Woodface is the critically acclaimed third studio album from Australian rock band Crowded House, it was produced by Mitchell Froom and released by Capitol in July 1991, with five singles "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Four Seasons in One Day", and "It's Only Natural".[2] Woodface and "Weather with You" started the band's run of success in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe.
Background
Following the tour in support of their second album, Temple of Low Men, Crowded House took a short break. In this time Neil Finn, the group's leader and key songwriter, reconciled with his fellow Split Enz band mate and older brother Tim Finn, following years of being estranged. Upon this reconciliation, the two began writing songs for an album, Finn, they would release as Finn Brothers. The sessions yielded enough songs for an album and they were happy with the result. Neil faced the task of writing a third band album, after recording with Nick Seymour and Paul Hester as Crowded House. Capitol Records rejected most of the songs, so Neil asked Tim if the band could use some of the Finn material. Tim agreed on the proviso that he be made a member, though in some interviews, he has indicated he meant this as a joke. Neil took this literally and the group with the newly appointed member Tim Finn returned to the studio.[3]
Tracks for these recording sessions together with a few from earlier yielded Woodface, which was released in July 1991. Eight tracks were co-written by Tim and Neil Finn, for which they mostly performed harmonised vocals. The sombre "All I Ask" had Tim on solo lead vocals and was later featured on AIDS awareness commercials in Australia. Other tracks were primarily Neil's compositions - except two Hester-written tracks, "Italian Plastic", a commonly performed song on live concerts, and "I'm Still Here".
The songs "Weather with You" and "Fall at Your Feet" became signature songs for the band. During the first tour supporting Woodface, Tim was fired part way through the UK leg—projected as the final leg but the success of the album dictated more dates be added. Mark Hart was flown in to play keyboards for the remaining dates. The final date of this first tour at the Town and Country Club in London was recorded and given a limited release in Australia, while excerpts were released as B-sides for the album's singles in other countries.
The Finn brothers had previously worked together musically in the 1970s and 1980s in the New Zealand band Split Enz, which Tim co-founded, and they later recorded two Finn Brothers albums, Finn (1995), and Everyone Is Here (2004).
Production
Woodface was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. While Hester was the band's drummer, Ricky Fataar is credited with playing the drums for some Finn Brothers' songs which were recorded before the two projects merged. The title of the album is a reference to the French-language expression "gueule de bois", which means "hangover".[citation needed]
Album and single releases
"Chocolate Cake" was released as the first single, and was a humorous comment on American excesses, it failed to make the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart but peaked at #2 on its Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album's second single, "Fall At Your Feet" fared better on the Hot 100, where it reached #75. While fifth single "It's Only Natural" peaked at #5 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The album sold well in Europe and UK markets. In June 1993, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the OBE upon Tim and Neil for their contribution to the music of New Zealand which was demonstrated by the success of this album in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Personnel
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Crowded House members
Additional musicians
- Ricky Fataar - drums, percussion on "All I Ask", "There Goes God", "Weather with You"
- Chris Wilson - harmonica on "Chocolate Cake", "Tall Trees", "There Goes God"
- Peter Bucknell - violin on "There Goes God"
- Vince Parsonage - viola on "There Goes God"
- Alex Acuna - additional percussion
- Geoffrey Hales - additional percussion
- Jack Mack - brass
- David Hidalgo - accordion on "As Sure As I Am"
- Jorge Callendrelli - strings arranged and conducted on "All I Ask"
- Fallon Williams - loop programming
- Sharon Finn - backing vocals on "All I Ask"
- Mitchell Froom - keyboards
- Mark Hart - additional keyboards
- Stuart Ellison - additional keyboards
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Production
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Track listing
All songs were written by Neil Finn and Tim Finn, except where noted.
- "Chocolate Cake" – 4:02
- "It's Only Natural" – 3:32
- "Fall at Your Feet" (N. Finn) – 3:18
- "Tall Trees" – 2:19
- "Weather with You" – 3:44
- "Whispers and Moans" (N. Finn) – 3:39
- "Four Seasons in One Day" – 2:50
- "There Goes God" – 3:50
- "Fame Is" (N. Finn) – 2:23
- "All I Ask" – 3:55
- "As Sure as I Am" (N. Finn) – 2:53
- "Italian Plastic" (Paul Hester) – 3:39
- "She Goes On" (N. Finn) – 3:15
- "How Will You Go" – 3:07
- * "I'm Still Here" on track #14 with "How Will You Go" at 3:37 (after 32 seconds' silence) as a hidden track.
Discarded tracks
The following songs were originally recorded by Crowded House for the album before Tim Finn became involved. Most of them later appeared on the posthumous rarities album Afterglow, released in 1999, leaving only "Fields Are Full of Your Kind" and "My Legs are Gone" off, and as of 2008[update], the tracks remain unreleased.
- "Anyone Can Tell"
- "Left Hand"
- "Dr. Livingstone"
- "Sacred Cow"
- "I Love You Dawn"
- "My Telly's Gone Bung"
- "Time Immemorial"
- "Fields Are Full of Your Kind"
- "My Legs Are Gone"
Influence
Gert Bettens, co-founder of Belgian band K's Choice, named his new band "Woodface" after this album.
Charts
Album
Singles
Notes and references
External links
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