View source for Recurring Dream

{{Short description|1996 greatest hits album by Crowded House}}
{{confused|Recurring dream}}
{{redirect|The Very Best of Crowded House|the 2010 compilation|The Very Very Best of Crowded House}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Recurring Dream
| type       = Greatest
| artist     = [[Crowded House]]
| cover      = Crowded House-Recurring Dream (album cover).jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 24 June 1996
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]], [[pop rock]], [[jangle pop]], [[alternative rock]]
| length     = 70:11
| label      = [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]
| producer   = [[Mitchell Froom]], [[Neil Finn]] and [[Tchad Blake]]
| prev_title = [[Together Alone]]
| prev_year  = 1993
| next_title = [[Afterglow (Crowded House album)|Afterglow]]
| next_year  = 1999
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Recurring Dream
 | type        = Greatest hits
 | single1     = [[Everything Is Good for You]]
 | single1date = 1996
 | single2     = [[Instinct (song)|Instinct]]
 | single2date = 10 June 1996<ref>{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=[[Music Week]]|page=35|date=8 June 1996}}</ref>
 | single3     = [[Not the Girl You Think You Are]]
 | single3date = November 1996
}}
}}
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/recurring-dream-the-very-best-of-crowded-house-mw0000648474 |title=Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House  |last=Woodstra |first=Chris |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/07/11/crowded-houserecurring-dream-the-very-best-of/ |title=Crowded House Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of (Capitol)/Finn Brothers Finn Brothers (Discovery) |last=Klein |first=Joshua |date=1996-07-11 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=2018-01-09 |language=en}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev3score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Larkin|first1=Colin|author-link1=Colin Larkin (writer)|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|date=2011|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|isbn=9780857125958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC|language=en}}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
|rev4score = A−<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=1996-08-02 |title=Recurring Dream |url=https://ew.com/article/1996/08/02/recurring-dream/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref>
|rev5 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
|rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |title=This week's pop cd releases |work=The Guardian |date=28 June 1996 |page=T.022}}</ref>
|rev6 = ''[[NME]]''
|rev6score = 8/10<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Cigarettes |first=Johnny |title=Crowded House - Recurring Dream (The Best of Crowded House) |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000089reviews.html |magazine=NME |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817221146/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000089reviews.html |archive-date=17 August 2000 |date=22 June 1996 |page=53}}</ref>
|rev7 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
|rev7score = {{rating-Christgau|dud}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=1996-09-17 |title=Consumer Guide  |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv996-96.php |magazine=[[The Village Voice]]}}</ref>
}}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->
'''''Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House''''', usually abbreviated to '''''Recurring Dream''''', is a compilation album by rock group [[Crowded House]], released in 1996. It includes most of their singles, as well as three new songs, "[[Not the Girl You Think You Are]]", "[[Instinct (song)|Instinct]]", and "[[Everything Is Good for You]]".<ref name=canoe>Sakamoto, John {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130115144248/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/C/Crowded_House/1996/06/24/744326.html "Crowded House members head for the door"]}} ''[[Jam! Canoe]]'' – 24 June 1996</ref>

==Background==
Crowded House were touring in support of their album ''[[Together Alone]]'', when after a concert in Atlanta on 14 April 1994, drummer [[Paul Hester]] decided to leave the band.<ref>McFarlane, 1999</ref> He was eventually replaced by [[Peter Jones (drummer)|Peter Jones]].<ref name=howl>[http://www.howlspace.com.au/en/crowdedhouse/crowdedhouse.htm "Crowded House"] {{webarchive|url=http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/14231/20120727-0512/www.howlspace.com.au/en/crowdedhouse/crowdedhouse.htm |date=27 July 2012 }} ''Howlspace''</ref> The band completed the tour and returned to Australia where bandleader [[Neil Finn]] began writing songs for their next album, provisionally titled ''Help Is Coming''. During this time he also wrote and recorded the album ''[[Finn (album)|Finn]]'' with his brother [[Tim Finn]].<ref name=howl/> At a press conference in 1996, at which the release of ''Recurring Dream'' was announced, Neil Finn revealed that Crowded House were to split up. The June concerts in Europe and Canada would be their final shows.<ref name=bourke>Bourke, 1997</ref>

The collection was released in June 1996 and features four songs from each of the group's four studio albums, as well as the three new songs. Hester returned to play on these songs, but despite this he is not credited as a full band member on the album sleeve, which reads, "Performed by Crowded House (Neil Finn, [[Nick Seymour]] and [[Mark Hart]]) with Paul Hester." The new photos on the album sleeve only show Neil Finn, Seymour and Hart, although Hester and Tim Finn both appear several times in a collage of old band photos. The wording on the album implies that Hart played on all 19 tracks. In fact he only became a full band member on their fourth album ''Together Alone'', although he did receive an 'additional keyboards' credit for unspecified tracks on the album ''[[Woodface]]''. Hester may not appear on the song "[[Weather with You]]", because [[Ricky Fataar]] is credited with drums on that track on the ''Woodface'' sleeve.

The album's title ''Recurring Dream'', is also the name of a song written in 1985, when the group were still known as 'The Mullanes', by Finn, Hester, Seymour and the band's then guitarist [[Craig Hooper]]. The song "Recurring Dream" was not included on this compilation, but was later featured on ''[[Afterglow (Crowded House album)|Afterglow]]'', Crowded House's 1999 rarities collection. At the 1997 [[ARIA Music Awards]], ''Recurring Dream'' won in the 'Highest Selling Album' category.<ref name=aria>[http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=C&artist=Crowded%20House "History > Winners by Artist > Crowded House"] ''ariaawards.com.au''</ref> The award was presented by [[Dave Graney]] who joked in his presentation speech that it's, "Sometimes just about the money!"

The album's cover was painted by bassist Nick Seymour. Like ''Together Alone'' and ''[[Temple of Low Men]]'' it features a red car. The cover also shows an electric fan, an item which appeared on the sleeve of their [[Crowded House (album)|debut album]]. The bare chested man on the album cover appears to be Seymour himself.

==New songs==
Three new tracks were recorded specially for ''Recurring Dream'' by Finn, Seymour, Hart and Hester. "Everything Is Good for You", "Instinct" and "Not the Girl You Think You Are" were recorded at York Street Studios in Auckland, New Zealand and were produced by Finn, [[Mitchell Froom]] and [[Tchad Blake]]. In a 2006 interview, Neil Finn said of "Everything Is Good for You", "The philosophy of the song is slightly obscure in the verses, but really it's about not allowing regrets to rule your life. But it's also got a sense of humour. There's a wryness to it. It's not a message song particularly."<ref name=canoe/>

Of "Instinct" he said, "I did a demo of it at home. It's just built on a bass riff...I put down a drum track, put a bass track to it and had it around for about a month. The lyrics are, as it turns out, extremely appropriate for the time: Nearly time to flick the switch/Hanging by a single stitch/Laughing at the stony face of gloom. I mean, in a way it was an instinctive decision for me to discontinue working with the band. My stomach told me to do it, so that's what the song is about: recognizing those moments and having the desire to follow it through."<ref name=canoe/>

Of "Not the Girl You Think You Are" he said, "I wrote that with the assistance of an [[Optigan|Optigan keyboard]], which is a weird old antique from the '60s, a trashy antique. It's a machine that reads optical discs, the most primitive form of sampling from the '60s. I had found piano loops on it that I just put a sequence together from and I wrote the song in 10 minutes on top of it."<ref name=canoe/>

Due to this compilation being superseded by ''The Very Very Best of Crowded House'' in 2010 and "Everything Is Good for You" being omitted from that album, all three tracks were included on the 2016 deluxe edition of ''[[Afterglow (Crowded House album)|Afterglow]]''.

==Track listing==
All songs were written by Neil Finn, except where noted.

{{Track listing
| extra_column    = Original album
| total_length = 70:11
| title1 = [[Weather with You]]
| extra1 = ''[[Woodface]]''
| note1 = Single version
| writer1 = Neil and Tim Finn
| length1 = 3:44
| title2 = [[World Where You Live]]
| extra2 = ''[[Crowded House (album)|Crowded House]]''
| length2 = 3:06
| title3 = [[Fall at Your Feet]]
| extra3 = ''Woodface''
| length3 = 3:18
| title4 = [[Locked Out (Crowded House song)|Locked Out]]
| extra4 = ''[[Together Alone]]''
| length4 = 3:18
| title5 = [[Don't Dream It's Over]]
| extra5 = ''Crowded House''
| length5= 3:55
| title6 = [[Into Temptation (song)|Into Temptation]]
| extra6 = ''[[Temple of Low Men]]''
| length6 = 4:34
| title7 = [[Pineapple Head]]
| extra7 = ''Together Alone''
| length7 = 3:28
| title8 = [[When You Come]]
| extra8 = ''Temple of Low Men''
| length8 = 4:44
| title9 = [[Private Universe]]
| extra9 = ''Together Alone''
| length9 = 5:36
| title10 = [[Not the Girl You Think You Are]]
| extra10 = New song
| length10 = 4:08
| title11 = [[Instinct (song)|Instinct]]
| extra11 = New song
| length11 = 3:08
| title12 = [[I Feel Possessed]]
| extra12 = ''Temple of Low Men''
| length12 = 3:48
| title13 = [[Four Seasons in One Day]]
| writer13 = Neil and Tim Finn
| extra13 = ''Woodface''
| length13 = 2:48
| title14 = [[It's Only Natural (song)|It's Only Natural]]
| writer14 = Neil and Tim Finn
| extra14 = ''Woodface''
| length14 = 3:32
| title15 = [[Distant Sun]]
| extra15 = ''Together Alone''
| length15 = 3:50
| title16 = [[Something So Strong]]
| writer16 = Neil Finn, Mitchell Froom
| extra16 = ''Crowded House''
| length16 = 2:52
| title17 = [[Mean to Me (Crowded House song)|Mean to Me]]
| extra17 = ''Crowded House''
| length17 = 3:14
| title18 = [[Better Be Home Soon]]
| extra18 = ''Temple of Low Men''
| length18 = 3:10
| title19 = [[Everything Is Good for You]]
| extra19 = New song
| length19 = 3:58
}}

==Special Edition Live Album==
{{Infobox album
| name       = Special Edition Live Album
| type       = Live
| artist     = [[Crowded House]]
| cover      = Crowded House Special Edition Live Album.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = October 1996
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Pop rock]], [[jangle pop]]
| length     = 72:43
| label      = [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]
| producer   = [[Neil Finn]]
| compiler   = [[Nigel Griggs]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title =
| next_year  =
}}
''Recurring Dream'' was also released as a two-disc version, the second disc being titled ''Special Edition Live Album''. The songs were selected by [[Split Enz]] bassist [[Nigel Griggs]], who was asked to do the job by Neil Finn, according to the album's sleeve notes. Just days after he accepted the job, hundreds of cassettes of Crowded House performances arrived for him to evaluate. The recordings he chose were not remixed or adjusted in any way before they were put on the album. Only four of the tracks from the main album had their live versions included on the second disc.

Five of the live album's songs are from the same concert, at [[Newcastle Civic Theatre|The Civic Theatre]] in [[Newcastle, Australia]]. Other songs from this performance have appeared as B-sides, including "[[Chocolate Cake (song)|Chocolate Cake]]" on the "Instinct" single. The recording of "[[Fingers of Love]]" comes from Paul Hester's final show, in [[Atlanta]], before he quit the band.

===Track listing===
{| class="wikitable"
!Track
!class="unsortable"| Song
!class="unsortable"| Songwriter
!Venue
!class="unsortable"| Date
!Length
|-
|align="center"| 1
| "There Goes God"
| N. Finn, T. Finn
| The Civic Theater, [[Newcastle, New South Wales]], Australia
| 20 March 1992
|align="center"| 5:37
|-
|align="center"| 2
| "Newcastle Jam"
| N. Finn, P. Hester, N. Seymour, M. Hart
| The Civic Theater, Newcastle, Australia
| 20 March 1992
|align="center"| 2:43
|-
|align="center"| 3
| "Love You Till the Day I Die"
| N. Finn
| The Civic Theater, Newcastle, Australia
| 20 March 1992
|align="center"| 4:47
|-
|align="center"| 4
| "Hole in the River"<ref group="note">Contains the last bars of the traditional Irish song [[The Parting Glass]]</ref>
| N. Finn, [[Eddie Rayner]]
| The Civic Theater, Newcastle, Australia
| 20 March 1992
|align="center"| 8:55
|-
|align="center"| 5
| "Private Universe"
| N. Finn
| [[Aston Arena|Aston Villa Leisure Centre]], [[Birmingham]], England
| 18 November 1993
|align="center"| 4:55
|-
|align="center"| 6
| "Pineapple Head"
| N. Finn
| [[O2 Apollo Manchester|The Apollo]], [[Manchester]], England
| 22 November 1993
|align="center"| 3:26
|-
|align="center"| 7
| "How Will You Go"
| N. Finn, T. Finn
| [[Barrowland Ballroom]], [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| 12 July 1992
|align="center"| 3:23
|-
|align="center"| 8
| "Left Hand"
| N. Finn
| Vooruit Concertzaal, [[Ghent]], Belgium
| 18 October 1991
|align="center"| 3:14
|-
|align="center"| 9
| "Whispers and Moans"
| N. Finn
| [[Tower Theater (Pennsylvania)|Tower Theater]], [[Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| 3 October 1991
|align="center"| 4:43
|-
|align="center"| 10
| "Kill Eye"
| N. Finn
| [[Tower Theater (Pennsylvania)|Tower Theater]], Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| 3 October 1991
|align="center"| 3:19
|-
|align="center"| 11
| "Fingers of Love"
| N. Finn
| [[Roxy Theatre (Atlanta)|Roxy Theatre]], [[Atlanta]], U.S.
| 14 April 1994
|align="center"| 5:02
|-
|align="center"| 12
| "Don't Dream It's Over"
| N. Finn
| [[Cambridge Corn Exchange]], [[Cambridge]], England
| 6 March 1992
|align="center"| 4:03
|-
|align="center"| 13
| "When You Come"
| N. Finn
| The Civic Theater, Newcastle, Australia
| 20 March 1992
|align="center"| 7:26
|-
|align="center"| 14
| "[[Sister Madly]]"
| N. Finn
| [[Portsmouth Guildhall]], [[Portsmouth]], England
| 23 November 1993
|align="center"| 6:45
|-
|align="center"| 15
| "In My Command"
| N. Finn
| Panzerhalle, [[Munich]], Germany
| 12 December 1993
|align="center"| 4:22
|}
{{reflist|group="note"}}
The album is performed by Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester and Mark Hart, apart from tracks 7, 8, 9 and 10 which feature Tim Finn rather than Hart.

==Charts==
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1996+)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
| {{album chart|Australia|1|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| {{album chart|Austria|43|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| [[Canadian Albums Chart]]<ref>[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.3047&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=2r1ihtreu4n886r1sffbct9ad6 "RPM Top Albums/CDs – Volume 63, No. 24, 29 July 1996"] ''[[Library and Archives Canada]]''</ref>
| align="center"|12
|-
|[[Media Control Charts|German Albums Chart]]<ref name=Wger>[http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Crowded+House/?type=longplay "Chartverfolgung / Crowded House / Longplay"] ''musicline.de''</ref>
|align="center"|57
|-
| {{album chart|Netherlands|10|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| {{album chart|New Zealand|1|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| {{album chart|Norway|5|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| {{album chart|Sweden|43|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| {{album chart|Switzerland|17|artist=Crowded House|album=Recurring Dream|access-date=27 November  2021}}
|-
| [[UK Albums Chart]]<ref name="uklp">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19950219/7502/|title=Official Albums Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company|publisher=Official Charts Company}}</ref>
| align="center"|1
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1996)
!Position
|-
| Australia ([[ARIA Charts]])
| align="center"|6
|-
!Chart (1997)
!Position
|-
| Australia ([[ARIA Charts]])
| align="center"|22
|-
!Chart (2007)
!Position
|-
| Australia ([[ARIA Charts]])
| align="center"|97
|}

===Decade-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2010-2019)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name="ARIAEndofDecade">{{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/2019/end-of-decade-albums-chart|title= 2019 ARIA End of Decade Albums Chart|date=January 2020|access-date=17 January 2020}}</ref>
| 47
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)<ref name="ARIAEndofDecade"/>
| 6
|-
|}

==Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Recurring Dream|artist=Crowded House|type=album|relyear=1996|certyear=2012|region=Australia|award=Platinum|number=13}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|artist=Crowded House|title=Recurring Dream|award=Gold|relyear=1996|certyear=1996|type=album|access-date=July 18, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Recurring Dream|artist=Crowded House|type=album|relyear=1996|certyear=1996|region=Canada|award=Gold}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|artist=Crowded House|title=Recurring Dream|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1996|certyear=1998|access-date=July 16, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|artist=Crowded House|title=Recurring Dream|award=Platinum|relyear=1996|certyear=1997|id=1997-04-04|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|type=album}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|artist=Crowded House|title=Recurring Dream|award=Platinum|number=2|type=album|relyear=1996|certyear=1996|certref=<ref>{{cite book |last=Salaverrie |first=Fernando |date=September 2005 |url=http://www.mediafire.com/file/pd758fesp2w7i7f/Spanish+Certifications+for+1996-1999.pdf |title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 |language=es |edition=1st |location=Madrid |publisher=[[Sociedad General de Autores y Editores|Fundación Autor/SGAE]] |page=942 |isbn=84-8048-639-2 |access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref>}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Recurring Dream|artist=Crowded House|type=album|relyear=1996|certyear=1997|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|number=4|id=5405-1869-2}}
{{Certification Table Summary}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Europe|title=Recurring Dream|artist=Crowded House|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=2000|access-date=July 18, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom}}

== See also ==
* [[List of best-selling albums in Australia]]

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|last=Bourke|first=Chris|title=Crowded House: Something So Strong|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]|location=South Melbourne, Victoria|year=1997|isbn=0-7329-0886-8}}

==References==
'''General'''
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=McFarlane |first=Ian |author-link=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop]] |title=Encyclopedia entry for Crowded House |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=237 |year=1999 |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |location=St Leonards, New South Wales |isbn=1-86508-072-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406102221/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=237 |archive-date=6 April 2004}}
*{{Cite book|last=Bourke|first=Chris|title=Crowded House: Something So Strong|publisher=Macmillan|location=South Melbourne, Victoria|year=1997|isbn=0-7329-0886-8}}

'''Specific'''
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.crowdedhouse.com/ Crowded House official website]

{{Crowded House}}

[[Category:1996 greatest hits albums]]
[[Category:1996 live albums]]
[[Category:Crowded House albums]]
[[Category:Capitol Records compilation albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Tchad Blake]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Mitchell Froom]]
[[Category:ARIA Award–winning albums]]
[[Category:Compilation albums by Australian artists]]