Together Alone

This article is about the Crowded House album. For other uses, see Together Alone (disambiguation).

Together Alone
Studio album by
Crowded House
Released18 October 1993
Recorded1992–1993
StudioKarekare Beach, New Zealand
Periscope Studios, Melbourne
Platinum Melbourne
Genre
Length51:32
LabelCapitol
ProducerYouth and Crowded House
Crowded House chronology
Woodface
(1991) 		Together Alone
(1993) 		Recurring Dream
(1996)

Together Alone is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. It was released in October 1993 and was their first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full band member. Unlike the band's first three albums, which were recorded in the US and Australia and produced by Mitchell Froom, Together Alone was recorded in New Zealand with producer Youth. Six singles were released from Together Alone, including "Distant Sun", which was a top 10 hit in New Zealand[1] and Canada,[2] and "Locked Out" which reached number 12 on the UK singles chart[3] and number 8 on the US Modern Rock chart,[4] the latter on the strength of the song's inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Reality Bites.[5]

Background

Together Alone was mainly recorded at Neil Finn's friends Nigel and Jody Harrocks' house at Karekare Beach in New Zealand, with additional recording in Melbourne, Australia at both Periscope and Platinum Studios. The album's opening track was named "Kare Kare". Paul Hester said, "We flew in Youth and an engineer called Greg Hunter straight off the streets of Brixton to Karekare Beach, New Zealand – miles from anywhere, no shops, no nothing. They were in shock for days. Didn't know where the fuck they were."[6]

AllMusic noted that Together Alone is "more experimental and musically varied than any of their previous releases" and cited the addition of Mark Hart to the band's line-up and new producer Youth as reasons for this.[7] The album features more complex, layered guitar and keyboard arrangements than on Crowded House's previous works. The title track features a New Zealand Māori choir and log drummers and was co-written by Ngapo "Bub" Wehi of the Te Waka Huia Cultural Group Choir, who also provide backing vocals on "In My Command" and "Catherine Wheels".

"Catherine Wheels" was written by Neil and Tim Finn while with Split Enz and was originally titled "The First to Say Gone". The final version included input from bass player Nick Seymour, which earned him a co-writing credit, one of only five he has with Crowded House. (The others are "Recurring Dream" and "Help Is Coming" from Afterglow, "Newcastle Jam" from the Special Edition Live Album and "Isolation" from Intriguer.)

Together Alone topped the album chart in New Zealand,[1] reached number two in Australia[8] and number four in the United Kingdom.[3] Due to its inclusion on the Reality Bites soundtrack, the song "Locked Out" was bundled with The Knack's "My Sharona", which also features in the film, as a promotional jukebox single.[9] The video single release of "Nails in My Feet" featured a documentary of the making of Together Alone entitled Footage from the Together Alone Recording Session.

The Japanese edition contained the bonus track "You Can Touch" which later appeared on the compilation Afterglow.

Cover art

Nick Seymour created the album cover, which features a red car, possibly a taxi. It contains Jesus, a golden figure and a third occupant in the back of the car of whom only an arm, clad in a striped shirt, is visible. The car is surrounded by a golden halo and has fluffy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. The cover of the 2007 single "Don't Stop Now" has a similar red car and the song's video features the car during its animated sequences. The album artwork was co-designed by Seymour and Margo Chase. It incorporates photography, by Youri Lenquette and Merlyn Rosenberg, of the band and of landscapes including Karekare beach. Vinyl pressings of Together Alone have a golden border (much like the halo around the red car) surrounding the outside of the cover.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Chicago Tribune[10]
Classic Rock9/10[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB[12]
Los Angeles Times[13]
Mojo[14]
NME7/10[15]
Q[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Uncut9/10[18]

Writing in The Michigan Daily, Heather Phares called it a "catchy and spiritual listen that runs the gamut of emotions, from the hyperkinetic 'Locked Out' to the hushed 'Distant Sun'." She credited producer Youth for making it a "challenging yet listenable album."[19]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album "more experimental and musically varied than any of their previous releases", and said that it let "Crowded House energize their sound without losing sight of Finn's classic pop songwriting".[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Finn, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Kare Kare"Finn, Mark Hart, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester3:35
2."In My Command" 3:43
3."Nails in My Feet" 3:39
4."Black and White Boy" 4:00
5."Fingers of Love" 4:26
6."Pineapple Head" 3:27
7."Locked Out" 3:17
8."Private Universe" 5:39
9."Walking on the Spot" 2:54
10."Distant Sun" 3:49
11."Catherine Wheels"Finn, Tim Finn, Seymour5:12
12."Skin Feeling"Paul Hester3:56
13."Together Alone"Finn, Hart, Ngapo 'Bub' Wehi3:55
Total length:51:32

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

  1. "World Where You Live" – 5:30
  2. "Mean to Me" – 4:06
  3. "Sister Madly" – 5:42
  4. "Better Be Home Soon" – 3:23
  5. "It's Only Natural" – 3:52
  6. "Weather with You" – 5:19

2016 reissue

All tracks are written by Neil Finn, except where noted

Original album
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Kare Kare"Finn, Mark Hart, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester3:35
2."In My Command" 3:43
3."Nails in My Feet" 3:39
4."Black and White Boy" 4:00
5."Fingers of Love" 4:26
6."Pineapple Head" 3:27
7."Locked Out" 3:17
8."Private Universe" 5:39
9."Walking on the Spot" 2:54
10."Distant Sun" 3:49
11."Catherine Wheels"Neil Finn, Tim Finn, Seymour5:12
12."Skin Feeling"Paul Hester3:56
13."Together Alone" (*)Finn, Hart, Ngapo 'Bub' Wehi4:13
Total length:51:50

Note

  • * When compiling the deluxe edition a longer edited version of "Together Alone" was accidentally used, with additional chatter from the recording session at the end of the track included.

All tracks are written by Neil Finn, except where noted

Disc 2 (Unreleased and rare material)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Smoke" (home demo) 1:56
2."Fingers of Love" (writing demo) 1:02
3."Private Universe" (home demo) 2:22
4."The Same Language as Me" (live) 3:02
5."Tail of a Comet" (live) 4:14
6."Distant Sun" (writing demo) 0:43
7."I Am in Love" (band demo) 4:29
8."Fingers of Love" (band demo) 4:02
9."Fingers of Love" (alternative studio take) 5:11
10."Black and White Boy" (early rough mix) 5:06
11."Locked Out" (Zen Mix) 4:17
12."Newcastle Jam" (studio version)Finn, Mark Hart, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester3:45
13."Convent Girls" 3:24
14."Zen Roxy" (*)Finn, Hart, Seymour, Hester6:44
Total length:50:10

Note

  • * Previously released

Personnel

Crowded House

  • Neil Finn – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, keyboards
  • Nick Seymour – bass, backing vocals
  • Paul Hester – drums, percussion, vocals
  • Mark Hart – keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, lap steel guitar, mandolin

Additional musicians

  • Eddie Rayner – keyboards on "Kare Kare" & "Pineapple Head"
  • Noel Crombie – percussion on "Private Universe"
  • Geoffrey Hales – percussion on "Fingers of Love" & "Locked Out"
  • Tim Finn – backing vocals on "In My Command" & "Catherine Wheels"
  • Sharon Finn – backing vocals on "Black and White Boy", "Fingers of Love" & "Private Universe"
  • Dror Erez – accordion on "Walking on the Spot"
  • Te Waka Huia Cultural Group Choir – vocals on "Together Alone", "In My Command" & "Catherine Wheels"
  • Joe, Tereo, Martie, Jamee, Benjamin – log drummers on "Together Alone" & "Private Universe"
  • Clyde Dixon, Stephen Bremner, Laura Astridge, David Bremner, Shaun Jarrett – brass band on "In My Command" & "Together Alone"

Production

  • Youth – producer
  • Bob Clearmountain – mixer
  • Greg Hunter – engineer
  • Nick Morgan, Graeme Myre, Angus Davidson, Chris Corr, Kalju Tonuma – additional engineering
  • Dugald McAndrew – equipment & additional engineering
  • Matt Austin – programming

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for Together Alone
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Further reading

  • Bourke, Chris (1997). Crowded House: Something So Strong. South Melbourne, Victoria: Macmillan. ISBN 0-7329-0886-8.

References

  1. ^ a b "Discography Crowded House" charts.org.nz
  2. ^ "RPM Top Singles – Volume 59, No. 6, February 28 1994" Library and Archives Canada
  3. ^ a b "Crowded House" Chart Stats
  4. ^ "Crowded House – Locked Out" Billboard
  5. ^ "Soundtracks for Reality Bites" IMDb
  6. ^ Phil Sutcliffe. "Crowded House: Crowded House OBE". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
  7. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Together Alone – Crowded House". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Discography Crowded House" australian-charts.com
  9. ^ Bourke, 1997
  10. ^ Caro, Mark (20 January 1994). "Crowded House: Together Alone (Capitol)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. ^ Staunton, Terry (25 October 2016). "Crowded House – 30th Anniversary Reissues album review". Classic Rock. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  12. ^ Thigpen, David (14 January 1994). "Crowded House: Together Alone". Entertainment Weekly. No. 205. p. 54.
  13. ^ Boehm, Mike (30 January 1994). "Crowded House, 'Together Alone,' Capitol". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  14. ^ Fyfe, Andy (January 2017). "Crowded House: Together Alone". Mojo. No. 278. p. 113.
  15. ^ Fortnam, Ian (23 October 1993). "Crowded House: Together Alone". NME. p. 33.
  16. ^ Hepworth, David (November 1993). "Splendid". Q. No. 86. p. 121.
  17. ^ Wright, Christian (7 April 1994). "Crowded House: Together Alone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  18. ^ Pinnock, Tom (December 2016). "Crowded House". Uncut. No. 235. p. 52.
  19. ^ Phares, Heather (1 June 1994). "Records". The Michigan Daily. 104 (5): 10. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Crowded House – Together Alone". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2374". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Crowded House – Together Alone" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Crowded House – Together Alone" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  24. ^ "Charts.nz – Crowded House – Together Alone". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Crowded House – Together Alone". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Crowded House – Woodface". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company.
  28. ^ "Crowded House Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1993 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Albums 1993" (PDF). Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 25. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  31. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1994". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  32. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1993 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  33. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Crowded House – Together Alone". Music Canada.
  34. ^ "British album certifications – Crowded House – Together Alone". British Phonographic Industry.