Woodface

Woodface
Studio album by Crowded House
Released 2 July 1991
Recorded
Genre Rock, pop rock, alternative rock,
Length 48:11
Label Capitol
Producer Mitchell Froom, Neil Finn
Crowded House chronology
Temple of Low Men
(1988)		 Woodface
(1991)		 Together Alone
(1993)
Singles from Woodface
  1. "Chocolate Cake"
    Released: 1991
  2. "Fall at Your Feet"
    Released: 1991
  3. "Weather with You"
    Released: 1992
  4. "Four Seasons in One Day"
    Released: 1992
  5. "It's Only Natural"
    Released: 1992
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Village Voice[8]

Woodface is the third studio album by the band Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and released by Capitol in July 1991. It features five singles "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Four Seasons in One Day", and "It's Only Natural".[9] Woodface was a major hit in Australia[10] and New Zealand[11] as well as giving the band their first top ten hit album in the UK.[12] It was listed at No. 3 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums, in October 2010.[13]

Background

During a break from Crowded House following the Canadian leg of the tour in support of their second album, Temple of Low Men, band-leader Neil Finn began recording songs with his older brother and former Split Enz band mate Tim Finn. These songs were originally intended for a Finn Brothers album. Once these sessions were complete, Neil teamed back up with Nick Seymour and Paul Hester to write and record Crowded House's third album. Capitol Records rejected most of the new Crowded House songs, so Neil asked Tim if the band could use some of the new Finn Brothers songs. Tim agreed, on condition that he would join the band, although he has since indicated he meant this as a joke. Whatever the truth of that claim, the group that returned to the studio included Tim as a full band member.[14]

The album was titled Woodface and was released in July 1991. It was co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Eight tracks were co-written by Neil and Tim Finn and mainly feature the brothers harmonising on lead vocals, although Neil takes the lead on "Four Seasons In One Day" and Tim sings "All I Ask", which later featured in AIDS awareness commercials in Australia.[14] Five other tracks were solo compositions by Neil Finn and the remaining two were written by Paul Hester, including "I'm Still Here", a hidden track. Former Beach Boys drummer Ricky Fataar is credited on three of the Finn Brothers songs, "All I Ask", "There Goes God" and "Weather With You".

During the UK leg of the Woodface tour, Tim left the band.[15] The band were due to perform at King Tut's Wah-Wah Hut in Glasgow, but Tim failed to appear on stage. After performing several songs, the crowd began chanting "where's Tim?", to which Neil replied "he's left the band". Tim Finn later discussed in an interview that he had gone out for a walk in Glasgow in the afternoon and made the decision, which he announced to the band when he returned to their hotel. Multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart, who had played some keyboards on Woodface, was recruited to replace Tim for the remaining dates. The final date of this tour at The Town & Country Club in London was recorded and given a limited release in Australia, while individual tracks were used as B-sides for the album's singles in other countries.[16]

Personnel

Crowded House

Additional musicians

  • Ricky Fataar – drums, percussion tracks 5, 8 and 10
  • Chris Wilson – harmonica tracks 1, 4 and 8
  • Peter Bucknell – violin "There Goes God"
  • Vince Parsonage – viola "There Goes God"
  • Alex Acuna – additional percussion
  • Geoffrey Hales – additional percussion
  • Jack Mack – brass
  • David Hidalgo – accordion "As Sure as I Am"
  • Jorge Callendrelli – conductor, string arranger "All I Ask"
  • Sharon Finn – backing vocals "All I Ask"
  • Mitchell Froom – keyboards
  • Mark Hart – additional keyboards
  • Stuart Ellison – additional keyboards

Album credits

  • Mitchell Froom, Neil Finn – producers
  • Tchad Blake – engineer
  • Paul Kosky – engineer (Periscope Studios)
  • Rob Jaczko – second engineer (A&M Studios)
  • Max Garcia – second engineer (Periscope Studios)
  • Bob Clearmountain – mixing (A&M Studios / Record Plant)
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering (Masterdisk)
  • Nick Seymour, Tommy Steele – art direction
  • Nick Seymour – cover painting
  • Dennis Keeley – photography
  • Stephen Walker – design
  • Timothy Eames – letter construction
  • Brenda Bentley – costumes

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Finn and Tim Finn, except where indicated.

  1. "Chocolate Cake" – 4:02
  2. "It's Only Natural" – 3:32
  3. "Fall at Your Feet" (N. Finn) – 3:18
  4. "Tall Trees" – 2:19
  5. "Weather with You" – 3:44
  6. "Whispers and Moans" (N. Finn) – 3:39
  7. "Four Seasons in One Day" – 2:50
  8. "There Goes God" – 3:50
  9. "Fame Is" (N. Finn) – 2:23
  10. "All I Ask" – 3:55
  11. "As Sure as I Am" (N. Finn) – 2:53
  12. "Italian Plastic" (Paul Hester) – 3:39
  13. "She Goes On" (N. Finn) – 3:15
  14. "How Will You Go" – 3:07 / "I'm Still Here" (Hester) – 1:07

"I'm Still Here" follows "How Will You Go" in track 14 as a hidden track at 3:37 after 30 seconds silence. The version released as a hidden track in 1991 is an excerpt containing the first minute of the full track, which appears deluxe edition of the album.

The following songs were recorded by Crowded House for Woodface before Tim Finn became involved but were not included on the album. Seven appeared on the 1999 rarities collection Afterglow; "Fields Are Full of Your Kind" and "My Legs Are Gone" appeared on the bonus disc to the deluxe edition. "My Legs are Gone" had previously been released on I Like it Rare, a rarities compilation available through Frenz of the Enz, the official Crowded House fan club. "Fields are Full of Your Kind" remained unreleased until the deluxe edition of Woodface.

Deluxe edition

Disc 1 follows the track listing of the original 1991 release.

Disc 2

  1. Burnt Out Tree (demo)
  2. I May Be Late (demo)
  3. She Goes On (demo)
  4. As Sure As I Am (demo)
  5. My Legs are Gone
  6. You Got Me Going (demo)
  7. Italian Plastic (demo)
  8. Be My Guest (demo)
  9. Weather With You (demo)
  10. Chocolate Cake (demo)
  11. How Will You Go (demo)
  12. It's Only Natural (demo)
  13. Four Seasons in One Day (demo)
  14. There Goes God (demo)
  15. Catherine Wheel (demo)
  16. All I Ask (demo)
  17. Fields are Full of Your Kind
  18. Creek Song/Left Hand
  19. Fall at Your Feet (rehearsal)
  20. The Burglar's Song
  21. I'm Still Here (full version)

Chart performance

Preceded by
Adrenalize by Def Leppard		 New Zealand Albums Chart Number-one album
26 April – 17 May 1992 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Album

Sales of Woodface indicated that Crowded House remained hugely popular in Australasia.[10][11] Their continued diminishing success in the US[17] was countered by increased sales in Europe where the album reached several national charts, including a top 10 hit in the UK.[12] The album was certified platinum in Australia,[18] New Zealand (x4), Canada[19] and the UK.[20]

Chart Position
Australian Albums Chart[10] 2
Canadian Albums Chart[21] 20
New Zealand Albums Chart[11] 1
German Albums Chart[22] 26
Norwegian Albums Chart[23] 13
Swedish Albums Chart[24] 24
Swiss Albums Chart[25] 12
UK Albums Chart[12] 6
US Billboard 200[17] 83

Singles

The first single, "Chocolate Cake", was a humorous comment on American excess, which perhaps unsurprisingly failed to make the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. It did, however, peak at #2 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.[26] Although the second single, "Fall at Your Feet", entered the lower reaches of the Hot 100[27] and "It's Only Natural" peaked at #5 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart,[26] the poor performance of the singles from Woodface in the US reflected the band's declining popularity there. Outside the US, the singles from Woodface were more successful, especially in Canada, the UK,[12] Australia,[10] New Zealand[11] and the Netherlands,[28] where all five singles from the album charted.

Single AUS
[10]		 NZ
[11]		 UK
[12]		 CAN US
[27]		 GER
[29]		 NED
[28]		 SWE
[24]		 SWI
[30]		 FRA
[31]
"Chocolate Cake"[32] 20 7 69 9 — — 27 — — —
"Fall at Your Feet"[33] 31 24 17 27 75 — 41 — — 30
"Weather with You"[34] 27 9 7 34 — 23 10 37 8 —
"Four Seasons in One Day"[35] 47 33 26 68 — — 50 — — —
"It's Only Natural"[36] 15 31 24 55 — 59 55 — — —

Further reading

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Woodstra, Chris. "Woodface – Crowded House". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Kot, Greg (4 July 1991). "Crowded House: Woodface (Capitol)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  4. ↑ Gardner, Elysa (12 July 1991). "Woodface". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Cromelin, Richard (7 July 1991). "The House Needs a Deeper Setting". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Du Noyer, Paul (July 1991). "Crowded House: Woodface". Q (58).
  7. ↑ McKenna, Kristine (11 July 1991). "Crowded House: Woodface". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1 October 1991). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Crowded House Discography" australian-charts.com
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Crowded House Discography" charts.org.nz
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Crowded House" Chart Stats
  13. ↑ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
  14. 1 2 Bourke, 1997
  15. ↑ McFarlane, 1999
  16. ↑ "Crowded House Discography" amws.com.au - 12 January 1994
  17. 1 2 "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" Allmusic
  18. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  19. ↑ "Woodface (1991)" crowdedhouse.com
  20. ↑ "Certified Awards Search" British Phonographic Industry (Note: Enter "Crowded House" into the "Search" box and ensure that the "Search by" box says "Artist")
  21. ↑ "RPM Top Albums/CDs – Volume 54, No. 11, August 17 1991" Library and Archives Canada
  22. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Crowded House / Longplay" musicline.de
  23. ↑ "Discography Crowded House" norwegiancharts.com
  24. 1 2 "Discography Crowded House" swedishcharts.com
  25. ↑ "Crowded House – Woodface (Album)" hitparade.ch
  26. 1 2 "Crowded House > Chart History > Alternative Songs" Billboard
  27. 1 2 "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" Allmusic
  28. 1 2 "Discografie Crowded House" dutchcharts.nl
  29. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Crowded House / Single" musicline.de
  30. ↑ "Crowded House – Weather With You (Song)" hitparade.ch
  31. ↑ "Discographie Crowded House" lescharts.com
  32. ↑ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 54, No. 6, July 13 1991" Library and Archives Canada
  33. ↑ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 54, No. 23, November 09 1991" Library and Archives Canada
  34. ↑ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 55, No. 17, April 25 1992" Library and Archives Canada
  35. ↑ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 56, No. 15, October 10 1992" Library and Archives Canada
  36. ↑ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 55, No. 6, February 01 1992" Library and Archives Canada
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