Together Alone

Infobox Album |
Name = Together Alone
Type = studio
Artist = Crowded House


Released = October 18, 1993
Recorded = Kare Kare beach,
New Zealand
Genre = Rock
Length = 51:32
Label = Capitol Records
Producer = Youth and Crowded House
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5bsyxdab8olg link]
* Q Rating|5|5
* Rolling Stone Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/crowdedhouse/albums/album/138520/review/5944122/together_alone link]
Last album = "Woodface"
(1991)
This album = "Together Alone"
(1993)
Next album = "Recurring Dream"
(1996)

"Together Alone" is the fourth studio album by Crowded House. The album was released in October 1993 and was the first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full member of the band. Previously, all of the group's albums had been produced by American Mitchell Froom in the United States, however the group decided to record in the band leader Neil Finn's home country of New Zealand with producer Martin Glover.

Six singles were released from "Together Alone" including "Distant Sun", which was highly successful in the New Zealand and Australian charts, and "Locked Out" which was successful in the United States, on the strength of being included in the soundtrack for the 1994 American film "Reality Bites".

Background

Wanting to make a change from the previous three releases, Crowded House decided not to enlist Mitchell Froom as producer and recruited New Zealand based Martin Glover (known as "Youth" of Killing Joke) to produce. Another change the group took was to record at Neil Finn's friends Nigel and Jody Harrocks' house in Karekare, New Zealand. The opening song of the album is a jam session by the band that was then named "Kare Kare" after the beach. The album sold well internationally upon release in October 1993 on the strength of lead single "Distant Sun" and its followup "Private Universe". The song "Locked Out" was the album's first single in the US, receiving a modest amount of exposure on MTV and VH-1, partly due to its inclusion on the soundtrack for 1994 US film "Reality Bites". The song was bundled with The Knack's only hit "My Sharona" as a promotional jukebox single, as both appeared on the "Reality Bites" soundtrack.

Musical style

The album is arguably the most eclectic, mature, and sonically adventurous in the band's discography, as it demonstrates a rawer and more organic nature than their previous collaborations with Mitchell Froom. Crowded House leader Neil Finn himself has been quoted as designating the album as his favorite in the group's canon. More distorted, effects-laden guitars than typically heard on previous outings helped the band achieve a heightened sense of ambience, and slightly left-of-center arrangements imbued a sense of brooding to the whole affair. Traditional Māori rhythms of New Zealand were also incorporated in the innovative spirit of the recording sessions; in fact, the band even employed a Māori choir as backing musicians for a few songs (most notably, the album-closing title track).

The song "Catherine Wheels" was written by Neil and Tim Finn while with Split Enz in 1979, however the song went through several changes in the fourteen years between Split Enz recording the "Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes", which the demo was originally on, and Crowded House recording "Together Alone" in 1993, including input from Nick Seymour. The song was originally given a different title. "Catherine Wheels" is to date only the third Crowded House song that ever attributed writing to Seymour (the first being "Recurring Dream" from "Afterglow" and the second being "Newcastle Jam" from "Special Edition Live Album").

A video that catalogued the creation of the album is "Footage from the Together Alone recording session," which was featured on the video single for the album's song "Nails In My Feet".

Chart performance

"Together Alone" achieved its greatest chart success in the UK, reaching #4 on the UK Albums Chart in its week of release (though, notably, "Woodface" was still in the UK charts at the time) and remains considered by UK critics to be Crowded House's "masterpiece" or "swan song". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U13 Mark Moxon] , BBC. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A669495 BBC - h2g2 - Neil Finn and Crowded House] . Released 18 January, 2002. Retrieved 7 August, 2007.] Its singles were "Distant Sun", "Nails In My Feet", "Locked Out", "Pineapple Head", "Fingers of Love" and "Private Universe". "Locked Out" also appeared on the soundtrack for the 1994 movie "Reality Bites" and attained additional exposure in the United States as a result. [Bailey, Marck; [http://www.etext.org/lists/house/ch-discography.html Comprehensive discography] of Crowded House including track listings for all albums and singles. Released 28 March, 1995. Retrieved 5 July, 2007.]

Cover art

Bassist Nick Seymour created the album cover, befitting Crowded House tradition. It is a black background with Jesus Christ and another God (which appears to be Buddha) in a red car. The car has a golden halo, likely due to its containing deities as its occupants. The car also bears the album title along the side with the band name above, but separated from the car. The car has fluffy dice hanging from the rear vision mirror. Notably, on the cover of the single for the 2007 single "Don't Stop Now" is a similar red car. In "Don't Stop Now"'s music video, the same car is featured throughout its animated sequences. The outside cover is a sculpture carving by Seymour, however the artwork including the inlay was co-designed with graphic designer Margo Chase incorporating photography of the band and of landscapes including Karekare beach (where the band recorded and source of inspiration of the name of the song "Kare Kare"). The photography was provided by Youri Lenquette and Merlyn Rosenberg.

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Finn unless otherwise indicated:
# "Kare Kare" (Crowded House) – 3:35
# "In My Command" – 3:43
# "Nails in My Feet" – 3:39
# "Black & White Boy" – 4:00
# "Fingers of Love" – 4:26
# "Pineapple Head" – 3:27
# "Locked Out" – 3:17
# "Private Universe" – 5:39
# "Walking on the Spot" – 2:54
# "Distant Sun" – 3:49
# "Catherine Wheels" (Neil Finn, Tim Finn, Nick Seymour) – 5:12
# "Skin Feeling" (Paul Hester) – 3:56
# "Together Alone" (Neil Finn, Mark Hart, Bud Wehi) – 3:55

A limited edition of the album in some territories featured a bonus disc of live tracks from their previous 3 albums.

# "World Where You Live" - 5:30
# "Mean To Me" - 4:06
# "Sister Madly" - 5:42
# "Better be Home Soon" - 3:23
# "It's Only Natural" - 3:52
# "Weather with You" - 5:19

Personnel

"Information taken from the album's sleeve liner notes. [Bailey, Marck; [http://www.etext.org/lists/house/TA/TA-linernotes.html Liner Notes] of "Together Alone". Released 28 March, 1995. Retrieved 15 February, 2007.] "

Crowded House

* Neil Finn - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
* Nick Seymour - bass, backing vocals
* Paul Hester - drums, vocals
* Mark Hart - keyboards, electric guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, backing vocals

Production

*Youth (Martin Glover) - Producer
*Greg Hunter - Engineer
*Bob Clearmountain - Mixer
*Matt Austin - Loop programming

Additional musicians

* Eddie Rayner - Keyboards
* Noel Crombie - Percussion
* Geoffrey Hales - Percussion
* Tim Finn - Background vocals
* Sharon Finn - Background vocals
* Dror Erez - Accordion
* Te Waka Huia Cultural Group Choir
* Joe, Tereo, Martie, Jamee, Benjamin - Log Drummers
* Clyde Dixon, Stephen Bremner, Laura Astridge, David Bremner, Shaun Jarret - Brass Band

References and footnotes