In 1996 the New Zealand group Crowded House took a large-scale farewell with a concert in Sidney, which attracted 120,000 fans. It was over for the band around Neil Finn, and with solo careers and drummer Paul Hester's suicide in 2005, the chances of Crowded House ever reuniting seemed slim. But in a time when almost every group that has stopped working again - from The Police to Genesis and the
… Spice Girls - it could just happen that Crowded House also makes a new record. Time On Earth is the group's first studio album since 1993's Together Alone. With a new drummer and help from Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on two songs, Finn has done an excellent job of reviving his group. The familiar sounding Time On Earth has that melodic richness with which Crowded House has become so famous, and does not disappoint. (IV)more
