NewsCrowded House to reissue all seven of their albums as 2CD deluxe editions
Campaign delivers 100 unreleased bonus tracks
The much loved Aussie/Kiwi band Crowded House are to reissue all their albums at the same time in November, as two-CD deluxe editions with masses of unreleased bonus tracks and enhanced packaging. New album-only vinyl LPs will also be issued.
The band’s 1986 self-titled debut contains Don’t Dream It’s Over, surely Crowded House’s best known song, thanks to its massive success in the US where only Aretha Franklin and George Michael‘s I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) kept it off the number one spot. Curiously, despite it’s status as a ‘classic’, the track stalled at number 27 in the UK.
Don’t Dream It’s Over from Crowded House
Two years later 1988’s Temple Of Low Men drew critical acclaim but didn’t deliver any hits outside of Australia and New Zealand, which almost defies belief when you consider the singles included songs of the calibre of When You Come, Into Temptation, Sister Madly and I Feel Possessed.
Into Temptation from Temple of Low Men
The band’s commercial fortunes in Europe were revived with third studio album Woodface. Neil Finn’s brother Tim was pulled in for some productive writing sessions with the pair co-penning seven tracks on the album including singles Weather With You, It’s Only Natural and Four Seasons in One Day – all top 40 hit singles in Britain, with Weather With You giving the band their first UK top ten hit (#9).
Four Seasons in One Day from Woodface
Together Alone dispensed with Mitchell Froom’s, crisp and direct production style for a more spiritual and emotional aural palette, courtesy of legendary producer Youth. Clothes may have been removed during the making of this remarkable record, which delivered five UK singles – including Distant Sun and Locked Out. All of them were top 30 hits. This period also produced Neil Finn’s best haircut. Together Alone is SDE’s favourite Crowdies album, by some margin.
Distant Sun from Together Alone
By the time the band broke up in 1996 Paul Hester had left, but was back briefly for the emotional Farewell to the World Sydney Opera House concert in November of that same year. It was Paul’s death that in part prompted the 2007 reunion and the Time On Earth album, although the rarities and outtakes compilation Afterglow came in between, having been issued in 1999. That is considered an ‘album’ as far as this reissue campaign goes and gets a bonus disc like all the other ‘proper’ studio albums.
Don’t Stop How from Time On Earth
2010’s Intriguer is the latest studio record from the band and includes the single Saturday Sun.
2016 is the 30th anniversary of the debut self-titled album (and Woodface‘s 25th birthday) and all the two-CD reissues will feature the original album with a bonus disc of rarities, B-Sides & previously unreleased home demos and outtakes. This archival reissue campaign delivers over 100 unreleased tracks.
Each package comes in a rectangular rigid board DVD-style slipcase into which slides a four panel ‘flexitray’ (which holds the discs) and a 36 page booklet with extended notes featuring new interviews with the band & memorabilia from personal and fan archives.
Each album will also be reissued on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl including download card, cut from the original analogue tapes at Abbey Road Studios.
In terms of the audio, the original album is sourced from the highest resolution transfer from the original tapes by Abbey Road, so the original albums appear as they were originally intended. In other words, these have not been remastered with the (sometimes unwanted) changes to EQ and dynamics that that process often delivers.
The extra tracks mastered from a variety of sources: stereo cassettes, 4-track cassettes, ¼” 8-track tapes, ¼” stereo tapes, ½” stereo tapes, 2-inch 24-track tapes, Hi-8 8-track video cassettes, DATs, CD-Rs and digital audio files) by mastering engineer Don Bartley at Benchmark Mastering.
Because there is so much information each album reissue has it’s own post today on SDE, so click below to visit each album page for track listings and pre-order information. I expect all of the two-CD deluxe editions to fall in price to at least £18 on Amazon in the UK (some are £25 right now) but having seen pre-production samples of these sets I can tell you that they look amazing and can understand why they are a little bit pricier than ‘normal’
CROWDED HOUSE (1986)
2CD deluxe Edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
TEMPLE OF LOW MEN (1988)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
WOODFACE (1991)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
TOGETHER ALONE (1993)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
AFTERGLOW (1999)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
TIME ON EARTH (2007)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
INTRIGUER (2010)
2CD deluxe edition and 180g vinyl
> View track listings and pre-order
SDE helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.
[…] These Crowded House sets are released on Friday 11 November 2016. You can read more about them here. […]
[…] and cataloguing the band’s archive for over 10 years. With the new deluxe reissues finally imminent, Jeremy spoke to SDE’s Paul Sinclair last month about the process of putting these new sets […]
[…] If you’ve already pre-ordered (from Am UK) then no action needed, you will get the lower price anyway. But if not, these are now priced well and links are below. You can read much more detail about each dset via this post. […]
Well, with all the releases now having US Amazon Pre-order links, I think the choice is clear: go Canadian!
Except that the stuff on Amazon US are all imports. There’s still time for actual US releases. At least that’s what my fingers are crossed for.
Paul – any word about potential hi-definition formats? If not physical, maybe they’ll release these editions on HD Tracks?
Any idea when Amazon US is going to post their info?
Not sure what’s going on there!
I have to agree with all of the other people that are already disappointed that people want 12″ versions, b-sides, remixes. If you (the band) want to include demos and live versions which I personally am never interested in ok but let it be known that I like obviously many others have waited many many years for you to miss such a great opportunity to give your fans what we have been waiting for. I will not buy one of these editions. You might as well not bother pressing these and save your money.
Speaking for myself, I already have the 12″ mixes and the misc b-sides, etc. and would feel somewhat cheated if the extra disc were full of stuff I already had. It’d be nice to have them collected in one place. But that’s something I can do myself. I’d much rather have something I haven’t already had access to for years.
where to find the best deal for the bundle ? Or is it only on the official store ?
It’s only on the official store, I think.
I have a feeling that these aren’t quite the reissues they should be:
No remastered original album on first disc
Bonus disc by Don Bartley,
18 GBP minimum. some of them are 25 GBP
These certainly aren’t the reissues they should be and no doubt it’s the fancy packaging that’s driving the price up and not the actual content.
Actually, it happens quite frequently with reissues. Merge, Omnivore, Sub Pop, 4AD…many vinyl reissues are coming with a DL of the extras from the CD release. There are a few exceptions when a licensing issue cannot be ironed out, but certainly that isn’t the case here. The major labels are typically more greedy and opportunistic, so I guess that’s the only explanation. They might want us to buy both, but I don’t think most will. Unfortunate.
Paul,
Do you know why there will be no download card of the CD bonus material with the vinyl versions? These reissues sound great for vinyl lovers, but a big disappointment for fans who are really interested in the demos, etc. I’d love to have the analogue transfers, but really want the extra material, too. I’m sure many fans would be willing to pay a little more for this option.
No idea. I know this has happened with some reissues, but it’s more the exception than the rule. The reality is that they want you to buy both, I guess.
The person who assembled the rarities confirmed what Paul states here–the first disc isn’t remastered the second disc was by (Ugh! ) Don Bartley who hopefully will be restrained by the guy thst assembled the rarities disc from his usual compressed, harsh EQ remasters (The Church remasters are horrible).
I’m cautiously looking forward to this.
The cover of “She’s Not There” won’t be on the set because, evidently, Neil prefers The Zombies version to CH’s.
I won’t be wasting my money on these then if they aren’t remastered i will stick to my original CD’s.
@dennis f. I’m fairly sure that you would be aware of the Very Very Best Of Crowded House, The (Limited Deluxe Edition) [https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/pop/very-very-best-of-crowded-house-the-limited-deluxe-edition/274580/] that has 25 of the music video’s that were made (unsure if they are remastered, as I don’t own this).
I picked up The Very Best of Crowded House (I think this was the first one) in Poundland (don’t ask how much I paid) the other week and it sounds great to me.
I know this is sacrilege to devotees, but a decent 2cd best of would be really nice for those who like the band but are not obsessed enough to want all 14 cds
Hi, Kennysucina, there was a release a few years backcalled, The Very Very Best of Crowded House, which came as a 1 cd edition or 2cd edition {deluxe edition}, there was also a version that had one disc of music and another a dvd of filmclips. Hope this is of help. :)
That Very Very Best of Crowded House was compressed to hell. The only compilation of theirs worth getting is Recurring Dream especially the version with the live CD.
Hence my request for a new 2 CD set!
…and DVD!
I got the V-V-Best 3-disc (2 CDs and a DVD) set and the DVD was a real disappointment quality-wise. Clips NOT remastered (which they desperately need!) plus they were zoomed/enlarged (and cropped) to fit the 16:9 format which only magnified how badly they need a spit’n’polish.
I’m moist with excitement!!
They always sounded a little too pedestrian for my liking but this is very good news for CH fans. I like the uniformity of the deluxe editions, something you don’t always get when albums are given a deluxe makeover years apart.
The north American travelogue that came out a few years back was great, 3 discs and around 50 live tracks as I recall, all from different shows.
A live box set should be fun, but if you can have the fan club cd plus what was already released (bonus cd and b-sides) you have pretty much everything. I wish they could release a box set with all fan club cds
Well said, Jason C.
It’s interesting to see everybody’s response on here from “it’s great” to “where is X, why is it missing”. I appreciate that everybody wants different things from reissues, and it’s hard to please everyone. Personally I’m happy with these for a few reasons:
– I’d take demos and alt versions over live tracks any day, that’s just a personal preference
– The original album is untouched on CD1, I like that, like the Costello Rhino 2CDs.
– There’s thought in these second discs. Afterglow is such a good album, and it is, in essence, a bonus disc. I see each of these second discs as seven more volumes of Afterglow. They look like they’ll stand on their own, and what you lose in completeness, you gain in having NFinn curate an artistic collection that you might actually listen to more than once! It’s one thing to be frustrated that something has been left out if it’s being put together anonymously, but in this case I think it’s totally fair to have Neil make the call.
– I still see 5.1 as niche. I’ve moved house so much, I’ve never had a set-up. I think what Chicago have done is the way to go: Put them all in one place.
I think there’s scope for a Crowded House live archive. Their live shows were so varied and fluid, I don’t think there can be one definitive live statement. Farewell To The World was a specific event that was worthy of documenting. Maybe there’ll be a big online treasure trove someday…
Yep, I agree with this.
The demo thing – it really depends on who we’re talking about. I would agree that Neil is such an impressive songsmith, his demos would be very interesting and intimate. I still think the Cure deluxes with all the home demos is unnecessary padding.
Paul,
For the vinyl reissues, do you know if the download card will also include the bonus tracks or will it only include a download for the original album?
Good question. Don’t think so, but will check.
Update – vinyl does come with a download card, but album only. No bonus tracks.
I can’t believe this group receives this kind of treatment, all those records released at the same time as deluxe editions? really i mean not even U2 was treated that way with their latest remasters, not released at the same time and not released all at the end, weird…
Oh man, I love love love this band. Bummed about the exclusion of the exquisite extended remixes from the 80s, and I must say I really enjoy that 5.1 mix of the debut album, it’s perfect. Would have loved more 5.1 mixes.
I’m not sure yet whether I will buy these sets, but I’m happy to see they’re coming out. This music deserves to be heard, and I hope Crowded House finds a bit of a new audience this way.
There’s a site out there called “Viva les Bootlegs” that has a CH show from 1991, taken from soundboard. One of my favorite live recordings ever.
Help Paul…Time on Earth isn’t on Amazon.ca. Ordered the other 6. Any idea why?
No. And Intriguer vinyl appears to be missing too…
On the CH webstore:
* NB – Unfortunately, due to unforseen manufacturing delays, Time On Earth is not available to be included in this [vinyl bundle] offer. It will be available to fans at a later date, TBC.
Don’t know about ‘Intriguer’
Paul:
Someone mentioned earlier that the Time on Earth vinyl will be a double LP. Any confirmation on this, or whether any of the others will be 2LP sets?
Time on Earth is almost 60 minutes in length, and Together Alone is fairly long as well (52 minutes), so I’m wondering if it may be a double LP…
Yes it is a double. The only one though.
Glad their doing them all at once. Too bad for Duran and Cure deluxe editions – both projects stalled. Perhaps not enough sold?
@Mike C: Yeah, what the hell happened to The Cure’s ‘Wish’ reissue that has been promised for years now and has never appeared?!
Wish seriously needs the remaster, too. Chaulk it up to either low sales, or RSx being a tad aloof.
Hi All, ordered the boxset, when I got an email earlier in the week. http://www.getmusic.com.au which is the Australian Universal site, has a limited edition boxset for the vinyl or cd’s. I have ordered the cd’s box. b
Bundled together is around $160Aus which saves around $28Aus, if buting each one seperate. Postage is on top of that. Alas this sitw does not charge when dispatched, but at time of buying. :)
Not to get too pedantic, but there is no ‘box’ – it’s just a bundle of all the individual reissues.
THANKS Paul, think that the Aussie site, has mislead a tad, by saying limited edition Boxset! I thought it would be a box, which housed all the reissues! Just read the description a bit more and it says limited boxset type covers, so yeap it seems they are just bundling them together and at a cheaper price, so giess one way of gettong folks to buy!
Lucky Crowded House fans. I can think of a few other artists who should do this. Madonna for one. Crazy she hasn’t.
Again, I wish they had made the Vinyl a double album with a collection of demos / b-sides for the second album. The Thompson Twins does it for me, to have the album as it was then a second slab with 10 / 12 of the best tracks from the second CD is the way I wish this would have gone, For example I have a lovely clean copy of Woodface on Vinyl, I *might* buy the bundle but it would have been a shoo-in if amongst the 7 “second” discs there were 70 / 84 unreleased tracks b-sides. A straight album only release on vinyl is just short of the mark, for me at any rate, although I am sure it pushes the right buttons for many others here.
Does anyone here have links to buy the entire set for the US or North America? I have UK or Australia sites for lot purchase – but S&H costs are pricing them out…
Why do they insist on including a tote bag?
I have never used a tote bag in my life.
Got one with Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions last week in Tower Records , here in Dublin.
Might get a Bowie one tomorrow as well as I believe they have some for new box set.
I love collecting tote bags! Totally fab darlings!
Surry if they have been taken from the master tapes they have in effect been rematered. As opposed to to simply reproducing further discs from what they already have. They may not have tweeked anything but it iis a new master and so I suspect can probably be called a remaster.
As an avid fan I can say there really is nothing missing. Lots of songs not recorded in the studio were played live. They were released on the club live albums. I have checked and they are all now released.
Their demos by the way are fantastic. I have many of them. We are all in for a great treat. This how you do it!
They are playing at the Sydney Opera House forecourt in late November. Don’t miss it!
I’m happy with the demos and unreleased stuff… I have tons of live stuff (b-sides, fan club cds, bonus cds, and bootlegs) so it’s perfect that way
And there’s more…….with regard to demo’s, Neil’s can be excellent, such as Lester that is included on Afterglow, I think it is on youtube if anyone wants to check it, sublime.
This is something to behold, I nearly did something embarrassing when I saw the email from Universal last Sunday, I have pre-ordered from them. I don’t see any ‘new song’ b-sides missing (possibly some of the large amounts of live tracks that have been b-sides), and yes there are no remixes (their music does not really suit remixing for me as it is so organic). They recorded a cover of The Zombies ‘She’s Not There’ for a film soundtrack which is not here, but on the plus side the two terrority-specific bonus tracks from Intriguer are both here. This band is so good I can’t wait to hear unreleased songs from the sessions, what music this is!
I wonder if this “look back” means the end of the band……….
“Phil Wilson says:
September 22, 2016 at 13:21
£18.07 from Amazon UK now for most of them”
3 at £18.07, 1 at £18.84 and 3 at £24.99 from what I have…..
Yeah, not exactly ‘most’ right now… but they will come down.
Paul,
Like a lot of other Crowded House fans I’ve been waiting and waiting for the 80’s original cd’s to be remastered, all of which were in dire need of a revamp, sound wise. Now you’re saying the forthcoming November releases will sound the same as they did when they were first released, i.e. not remastered! Is this true? I’ve got a 2012 Crowded House All The Best double album and THAT sounds like a remaster to me. Nice to have bonus tracks but the original album needs to sound better otherwise what’s the point in reissuing when they’ve always been available?
They’ve been transferred from the original tapes again, so they will sound better (better technology etc.). I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert in this area, but basically, new transfers and new mastering, but no mucking around with EQ/dynamics/compression etc. Sounds like a good thing when you consider how bad some remasters are.
Thanks for that , Paul, I feel a lot happier now. When I thought about it, the recent Free cd reissues were credited in the sleeve notes as “mastered” by Andy Pierce not “remastered” and they sound excellent so your point is indeed a good one. Incidentally, in Neil Finn’s recent email announcement (18th September) re the CH cd reissues, he said “This has been many years in the making with much of the exhaustive listening, editing and remixing being done by the keeper of knowledge Jeremy Ansell in Auckland….” Don’t know who Jeremy Ansell is but interesting nonetheless, wouldn’t you say?
I’m interviewing Jeremy next week. He’s appears to be the man who has been working on this project on behalf of and in conjunction with the band. Some of those words you quoted will refer to bonus material.
Paul,
When you interview Jeremy Ansell would you PLEASE ask him if the CH studio cd’s in the deluxe sets, due for re-release in November, will sound a whole lot better than the copies that all of us fans already own? Looking at your postbag, there will be a lot of disappointed, let alone annoyed, people if the cd’s sound hasn’t been improved compared to the mid 80’s releases.
Thank you Paul.
I’m speaking to him tonight…
When can we expect news from your interview with Jeremy Ansell re CH reissues?
Thanks Paul.
It won’t be published for another few weeks.
This fall keeps looking more and more expensive (but damn am I going to be happy with all of the great material that is coming out).
@Arnand, I wish Duran Duran would remaster their singles box-set again. The remastering on those need an upgrade imo, I have a reissued “Greatest Hits” that has amazing remastered sound, I think it was reissued after the first original one came out. I don’t see anywhere it is being sold as reissued, But I do notice the sound quality is better on it.
Great news, Paul! Just so we’re clear; we can also expect 2cd pre-order links for Amazon US. Correct?
We have the Canada links, I’m certainly expecting Amazon US too. The wheels seem to be turning slowly with Universal on getting links up though…
Neil Finn could sing the telephone directory (if they still exist) and it would sound great…
Woodface a gem, a top five album for me. A personal choice.
CH were always best as live band IMHO so Temple of Low Men with most live tracks would be my choice as I am generally less interested in demos… I fails to see the attraction of something that was rejected in the first place. However, it will stay positive and say it is a great day when CH’s work is acknowledged and marked even if my pocket will take a hit.
Paul, you have cost me a lot of money, but you’ve also saved me some too :-)
The dreaming is over (it becomes reality).
Is there any news on the box set of all the albums in the UK? I’d prefer to buy from Amazon UK, rather then the (US/global/whatever) Universal site.
Hi Jamie – there is no ‘box set’ – Universal are selling a bundle with a tote bag and that’s it.
I’d love a live box set, I believe a number of fanclub only live CDs were issued over the years? would be good to have them compiled into a nice box.
Hi Phil – there have been loads of live albums (probably over a hundred) released through the fan club. If you are interested in live stuff then I’d recommend contacting Peter Green who runs it. This is from the CH website: “To get the lowdown on how to join the greatest fan club in the world, simply send an email to [email protected] with “Crowded House Information” in the subject area and include full name and address in the text.”
£18.07 from Amazon UK now for most of them
More like it!
Missing B-sides.
Missing remixes.
Missing soundtrack rarities.
Missing 5.1.
Bugger :(
Neil doesnt like the remixes and wasn’t interested in 5.1. A ton of unreleased songs here. What b-sides are missing?
Does it matter if Neil doesn’t like remixes etc.. It’s not him who is going to buy these it’s the fans who at least expect to get all the remixes, b-sides and live stuff not discs crammed with demos. It seems and this is just not aimed at Crowded House but other bands as well don’t give a monkeys what they put on these reissues. If the albums up until Together Alone are not remastered i have no interest in these at all.
I too am wondering what b-sides are missing as I thought it was a comprehensive round-up of all the material released on singles.
I couldn’t agree more. If the band really was that involved, what are they thinking. I’ll tell you. Hold back the good stuff for the box set! Disappointed.
£16 is worth not risking the import fees and post office charges from Canada. I once ordered some ACDC Back in Black tin boxes that contained the CD and a T-Shirt from Amazon Canada, they added no packing material at all, just used the regular cardboard box so all of them were dented or damaged (though they did refund me). From Universal the CH CDs work out around £15.70 each so unless Amazon UK drop to below £15, I’ll probably keep my order with them. On their own, Universal are charging £18.99 each, so this is the price Amazon may try to beat, or match (although they haven’t done with the REM Out of Time box which is still over £60). I’ll keep the amazon pre-order open until I find out.
Good thing for Crowded House, Dead or Alive fans… but Nothing for Duran Duran fans!!!
Duran has already had massive reissue campaigns in 2010 (CD) and 2015 (LP).