Crowded House

Crowded House was formed from the ashes of  New Zealand's celebrated art-rock band Split Enz. Guitarist Neil Finn joined the latter band in 1977, ultimately eclipsing his older brother Tim as singer and songwriter. When Split Enz broke up in late 1984, Neil Finn took the band's last drummer Paul Hester for his new band, adding bassist Nick Seymour (second guitarist Craig Hooper left early on). Remaining a trio for the time being,  the new group took the Ramones-styled name the Mullanes and aimed for a stripped-down sound; both would change after they signed to Capitol.  They chose Crowded House when the label requested a new name, and went with producer Mitchell Froom who fleshed out their sound in the studio, adding keyboards to the mix. 1986's self-titled debut included a remake of Split Enz' final single "I Walk Away," but its most famous track was "Don't Dream It's Over." A lush love ballad, the song was a worldwide hit (making #2 in the U.S.) and would be Neil's signature song for much of his career. The next single "Something So Strong" was equally romantic but more upbeat; this was also a worldwide hit. But Crowded House never hit those commercial heights again; though only a marginally darker album, the followup Temple of Low Men was greeted as a major change in direction and its acoustic single "Better Be Home Soon" flopped in the U.S. Finn then went to work on two albums, a duo set with his brother Tim and the third Crowded House album. These wound up combined into one album, Crowded House's Woodface, which saw Tim joining the band as full-time harmony singer and keyboardist. But he wound up ill-suited for the second-banana role and left the band during the followup tour, Mark Hart was his permanent replacement on keys (the first of two Finn Brothers albums finally appeared four years later in 1995).  With Tim gone Crowded House shifted to a moodier sound, evinced on 1993's Together Alone, their last new album before a farewell tour. Now a longstanding cult and critical favorite, Neil Finn launched his solo career with Try Whistling This in 1998. Tragedy brought the band back together after the suicide of Paul Hester in 2005; the following year's Time on Earth (with new drummer Matt Sherrod) was steeped in thoughts of mortality. A more characteristically upbeat album, Intriguer followed in 2010.