I think Bean has a good point.
Neil’s music did seem to gain a lot of depth from the 1st 7 Worlds’ project. There are subtle yet very noticeable little traces of the 7 Worlds band scattered throughout Neil’s music post 7 Worlds, like the live piano part in Weather With You (Lisa Germano), the guitar effects on many songs off Everyone Is Here/Time On Earth (Ed O’ Brian – Radiohead), vocal parts on many live CH/Enz songs (Eddy Vedder) and of course shared songwriting credits and overall guitar playing courtesy of Johnny Marr.
It is always an enriching experience to be able to rehearse and perform with great musicians from such diverse backgrounds…

Ooh, I'm excited! It's always magic when Neil mixes up his career in ways like this.

Confirmed

thanks for the confirmation. Gotta say this has come as a major surprise to me! On a year long Crowded House reunion tour, writing brand new Crowded House songs, testing them out on the road, doing the New Zealand Split Enz tour earlier this year, recording the new Crowded House album, getting the Crowded House boxed set happening... and even managing a couple of Finn Brothers charity concerts, this is the LAST thing I expected Neil Finn to consider. Where does he get the time for all these projects??? Great news however... no complaints here!

I really hope Wilco, or at least Jeff Tweedy, do get involved in this somehow. I predict that Neil and Jeff would sing beautiful harmonies together -- Jeff's voice has a similar hoarse-but-with-edge quality like Tim's, and of course Tim and Neil sing well together.

And also, it would get a lot of people listening to Neil's music and songwriting. I always feel like there are a ton of people, at least in the States, who would love Neil and Crowded House if they just listened to them...but they don't because of the vague "uncool" vibe that surrounds CH. Wilco is a very different band but Jeff's lyric style is from the same school as Neil's...a mixture of the very direct and kind of vague, striking impressionistic images...

I would love to get Angus Young involved somehow. That would be awesome.

If Wilco and Tim both got involved then, in my opinion, it would probably be the album to end all albums.

I am probably in the total minority here but I am not thrilled with the 7 World's Collide upcoming project. I have the first CD and it is the least Finn related CD that I play....I am just not too psyched up with the outcome. Maybe if it was studio this time it would make a difference....but then if that was the case I just wish Neil would put total focus on the new CH CD before he goes off in another direction and gets totally burnt out. Also, waiting too long could cause the band to lose momentum....they should put this new CH CD out by Christmas....then tour in the Spring and Summer across Canada, US, Europe. If anything, maybe Neil can collaborate on a solo CD with all these guests at a later time....just don't want to hear another live CD re-hashing different band's greatest hits (and old Spilt Enz hit stuff) at this point. I think it would just be a step backward for Neil at this point when things are going so well for CH....unless, because it would not be too time consuming, he is doing it....and in his own neck of the woods. He is not getting any younger and I think getting as much out of CH should be the goal now. I still think that the band should have finished off the new CD over the past few months....surpised the fans with the new songs in September with the new CD....then toured in the fall and winter.

I think Neil is his own sternest taskmaster and I'm sure he's weighed all the variables and has decided to go with it.

it obviously gives him joy and it's obvious that he's looking forward to it.

i suspect that he loves flying by the seat of his pants (creatively speaking ) and has probably factored in his timelines and deadlines..and quite possibly this is meant to keep his juices flowing...all to the betterment of the eventual next CH album.

He is not getting any younger true...but he's clearly firing on all channels--and holding to a schedule that would baffle men half his age.

Go Neil!

I am amazed....and ecstatic.

good points Martine....I guess the one thing to say about this is....Neil can do whatever he wants, he has earned it. Whatever gives him joy is fine with me, as long as the enxt CH CD turns into a great one!

My mouth is watering in anticipation and my bank balance is crying.

quote:

Originally posted by neilsknees:
My mouth is watering in anticipation and my bank balance is crying.

Why.....you were hoping to fly to NZ for Christmas and stalk Roundhead studios? Would be kind of fun to *happen* to be in NZ while this is being recorded, wouldn't it? They must be planning on some dates to promote this, but I wonder when they would squeeze that in, and where they would play?

quote:

Originally posted by renzo:
If anything, maybe Neil can collaborate on a solo CD with all these guests at a later time....just don't want to hear another live CD re-hashing different band's greatest hits (and old Spilt Enz hit stuff) at this point. I think it would just be a step backward for Neil at this point when things are going so well for CH....unless, because it would not be too time consuming, he is doing it....

Everything we've heard, esp from the Radiohead guys indicates this will in fact be a studio project. It will probably be all-new material too (though I wouldn't be surprised if they recorded "There Is A Light", which would be awesome)...Ed O'Brien said it might be a good venue to work on some songs they have that are good, but probably wouldn't work well for Radiohead. Sounds like they are evolving the 7WC concept, not just doing more live shows of mostly Neil's songs.

I think Neil is definitely giving CH his full attention at the moment. They toured with the new songs, something they always wanted to do and a good, new step forward, and will probably be working on the new album for the next several months. I think Neil probably plans to have the CH album basically done by the time he does the new 7WC project, which they should be able to do in 3-4 months, esp. considering they've been performing and evolving several new songs for months now. Then after 7WC they'll probably do a bit more polishing, a few overdubs or whatever and stay on schedule for an early/mid-2009 release.

I get the impression the new 7WC project will be fairly quick, more like just a bunch of friends having fun in the studio and seeing what they can come up with "on the side"...rather than an album of songs being labored over and crafted to perfection. I think it's good for Neil to introduce some fresh music into the gene pool. He can't do stuff with CH/Split Enz/Tim ALL the time; I'm sure he will enjoy the diversion and it will be good for him, both musically and as well as bringing some new fan attention to his work.

quote:

Originally posted by Half-Full:

quote:

Originally posted by neilsknees:
My mouth is watering in anticipation and my bank balance is crying.

Why.....you were hoping to fly to NZ for Christmas and stalk Roundhead studios? Would be kind of fun to *happen* to be in NZ while this is being recorded, wouldn't it? They must be planning on some dates to promote this, but I wonder when they would squeeze that in, and where they would play?

I wish!!
No,it's just it looks like the old bank balance will be hit again by the new Finn products on the horizon but i'm not complaining really.

I'm happy to stalk Neil while he's playing in Finn Brothers and Split Enz, and I'm happy to stalk Tim anywhere ( ), but I won't be stalking either of them to NZ for this (assuming Tim is even involved).

Not that I'm not happy that they're doing it, but I have to be a bit picky with my stalking projects.

I agree with martine - Neil's creative juices are obviously flowing, and perhaps he's picking the best vehicle for the purpose at the time.

Once I'm back in a permanent job (which I'm now pursuing) my stalking days are over no matter who plays where, so I was kind of hoping that CH would play Australia before I'm locked in so that we can maybe see them in another state as well as Victoria if we want to.

Oh well - you can only go with whatever is happening at the time.

I hope this next project will be as much fun and equally as successful for the guys as the last time around.

Can't wait for this cd to come out. Will Eddie vedder help out on this cd?

It's ironic that the single thing that saved CH the first time round was Neil couldn't get his head round being involved in two separate projects at the same time (Woodface Mk1 and Finn Bros Mk1), and he ended up merging them by inviting Tim to join.

Now we have a similar situation where Neil is working on/towards more than just a CH album and he's cool with it. Maybe he should invite the 7WC gang to join CH and merge the songs into Woodface II