SDEtv / Crowded House reissues
November 8, 2016 by Paul Sinclairtags: 1980s, 1990s, 2010s, Crowded House, SDEtv
SDE takes a look at the new Crowded House reissues (out on Friday) via this unboxing video…
All seven albums are reissued as deluxe two-CD sets with – as you well see – enhanced packaging. Check out the video below!
These Crowded House sets are released on Friday 11 November 2016. You can read more about them here.
Crowded House 2CD
Woodface 2CD deluxe
Together Alone 2CD
Amazon it 7.35 Order
Amazon es 7.35 Order
65 responses to SDEtv / Crowded House reissues
David Bates says:
Time On Earth is part of 2 For £15 on Amazon UK at the moment. There's none of the others yet at that price.
Tadhg OC says:
Nice job on these reissues. They have a clear full sound. Nicely packaged. Wish they could do something like this for Squeeze. When are their reissues coming? East Side Story really needs this type of reissue. Aren't Tilbrook and Difford getting along now? Must be some licensing issues or trouble finding the masters.
TREVOR PUGH says:
For anyone that's interested who doesn't already own the deluxe reissues of Time On Earth and Intriguer, the studio cd's DO sound better than the originals, in my opinion. Maybe not as obvious a difference as the earlier albums but better nonetheless ( more clarity etc.) Along with the other 5 box sets, a splendid job has been done sonically and visually i.e. packaging, so hats off to all concerned. It was well worth the wait….Hurrah!
Philip Birtwistle says:
So, all seven discs are in the box that I received, although the missus has them under armed guard for a month………….. The video looks great, can't with until I get my ears on them!!
wayne klein says:
I'm hoping tht the glitchon "Tall Trees" is corrected by Universal for Woodface. It's a bit disappointing–perhaps it's a problem with the digital files for that song.
There seems to be a glitch at about 2:05 on 'Tall Trees' on 'Woodface'. You can also hear it on Spotify, so it's not just my copy. Don't hear it on the original, so it's very annoying. Anyone else noticed this?
Yes, I've noticed it on my cd copy. Annoying, as you say but you're not alone, if that helps.
David Tanser says:
Seems they ran out of Woodface (I guess that was their most famous album)… they've sent that out now.
Excellent review – thanks.
Where do you get your CD sleeves like the one in which you have the original Together Alone? They seem to hold booklet, disc, and tray art.
John Norris says:
For all Crowdies: The Bob Harris Show hosted by Pauk Sexton features a chat with CH bassist Nick Seymour about the demos and reissues project. Broadcast date: 13/11/16 and the interview takes up most of the first hour, on BBC Radio 2 iPlayer.
I saw a plug for a Neil Finn interview on a BBC radio 5 Live podcast called Afternoon Extra, that was last week but haven't heard it yet.
Good to share.
Phil Wilson says:
Received my package from the online store today (Monday 14th), the tote bag was there but they've missed out the Woodface set, I only received the other 6 CDs. Anyone else had the same problem?
Yes. Exactly the same. Not heard back from them about it either
As one of the doubters regarding the have they/haven't they remastered issue, I can honestly say that whatever words you want to use (remaster/re-master, newly mastered) the first 5 CH studio cd's all sound heaps better than the original releases! Better clarity, more bass response, more warmth in Neil's vocals and a general openness to the whole sound spectrum. This came as a huge relief after all the worry of potentially being ripped off. Huge apologies to you, Paul Sinclair, for bombarding you with countless whinging emails, I should have had more faith in SDE and Mr Finn et al.
Anyone still wondering whether to buy these deluxe reissues, wonder no more just BUY THEM!
Wolfgang Pudleiner says:
Purchased it direct from Universal Australia as a LTD. EDT. Boxset.
Overwhelming !
Pete {in Australia} says:
Hey Wolfgang, sorry to rain on your Parade, the day I got an email from Crowded House, about the pending release of these, I grabbed them from GetMusic {Universal Australia}, as thought they were in a Limited Boxset. PAUL SINCLAIR, alerted me to the fact, they were NOT in a Box, just Box shaped. As mentioned here before, I thought of contacting GetMusic as rather annoyed. They are still great to have, great value, but yeah, the wording…….in my opinion, rather misleading!!!!!!!
Stephen E Cohen says:
Thank you for giving us the preview of what to expect. I pre-ordered the first three Crowded House reissues from Amazon UK, so it might take a little longer to get to me here in the US. I was curious if anyone else here had purchased The Finn Brothers' superb "Everyone Is Here" from 2004? Kind of a nice treat for Crowded House fans.
Hey Stephen, I have a Split Enz boxset, all the Crowded House cd's and now new releases, plus some vinyl bits. Have Schnell Fenster's first cd release and The Swingers cd {both having members of Split Enz}, Have all of Neil Finnn and Tim Finn solo stuff, Liam finn's rleases and of course when Tim and Neil joined forces, first as "FINN", then "The Finn Brothers". Both albums are good, but prefer the first self titled "FINN". There had been reports that Neil, Tim and Liam had been recording stuff together, but as yet, no word on if it will see the light of day. Oh also got The Pjama Club, which has Neil and his wife Sharon joining forces with Sean Donnelly. :)
Joe H. says:
Thanks for the great video Paul! A bit off subject but where did you find your cd covers? I need to ditch my jewel cases!
SimonH says:
Search for Jazz Loft covers via Google…
Paul Kennedy says:
Picked up 3 of these on Friday ….Had to try 3 shops in central London before I found them…..Got to say they are excellent packages for the price…..Paul Intrguier passed me by when it came out but after a few listens of the deluxe edtion it is creeping in to second place after together alone as me fave LP from them …….Give it another go….
Interesting about Intriguer. Thanks, definitely intend to give it another chance :)
My bundle arrived this morning with tote bag…. but WOODFACE is missing!!!
Mike Gray says:
It was a problem exclusively for people who ordered in the first few hours – the price was £90-something but our order confirmation didn't list the tote bag or Crowded House. We got an email a day or so later confirming they'd both be included.
Arrived this morning – tote bag yes, Crowded House no.
that's weird, i had no issues with my order.
@mike – I received all 7 cd's from universal, not sure what the issue is?
@guy I ordered within an hour of it being up for pre-order, and haven't received anything, but apparently people who ordered (before the price went up) when it first went up only got sent 6 of the 7!
Tim Baldwin says:
Those of us who ordered from amazon.ca (still the cheapest option for most of the albums) will be waiting longer for these as the release date has now been pushed back further to November 18.
Most of mine turned up today. Still waiting for Intriguer and Time on Earth cd sets.
What I've listened to so far – superb.
The original albums HAVE been remastered.
If you take Together Alone, it's a bit louder than the previous issue but it's a lot more detailed – probably as a result of a more modern analogue to digital converter. I've lived with this album since it was released and it's a little bit creepy to hear noises where there didn't appear to be noises before.
The last song – Together Alone – has an additional 16 seconds which wasn't on the original release.
It is intriguing listening to the demos as it gives you a picture of how the songs evolved.
Can't fault the packaging either.
It looks like Universal have screwed this up for anyone who ordered when they first went up. Only 6 CDs and the tote bag being delivered, despite reassurances from customer services that all was well and we'd receive the 7 – although for me I haven't had them delivered at all despite ordering immediately they were listed.
Svein says:
I received these today. I ordered them directly from the Getmusic site in Australia (I live in Norway) as it was advertised that this was the only way you could get them as a boxed set. My order confirmation even says "Limited Edition 30th Anniversary CD Boxset Collection". However, no boxed set was in sight within the package – instead I got all the sets individually. In the words of Johnny Rotten: have you ever felt cheated?
Pete in Australia says:
Svein, i grabbed them straight away, as thought to a limited edition boxset, thinking they would be housed in a box. Paul pointed out to me when first mentioned here on his site, NO boxset, i felt super cheated and almost contacted them. I THINK Universal Aust, were rather cheeky with their wording, and am sure alot of folks misread it. They worked out cheaper than buying instore, but i may have waited, to get them. Still HAPPY to have them, but yeah do feel like GetMusic {Universal Aust.} let us down a bit. A box for the set, would of complimented them, a bit better. :)
My lot/bundle of these reissues arrived last Friday, by courier. I have yet to open them, but am sure I will enjoy. I was luccky enough to be amomgst the crowd at the Original "Farewell" concert at the Opera House.
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AnthonyC says:
I agree with Paul English.
A separate 'remix' compilation would certainly compliment this set.
Perhaps a little similar to how A-ha did the Time and Again compilation (I wish A-ha would re-issue more and get a Blu Ray out of the last tour – they have been so quiet – sorry, off topic).
Paul English says:
Is there enough material for a new compilation of what's missing? Extended mixes, single versions, She's Not There etc. It wouldn't dilute the original albums and would keep the fans happy.
Also, is the instrumental version of Intriguer worth buying?
Considering Neil Finn doesn't like extended mixes even though he is not the one who is going to be buying these reissues and obviously isn't bothered what fans wanted then i would safely predict there is no chance of this happening.
Carlton says:
For those who are still "on the fence" and wondering if the bonus material might be worth buying, Spotify has these available for streaming right now if you're looking to sample. I already ordered mine and am eagerly waiting for delivery from Amazon UK, but I may cheat a bit and sample some just to take the edge off (and maybe make me feel a bit happier on this very, very dark post-US election day–if anyone wants an American husband and is willing to rescue me from this country I am now trapped in, I cook and clean, write, have a PhD, and while I prefer men, I could do a platonic marriage with a woman. And I'm only partially kidding about this request.)
I notice that Time on Earth was not included in the Video and it seems like the release date for the CD and the vinyl might have been put back. Is this the case?
Also I'll admit that it took a while to get into Intriguer but, while not up there with some of their other work. it does have some excellent songs. Time on Earth however is sublime.
GerardH says:
Actually in terms of two-disc reissues, Costello's rhino efforts would be a good reference point here, they lack his wonderful liner notes but the artwork and packaging is better.
I enjoyed the video Paul, I know what I will be doing this coming weekend to help me get over this sudden bout of 'Trumpitis' I am suffering from. I have the new LPs, apart from 'Time On Earth' which isn't out 'til December and they sound really good. The first 3 albums sound much better than the old CDs and there is a marked improvement over the rest including 'Intriguer' which as we know is more recent.
These were delivered to me this morning in Melbourne, I've spent a glorious day enjoying them, they are truly beautifully done. It's obvious a huge amount of thought and love went into the packaging, design and track selection.
So perhaps not every known rarity was included but they've been thoughtfully curated, I bought the six disc set of new gold dream by simple minds (an album I dearly love) recently and it's great but I know I'll listen to the two disc temple of low men or woodface far more often. This is more like the thought and care that goes into Dylan's bootleg series. For a band that very rarely released non-album tracks I'm delighted by how much back story there is.
If this is a band you've been touched by don't think twice about picking these up.
These look like great releases!
Sometimes I find the choice of packaging odd. For example, instead of being on a CD shelf these will have to go onto a DVD shelf.
Personally, I would have preferred CD sizes packaging unless of course they came with an actual DVD.
Many years ago the Stereophonics deluxe editions were unnecessarily in very large DVD sized boxes.
Same as Simple Minds / Tears For Fears etc.
I've begun keeping a separate space for my editions that come in this size range–the DV size cases and case bound book size packages. I've found that I actually like having that separate set, because on a day when I feel like I just want to be immersed in the complete experience of an album, I can go right to those shelves and pull one rather than rifling through the entire collection to find them. I would be annoyed if it were a "standard" album that came packaged this way, but for a special edition, I am happy with the "special treatment" and having it in something a little bit different for packaging to help it stand out.
SimonP says:
Bugger. I was all prepared to give these a swerve, but they look really nice!
Paul Trotman says:
They look great. I saw CH live in the UK many years ago at the T&C club. I remember at the end of the show Neil jumped off the stage and wandered off through the audience shaking hands etc. Most impressed. Have seen Split Enz once too… check out the songs 'Time for a change' and 'I got You' also 'Counting the Beat' by ex-early member Phil Judd.
While I'm not really a fan I admire the thought and discipline that's gone into these. Great work. Wish Madonna would do this to hers (I can't imagine a dozen or so albums would take that much trouble), and hopefully Prince's estate managers will consider something similar. Love to see this done to Parade, Around The World In A Day, and Sign O' The Times for starters.
I think Madonna sets could be fascinating if they reveal what we don't know about. With the last few albums, there has obviously been a process where there are far more songs written/demoed than actually make the final album, and I wonder if that is a new phenomenon for her, or if that has been the standard and we only know about a handful of the unreleased recordings because they were in a pre-leak age. While I enjoyed the end product for Rebel Heart, there were two very strong, very different albums that were recorded for that project that were distilled down to a single album that sounds a bit scattered because of the shifts in moods. There were excellent unreleased tracks for MDNA and Hard Candy that have also been leaked and sometimes are better than the cuts that made the final albums. If there are that many tracks for all her albums, think of what we HAVEN'T heard and what a revelation it could be. (Of course, just having decent collections of the remixes would be nice.)
For Prince, the only problem I would see is how expansive each set could be. You could possibly do ten-disc versions of some of his albums that compiled the recordings from "that era" without even resorting to single edits or remixes and not duplicate songs. The man was a machine the way he turned out music. I can't even begin to estimate how many discs it would take to do an entire box of JUST the officially unreleased tracks.
Rune T says:
Great presentation – thank you! All in all a beautiful set of reissues.
One could argue that there should be more rarities/singles/12″ mixes included, maybe as an 8th disc set in addition to the pure album related ones. But as it is now it also appeals a lot to the 'regular' fans and not just the completists like a 3-4 disc issue per album would.
Thanks a lot for this unboxing video. Very informative.
I would have hoped for more words on the background and recording of the albums and the songs within rather than lyrics which can be found with a few clicks on the internet. That would have made it a more cohesive package for me. Just a personal view.
I share Paul's opinion about Intriguer but by and large the music within these releases is peerless.
The Together Alone lyrics were from the U.K. CD singles of Fingers Of Love.
It's interesting that they include photos of single sleeves in the booklets – but were averse to single edits and 12″ mixes on the discs themselves. Still, they look great so will probably spring for them. Thanks for the unboxing video Paul, very informative.
jim vandegrift says:
Once again top shelf job. Thanks
patjoller says:
excellent… can't wait to receive mine, massive fan too (I too have the woodface promo cd… and many others). And you should give another try to intriguer, I think it's a more consistent (and a proper band) album than time on earth.
Thanks for this great video, Paul. Hope you are going to do more of these videos in the future. I think I am going to buy one or two of these deluxe editions.
Mikey Roberts says:
Thanks a lot Paul – really enjoyed the video, as usual. I really am eagerly awaiting the postman on Friday now: and if Together Alone still sounds the same as it always did then that's fine with me.
Chris Brown says:
I presume that bit about Together Alone not coming out on vinyl is in the press release somewhere, but I don't think it's true. I'm sure there was a Simply Vinyl reissue in about 1999 even if it didn't come out on vinyl at the time.
Perhaps it's never been on vinyl in Australia or New Zealand before?
Anyway, pedantry aside I enjoyed the video and these reissues will be moving up my list of priorities. I always thought the sound quality on the original CD of the first album was pretty poor, and I think those tracks sound better on Recurring Dream.
Gary Thompson says:
Together Alone was released on vinyl originally in the UK, I bought a copy.
I was hoping you would do a video for these sets and it was a great as I had imagined. Thanks!
I can't wait to get these! It's going to be at least another week or two coming from Amazon UK to me in the states (I couldn't justify paying more than double for each album to get them faster–maybe–from Amazon US). This may be one of my most impatient waits yet.
Great viewing Paul.
It is so refreshing to see releases like this, really nice packaging with some thought gone into the project.
Those. Are. Gorgeous!!! I'm not a huge Crowded House fan but I'm tempted to get these just for the packaging alone. Thanks for the great video!
Hans Jörg Herbst says:
The music is awesome as well.
Henrik Kirkegaard says:
Super video Paul
The new version's look exciting