Personally I would disagree with the above posts regarding the 2007+ era of Crowded House. I have seen Crowded House several times (1989 Concert of the Decade, 1991, 1993, 1996 Farewell To The World) & I followed everything they did, collected everything I possibly could & I would happily say that nothing will ever beat the 1986 - 1996 era of Crowded House. They were catchy pop songs from a band that were looking for stardom, trying to get somewhere starting from nothing.
The 2007 - 2010 era is very different with 2 albums of fillers that could not be considered to be anywhere near the catchiness of the songs that appeared on the first 4 albums. I even rate the Afterglow album better than Time on Earth & Intriguer.
Time on Earth & Intriguer (for me) were albums where Neil & Nick & Mark did not have anything more to prove as they were never going to reach the same heights of the first 4 albums (with Paulo). It was just a band playing a few new songs to keep the fans happy. They weren't creating anything better, just a new version of Crowded House with different songs that just did not quite fit the same mould as what we have heard previously.
Even though I liked the idea of Crowded House re-uniting, I saw them in 2010 in Brisbane & I did not enjoy it as much as what I should have due to the sound mixing being extremely loud especially knowing that Matt Sherrod likes to really bash the drums & he sounds so much louder than he should which drowns out the sound. I was born hearing impaired & I found my ears were just ringing badly with the sound piercing my eardrums in 2010.
I applaud them for giving it a go but the songs for me are just no match for the pre 2007 releases.