''Time on Earth'' is the fifth studio album by the pop-rock band Crowded House. Tracks have been produced by both

Ethan Johns Ethan Thomas Robert Johns (born 1969 in Merton, London, England) is an English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Johns has worked with artists including Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMo ...

and

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Bi ...

and the album was released on 30 June 2007 in Australia, 2 July in the United Kingdom and 10 July in North America. ''Time on Earth'' is the band's first studio album since 1993, and marks the reunion of the band eleven years after they disbanded and features new drummer

Matt Sherrod Matthew Sherrod (born 11 July 1968) is an American drummer, musician, and a former member of the band Crowded House. Sherrod first became known as a musician playing drums for rock artist Beck. In 2007, following the 2005 death of Crowded House ...

in place of the original drummer,

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for a short time in 1984, and co-founding member and drummer of the rock group Crowded House ...

, who killed himself in 2005. As the first studio album from the group in fourteen years, ''Time on Earth'' has been subject to much speculation. Upon its release the album garnered positive critical reception and reached Platinum status within weeks of release in Australia, and Gold status in its second week of release in New Zealand.charts.org.nz – Crowded House – Time on Earth
Retrieved 11 July 2007. To promote the album, the group toured internationally, beginning by performing at

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

music festival and at

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...

in July. For further promotion, three singles were released from the album, " Don't Stop Now", " She Called Up" and " Pour le monde", and a special tour edition of the album was released in Australia in November 2007 featuring an extra CD with eleven songs from a concert from the album's North American tour.

Album history

Background

The album was originally intended to be frontman

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

's third solo release. In the wake of Paul Hester's death, as well as preparations for the release of the live album ''

Farewell to the World ''Farewell to the World'' is a 1996 concert by rock group Crowded House, which was released on video in 1996 and on CD and DVD in 2006. The concert was recorded on the outside footsteps of the Sydney Opera House, as a charity event to raise fun ...

'', the band members were drawn together and their friendship was reinvigorated. In 2006, Neil Finn invited bassist

Nick Seymour Nicholas More Seymour (born 9 December 1958) is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitar ...

to participate in the recording of his new album and subsequent tour. In the initial phase, various session musicians filled parts, such as studio musician

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronke ...

on drums and British soul singer

Beth Rowley Beth Ann Rowley is an English singer-songwriter. Early life Rowley was born in Peru to British parents who moved back to Bristol, England when Rowley was two years old. Career Early career She was influenced by her family's love for many differ ...

provided backup vocals for the song "Transit Lounge." After recording a complete album with Ethan Johns in the producer and drummer's seat and Seymour contributing substantially throughout the process, Finn decided Crowded House would reform and that ''Time on Earth'' would be the band's fifth studio album. The title ''Time on Earth'' takes its name from a song of the same name that was not included in the album. With new drummer

and returning multi-instrumentalist

Mark Hart Mark Hart (born July 2, 1953), is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp (1986–1988, 1996–2002, 2015–present) and Crowded House (1993–1996, 2007–2019). As well as being a group mem ...

now involved as members of the official line-up, the band returned to the studio to record four additional tracks with producer Steve Lillywhite. Hart and Sherrod also contributed retroactively to some of the material produced by Ethan Johns. In its final form, the album features tracks mixed by Johns, Lillywhite and

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arc ...

. Guitarist Johnny Marr was involved in the recording of "Even a Child", which he co-wrote, and "Don't Stop Now".

Recording and production

Due to the transient nature of the album, gradually adapting from a solo venture into a band effort, the recording process used was somewhat unorthodox in that it encompassed various session musicians for the majority, while the "central line-up" of Finn, Seymour, Hart and Sherrod only performed on four tracks, which includes " Don't Stop Now", the album's lead single, and " She Called Up", the following single. Before this point, most of the album was produced by

; however, from enlisting Sherrod and calling upon Hart to return, the prolific producer

took over.

Release

To bring their music to the public before the album's release, the group played together a few times before the release. On 17 March 2007 the band played a 2 ½ hour set streamed live to the internet from veteran musician Peter Gabriel's studio (

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real ...

) in England. In this performance, there were eight new songs featured, beginning with Finn's co-written piece with the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and ...

"Silent House" and also including "Pour le monde" ( "For the world"), "Transit Lounge", " She Called Up" and " Don't Stop Now". Prior to the album's release, a single was released. The song " Don't Stop Now" was selected, as it featured the new line-up of the band. The single received moderate success in the charts. The follow-up single, " She Called Up", released in September 2007, was not as successful as "Don't Stop Now". The album had a staggered release internationally across a fortnight, beginning in Australia, while the final location of its release was with the United States. Following the Australian release, the group performed at

in Australia, performing many of the album's songs, and also on various television programs, along with many interviews, such as on ''

Rove Rove may refer to: Places * Le Rove, a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France * Rove, Honiara, a suburb of Honiara, Solomon Islands * Rove, Vojnik, a settlement in the hills east of Frankolovo in the Municipality of Vojnik ...

'' and ''

Enough Rope ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC1 in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase " give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves ...

'' with Andrew Denton. A special live version of Crowded House performing "Silent House" was made available for Australian and UK purchasers of the album by inserting the disc into their computer and downloading the song from the internet. The song features the advertised album line-up, including new drummer

and returning member of Crowded House

, neither of whom were on the studio version. In the UK, ''Time on Earth'' became the band's highest charting studio album, debuting at number three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

with sales of 27,799.

Critical reception

The album has been very well received by critics, with Hal Horowitz of Amazon.com praising the album as "a worthy successor to Crowded House's existing catalog". Liam Gowing of A.V. Club indicated that in "Text, context and subtext, Hester's passing seems to color every line, even those generic enough to be about anything."

Cover art

As he did for the first four Crowded House albums, Nick Seymour, also an artist, created the cover art for ''Time on Earth''. The group's name "Crowded House" appears with jumbled case, some lower and some upper case, appearing as "cRoWdED HOusE". Similarly, the album title is also in a partial jumble with all but the last two letters in upper case, appearing as "TIME ON EARth."

The cover also features a blue dragon eating a human, the design of which was a direct reference to the

sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr). Mythology and fo ...

image from

Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...

's book ''History of the Northern Peoples''. The use of a dragon eating a man is to symbolise former member Hester being consumed by depression, symbolised by the dragon being blue, and this brought his time on earth to an early end. The cover art is almost completely composed of newspaper cuttings collaged together, even the image of the man and the dragon are newspaper cuttings which Seymour painted onto. Only the tree on the right, and the title text are not composed of newspaper cuttings. The tree is to pose as a simile for the tree under which Hester took his life in 2005. In November 2007, a special edition of ''Time on Earth'' was released featuring a colour altered cover. The cover's main background area, which was previously a sandy-wheat colour, was converted into an aqua-teal colour, while the tree in the image had a bird in a nest added to it.

Musical style

According to Neil Finn, "It (''Time on Earth'') doesn't sound like any one particular Crowded House album, but it has elements of Crowded House... in as much as Nick and I make a sound together when we play and always did. I think there's a lot of heart and spirit in the album which is connected with the loss of our dear friend Paul but also an attempt to try and make sense of it and move forward. And as such, it seemed the most obvious and best way to do that was to be playing music again with each other, Nick and I. I want to be in a band and what other band could it be." Crowded House's leader, Neil Finn has indicated that, as the album began life as a solo project, its sound is generally different from Crowded House, though similar in parts, indicating that no one album by the group sounds like this one. As the album is dedicated to Hester and attends to his death, much of the album has a mournful tone, however this has been received well by critics, with some indicating that "fortunately, Finn is a master at expressing ambiguity, (both) lyrically and musically". Finn has said of the song "People Are Like Suns", that "Part of it is the idea that people burn brightly and then they fade out. Also, when I wrote it, I was reading

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

's novel ''

Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day ...

'', which begins with a man on his balcony watching his plane go down, so the first lines borrow something from that image."Uncut Magazine
Crowded House
. Retrieved 17 August 2007. The song "Pour le monde" ("For the World" in French) was inspired when Finn was in Paris and observed a demonstration march protesting against the

war on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

, with the chant "Pour le monde pas pour la guerre", which translates to "For the world, not for the war" (which is then sung in English directly after the French on the song).Crowded House
::Crowded House::
"Pour le Monde" lyrics. Retrieved 18 August 2007. Seymour adds that the song contains "a lot of nobility and integrity" and that when they have performed the song it "really does stand upright".Crowded Hous
::Crowded House::
, see ''Time on Earth'' video in "videos section". Retrieved 18 August 2007. The last song recorded for the album, "Transit Lounge", is written about time spent in various transit lounges around the world, particularly

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. Lyrically, Andy Strickland of

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...

asserts that the album's song "English Trees" shows Finn's "brilliant weaving of a tale of loss and yearning marks him out as up there with the very best songwriters working today" and of the album's musical structure as a whole, comments that it is a "collection of songs that reflect Finn's usual palette of singalong pop ("She Called Up"), achingly fine ballads ("Pour le monde"), and darker, more ambient sounds ("A Sigh")". Jessica Letkemann of ''Billboard'' points out that, to those unfamiliar with Finn's solo work, expecting the album to resemble a prior Crowded House work would be surprised, insisting that "Gone are the more overtly '80s top 40 flourishes". Bud Scoppa writes in ''

Uncut Magazine ''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006 ...

'' that the album's extremes are portrayed in its first two songs, "Nobody Wants To", which he describes as "

etting Etting (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Ettinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The ...

the prevailing melancholy mood, as Finn's slide guitar hovers like a solitary seabird over a vocal laced with regret", and "Don't Stop Now", in which "Finn explores the metaphorical possibilities of the GPS, seeking "something I can write about... something I can cry about".

Track listing

In April 2007, the band's website went live and included a confirmation of the track listing of ''Time on Earth''. Notably, the album has 14 tracks, only the second studio album by Crowded House to have as many, the previous being ''

Woodface ''Woodface'' is the third studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol in July 1991. It features five singles "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet" ...

''. The album features the guitar work of Johnny Marr, guitarist and songwriter of

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

, on "Even a Child" and lead single " Don't Stop Now;" Marr co-wrote the former song with Finn. The album also includes the song "Silent House", which Finn co-wrote with the

(which also appeared on their 2006 Grammy-winning album ''

Taking the Long Way ''Taking the Long Way'' is the seventh studio album by American country music group Dixie Chicks. Released on May 23, 2006, through Columbia Nashville, it was also the group's last album released under the “Dixie Chicks” name. The album debut ...

''). With the Australian and UK release, the CD unlocks an online exclusive download of a live version of the song "Silent House". Early releases of the album in the UK included an additional DVD. Following touring, on 3 November 2007, a special edition was released in Australia featuring a colour-altered cover and an extra CD featuring eleven songs from the 8 September 2007 performance at

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, Manitoba, Canada, for the North American leg of the ''Time on Earth'' tour. The tracks "Lost Island" and "Stare Me Out" are available on the vinyl version of this album. They are also available as b-sides to "Don't Stop Now", and as bonus tracks via digital music providers.

Limited edition DVD

Limited Edition ''Time on Earth'' DVD #" Locked Out" (Live Real World Sessions Webcast) #"

Something So Strong "Something So Strong" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and Mitchell Froom and performed by Crowded House for their eponymous debut album (June 1986). The track was released as the album's fifth and final single in April 1987. The single pe ...

" (Live Real World Sessions Webcast) #"

World Where You Live "World Where You Live" is a song by Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House. It was the second single from the group's debut album ''Crowded House''.Bailey, Marck; Though it was the second single, "World Where You Live" was the first inter ...

" (Live Real World Sessions Webcast) #Time on Earth Interview* #*"

Hotel California "Hotel California" is the title track from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics). Joe Walsh came ...

" #*"Transit Lounge" #*"Pour Le Monde" #Crowded House images (with " Don't Stop Now" audio) * *Now available on official Crowded House website.Crowded House
Crowded House Official Website
, see Videos section for ''Time on Earth'' video. Retrieved 20 August 2007.

Australian live disc

#" Mean to Me" – 3:31 #"World Where You Live" – 3:28 #"Don't Stop Now" – 3:46 #"Hole in the River" – 7:33 #"

Don't Dream It's Over "Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn, and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from ...

" – 4:20 #"Silent House" – 6:26 #"Walked Her Way Down" – 4:22 #"Something So Strong" – 3:39 #"

Weather with You "Weather with You" is a song by Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House. It was the third and most successful single released from the group's third studio album '' Woodface'' (1991), reaching top 50 in 10 countries, including the United ...

" – 4:28 #" Private Universe" – 5:56 #"You Are the One to Make Me Cry" – 4:22

2016 Deluxe Edition

Disc 1 (Original album)

Disc 2 (Unreleased and rare material)

* * Previously released

Personnel

Crowded House

: vocals, guitars,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, piano and

Vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

: bass, backing vocals, autoharp *

: piano, keyboards, electric guitar,

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

on 2, 3, 6 & 12 *

: drums on 2, 3, 6 & 12, backing vocals on 3

Other musicians

: drums on 1, 7, 9–11 & 13, backing vocals on 1, harmony vocal on 5, string arrangement on 5, 13 & 14,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

on 7,

fuzz guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

on 9,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

on 9, guitar on 11 * Rikki Gooch: drums on 4, 5 & 11,

marching Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. Marching is often performed t ...

bass drum and cymbal on 13 *

Gavin Wright Gavin Wright (born 1943) is an economic historian and the William Robertson Coe Professor of American economic history at Stanford University. He received his B.A from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University. He ...

: string

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

on 5, 13 & 14 * Isobel Griffiths: string contractor on 5, 13 & 14 * Richard Watkins:

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

on 5 *

Eddie Rayner Anthony Edward Charles Rayner (born 19 November 1952) is a New Zealand musician who spent twelve years as a keyboardist in the band Split Enz. He has also played in the groups Orb, Space Waltz, Crowded House, The Makers, The Angels in 1986-19 ...

: piano idea on 1,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

on 10 * Sharon Finn: harmony vocals on 10 *

Don McGlashan Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ci ...

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

on 10, harmony vocals on 8 *

: drums on 14 *

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...

: guitar atmosphere on 8 *

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pac ...

vocal on 12 * Johnny Marr: electric guitar on 2 & 6, 12-string acoustic guitar on 6, backing vocals on 6 * Elroy Finn: acoustic guitar on 4, 5, 7 & 9, electric guitar on 11 *

Liam Finn Liam Mullane Finn (born 24 September 1983) is a New Zealand singer and musician. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he moved to New Zealand as a child. He is the son of musicians Sharon and Neil Finn. In 2020, he joined his father's band, Crowded ...

: harmony vocals on 7, 9 & 10 *Joseph Lindsay: horns on 7 * Isaac McNeill: horns on 7 * Scott Towers: horns on 7

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

"Pour Le Monde"

"Pour le monde" is the third single released from Crowded House's fifth studio album ''Time on Earth'', released on 10 December 2007. "Pour le monde" means "For the World" in French (with no capital letters, as French titles do not capitalise every word, and « Le Monde » with capitals is France's main newspaper's title).

Track listing

Standard Digital Bundle. # "Pour le monde" ull Length Radio Mix# "Something So Strong" ive in North America# "You Are the One to Make Me Cry" ive in North America iTunes Exclusive Bundle. # "Pour le monde" ive at the iTunes Festival # "Pour le monde" ull Length Radio Mix# "Something So Strong" ive in North America# "You Are the One to Make Me Cry" ive in North America

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Time On Earth 2007 albums Crowded House albums ATO Records albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Albums produced by Ethan Johns 2007 live albums 2007 video albums Parlophone albums