Very Very Best of Crowded House

Liner Note Author: Malcolm Hill.
Photographers: Dennis Keeley; Nick Seymour; William Hames; Youri Lenquette; Andy Earl; Peter Green ; Sam O'Brien.
The second big-scale Crowded House compilation -- following the first, Recurring Dream, by 14 years, and the budget-line set Classic Masters by seven - 2010's The Very Very Best of Crowded House (the second "very" distinguishing it from Recurring Dream, which was merely "The Very Best") comes in two incarnations: a single CD running a tight 19 tracks, and a digital download that's expanded to 32 songs. The CD version offers up much of Crowded House's canon including "Weather with You," "Something so Strong," "Don't Dream It's Over," "Four Seasons in One Day," "It's Only Natural," "Better Be Home Soon" and "Mean to Me," ultimately repeating 14 of Recurring Dream's 19 songs while finding space for a pair of tunes from the 2007 reunion Time on Earth ("Don't Stop Now," "Pour Le Monde"). The three tunes left behind -- "World Where You Live," "Into Temptation," "When You Come" -- are all missed but they can be found on the digital edition, along with a clutch of other great songs that help make it the best Crowded House comp so far, verging on the definitive. Naturally, the single disc isn't as thorough, but it does as good a job of offering the basics as Recurring Dream, and will surely satisfy listeners who don't believe they need more than a disc of Crowded House. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine