Crowded House Albums in Order: 10 Releases, 1986 to 2024
These are the Crowded House albums in order, all 10 releases from the self-titled debut in 1986 to Gravity Stairs in 2024. Two of them are Finn Brothers records, which sit on the same line because the credits refuse to keep them separate. My research holds 67 credited contributors, each drawn as a named line calling at the records they played on.
Only one of those lines calls at every station, and it is not the one with the most instruments beside it.
The 10 Crowded House Releases in Order, 1986 to 2024
- Crowded House (1986)
- Temple of Low Men (1988)
- Woodface (1991)
- Together Alone (1993)
- Finn (1995), as the Finn Brothers
- Everyone Is Here (2004), as the Finn Brothers
- Time on Earth (2007)
- Intriguer (2010)
- Dreamers Are Waiting (2021)
- Gravity Stairs (2024)
Live albums and compilations are not on the map, and neither is anything released after the artwork was drawn. Everything above is.
Neil Finn Is the Only Line That Calls at Every Station
Neil Finn appears on all ten releases without a break. Vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, Wurlitzer, vibraphone, percussion: the instrument list grows, but the line never stops.
Nick Seymour comes closest, and even he does not manage it. His bass runs across the whole of Crowded House proper, including Gravity Stairs, but he is absent from both Finn Brothers records, so his line has two clean gaps in the middle of the diagram.
On a streaming credit list, Seymour looks continuous. On a wall, you can see exactly where he steps out and where he steps back in.
Paul Hester's Drums Stop at Together Alone
Paul Hester drums on the first four albums, adds backing vocals throughout, and takes the lead vocal himself on "Italian Plastic" on Woodface. On Together Alone in 1993, he is credited with drums, percussion and vocals. Then his line ends.
He left the band during the 1994 tour and died in 2005. When I reached the Time on Earth column of my research sheet, the only thing I had to enter for him was the year.
Time on Earth arrived in 2007, the first Crowded House album made without him, and its drum seat is shared among four different players: Matt Sherrod, Ethan Johns, Rikki Gooch and Joey Waronker. A map shows that kind of absence in a way a tracklist never can.
Mitchell Froom Breaks His Line Twice and Comes Back Twice
My rule on every map I draw is that a production credit alone never earns a musician's line. You get a line if you are credited with playing or singing something, full stop.
Mitchell Froom qualifies easily. He is credited on keyboards on the first three albums, which is why he sits on the map at all rather than in the small print. Then he vanishes: no Froom on Together Alone, in any capacity.
He returns on the Finn Brothers album Everyone Is Here in 2004, disappears again across Time on Earth and Intriguer, and comes back for Dreamers Are Waiting and Gravity Stairs. Two breaks, two returns, spanning thirty-eight years. It is the most restless line on the whole diagram and the clearest illustration of my rule in action.
The One-Album Guests Include Johnny Marr and Joe Satriani
Branch lines are for musicians who call at a single station. Crowded House collected some genuinely surprising ones, and they are the details a fan hunts for once the print is on the wall.
| Musician | Album | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Keltner | Crowded House (1986) | Drums on "Now We're Getting Somewhere" |
| Jerry Scheff | Crowded House (1986) | Bass on "Now We're Getting Somewhere" |
| Joe Satriani | Crowded House (1986) | Backing vocals |
| Richard Thompson | Temple of Low Men (1988) | Guitar solo on "Sister Madly" |
| David Hidalgo | Woodface (1991) | Accordion |
| Johnny Marr | Time on Earth (2007) | Electric guitar, 12-string acoustic, backing vocals |
| Greg Leisz | Intriguer (2010) | Pedal steel on "Elephants" |
Joe Satriani singing backing vocals on the record that gave the world "Don't Dream It's Over" is the one that stops people. Keltner and Scheff turning up together on a single debut-album track is what stops me.
Crowded House Discography Map
Ten releases across 38 years, the band records and the Finn Brothers albums drawn as one transit network.
See This Art PrintTogether Alone Is Where the Branch Lines Pile Up
Recorded at Karekare on New Zealand's west coast, Together Alone brings in more one-off contributors at a single station than any other album on the map. The Te Waka Huia Cultural Group Choir sings on three tracks. Five log drummers appear on the title track and "Private Universe".
A five-piece brass section made up of Clyde Dixon, Stephen Bremner, Laura Astridge, David Bremner and Shaun Jarrett plays on "In My Command" and the title track, and Dror Erez adds accordion to "Walking on the Spot".
Two Split Enz men turn up as well: Eddie Rayner on keyboards for "Kare Kare" and "Pineapple Head", and Noel Crombie on percussion for "Private Universe", seven years after singing backing vocals on the debut. This is the densest point on the print, and where most people's eyes settle first.
Liam and Elroy Finn Arrive as Guests and Leave as Members
On Time on Earth in 2007, Neil's sons appear in the small print. Elroy Finn plays acoustic guitar on four tracks and electric on one. Liam Finn sings harmony vocals on three.
Three years later, Liam plays electric guitar on "Isolation" on Intriguer, and Elroy is absent altogether. Then, on Dreamers Are Waiting in 2021, both are full band members: Liam on guitar, vocals and drums, Elroy on drums, vocals, guitar and keyboards. Both are there again on Gravity Stairs.
Count the Finns, and there are five separate lines here: Neil, Tim, Sharon on backing vocals across four albums, then Liam and Elroy. Tim's own route is worth tracing too. He arrives on backing vocals on Temple of Low Men, becomes a full member on Woodface, drops to two tracks on Together Alone, then reappears only on the Finn Brothers records.
Gravity Stairs Is the Sparsest Record Since the Debut
The 2024 album is the last station on the map, and it is a narrow one. Five names carry it: Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, Liam Finn and Elroy Finn.
Set that against Together Alone, where a choir, a brass section and five log drummers all arrive at once, and the shape of the whole print becomes obvious from the doorway. It starts as a trio, swells enormously in the middle, and finishes as five people, two of whom were not born when the first record came out.
Mark Hart's line is the casualty. He runs through Woodface, Together Alone, Time on Earth and Intriguer, and then stops. The family lines carry on where his ends.
Choosing a Size for a Crowded House Fan
Someone who came in through "Weather With You" will go straight to the middle of the map. A long-haul fan will read the later stations, where the Finn family lines multiply and the guest branches thin out.
| Size | Millimetres | Inches | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 landscape | 594 x 420mm | 23 x 16in | From £42 |
| A1 landscape | 841 x 594mm | 33 x 23in | See product page |
Buyers in the United States are sold the same two prints at 24 x 18in and 36 x 24in instead of the A sizes.
With the Together Alone cluster and the run of Time on Earth guests, A1 is the size I would choose for a milestone birthday, because the branch lines earn the space. A2 unframed is the sensible way in if it is a first gift rather than a landmark one. Both are supplied unframed or in a black wood frame, ready to hang, and every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium acid-free matte fine art paper.
"Brilliant idea."
Billy Bragg, on my discography map series
Questions About the Albums, the Finn Brothers Records and the Guests
How many Crowded House albums are there, in order?
Ten releases sit on this map, in order from 1986 to 2024: eight under the Crowded House name and two as the Finn Brothers. The list above gives each one with its year.
Does the map include the Finn Brothers albums?
Yes. Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004) both appear as stations because Tim and Neil's credits run straight through them. Nick Seymour does not play on either, which is why his line breaks there.
Is Gravity Stairs on it?
Yes, as the final station. Five names are credited on it: Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, Liam Finn and Elroy Finn.
Are Neil Finn's sons on the map?
Yes. Liam and Elroy Finn first appear as guest credits on Time on Earth in 2007 and are full members by Dreamers Are Waiting in 2021, so both get their own named lines.
What is not on the map?
Live albums and compilations are excluded by editorial rule, and so is anything released after the artwork was drawn. The map plots studio records only.
Why is a producer like Mitchell Froom drawn as a musician?
Because he is credited with playing keyboards. On my maps, a production credit alone never earns a line. If someone only sits behind the desk, they are not on the diagram.
Does the map show who played what on each track?
Not on this one. Track-level roles appear only on my Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup album map. The discography maps show which musicians played on which albums, with one-off contributors drawn as short branch lines.
Related Music Maps
Johnny Marr plays on Time on Earth, so my Johnny Marr discography art print is the natural companion, and the two prints share a name across their stations. For another band whose line-up keeps changing while the songwriting stays melodic, the Fleetwood Mac discography art print covers a catalogue with just as much movement.
If the second-generation credits are what caught your eye, bands with brothers sets out the other family pattern across the range.
Ten releases, two Finn generations, sixty-seven credited contributors.
All of it on one sheet, hand-researched from the credits upwards.
The full range is in the music art print collection. Not sure which map they would love most? A gift card for music fans lets them choose.
