Time on Earth is the fifth studio album by the pop-rock band Crowded House. Tracks have been produced by both Ethan Johns and Steve Lillywhite and the album was released on 30 June 2007 in Australia, 2 July in the United Kingdom and 10 July in North America. Time on Earth is the band's first studio album since 1993, and marks the reunion of the band eleven years after they disbanded and features new drummer Matt Sherrod in place of the original drummer, Paul Hester, who died in 2005.
As the first studio album from the group in fourteen years, Time on Earth has been subject to much speculation. Upon its release the album garnered positive critical reception and reached Platinum status within weeks of release in Australia, and Gold status in its second week of release in New Zealand. To promote the album, the group toured internationally, beginning by performing at Coachella music festival and at Live Earth in July. For further promotion, three singles were released from the album, "Don't Stop Now", "She Called Up" and "Pour le monde", and a special tour edition of the album was released in Australia in November 2007 featuring an extra CD with eleven songs from a concert from the album's North American tour.
Album history
Background
The album was originally intended to be frontman Neil Finn's third solo release. In the wake of Paul Hester's death, as well as preparations for the release of the live album Farewell to the World, the band members were drawn together and their friendship was reinvigorated. In 2006, Neil Finn invited bassist Nick Seymour to participate in the recording of his new album and subsequent tour. In the initial phase, various session musicians filled parts, such as studio musician Joey Waronker on drums and British soul singer Beth Rowley provided backup vocals for the song "Transit Lounge." After recording a complete album with Ethan Johns in the producer and drummer's seat and Seymour contributing substantially throughout the process, Finn decided Crowded House would reform and that Time on Earth would be the band's fifth studio album. The title Time on Earth takes its name from a song of the same name that was not included in the album.
With new drummer Matt Sherrod and returning multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart now involved as members of the official line-up, the band returned to the studio to record four additional tracks with producer Steve Lillywhite. Hart and Sherrod also contributed retroactively to some of the material produced by Ethan Johns. In its final form, the album features tracks mixed by Johns, Lillywhite and Tchad Blake. Guitarist Johnny Marr was involved in the recording of "Even a Child", which he co-wrote, and "Don't Stop Now".
Recording and production
Due to the transient nature of the album, gradually adapting from a solo venture into a band effort, the recording process used was somewhat unorthodox in that it encompassed various session musicians for the majority, while the "central line-up" of Finn, Seymour, Hart and Sherrod only performed on four tracks, which includes "Don't Stop Now", the album's lead single, and "She Called Up", the following single. Before this point, most of the album was produced by Ethan Johns; however, from enlisting Sherrod and calling upon Hart to return, the prolific producer Steve Lillywhite took over.
Release
To bring their music to the public before the album's release, the group played together a few times before the release. On 17 March 2007 the band played a 2 ½ hour set streamed live to the internet from veteran musician Peter Gabriel's studio (Real World Studios) in England. In this performance, there were eight new songs featured, beginning with Finn's co-written piece with the Dixie Chicks "Silent House" and also including "Pour le monde" ("For the world"), "Transit Lounge", "She Called Up" and "Don't Stop Now".
Prior to the album's release, a single was released. The song "Don't Stop Now" was selected, as it featured the new line-up of the band. The single received moderate success in the charts. The follow-up single, "She Called Up", released in September 2007, was not as successful as "Don't Stop Now".