One of their best

Reviewed September 2007

A real, honest-to-goodness return to the fold rather than a one-off to cash in, Crowded House's reunion album shows that singer/composer Neil Finn still writes some of the most seductive little melodies on the planet. Start to finish, the 14 songs here are gems, every one.

Finn also remains one of the most distinctive singers in pop music today, with his deliberately enunciated deliver always part of the charm of Crowded House. Original bassist Nick Seymour is back in the fold, as is longtime guitarist Mark Hart. The result is an album that sounds as organically Crowded House as their original run of albums.

The only thing missing from this album (created in the wake of the 2005 suicide of former Crowded House and Split Enz drummer Paul Hester) is that one great hit song – a "Something So Strong" or "Don't Dream It's Over." Still, the mark of previous Crowded House albums was that every song was good, not just the radio hits.

And on that score, "Time on Earth" is right up there with the band's best work.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).