But I think your mind is made up
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