Temple of Low Men | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 5 July 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1987−1988 | |||
Studio | Platinum Studio (Melbourne) Sunset Sound (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | Pop rock, alternative rock, jangle pop | |||
Length | 38:04 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Mitchell Froom | |||
Crowded House chronology | ||||
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Singles from Temple of Low Men | ||||
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Temple of Low Men is the second studio album by New Zealand-Australian rock band Crowded House, released by Capitol Records on 5 July 1988. The three band members, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester, recorded the album in Melbourne and Los Angeles with Mitchell Froom as producer. Finn had written all ten tracks during the two years since their self-titled debut. Temple of Low Men peaked at number one in Australia, number two in New Zealand, number ten in Canada and number 40 on the US Billboard 200.
At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 the group won four categories: Album of the Year and Best Group for Temple of Low Men; Best Cover Art for Seymour's work; and Song of the Year for "Better Be Home Soon".
Crowded House and Neil Finn, as their main songwriter, were under pressure to create a second album to match their self-titled debut from June 1986; the band joked that one potential title for the new release was Mediocre Follow-Up. [1] Eventually titled Temple of Low Men, their second album was released in July 1988 with strong promotion by Capitol Records.
Crowded House undertook a short tour of Australia and Canada to promote the album, with Eddie Rayner (former Split Enz bandmate of Hester and Finn) as a touring member on keyboards. Multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart (ex-Supertramp) replaced Rayner in January 1989. After the tour, Finn fired Seymour from the band. [2] Music journalist Ed Nimmervoll claimed that Seymour's temporary departure was because Finn blamed him for causing his writer's block, [3] however Finn cited "artistic differences" as the reason. [2] Seymour said that after a month he contacted Finn and they agreed that he would return to the band. [2]
Neil Finn wrote all ten tracks for Temple of Low Men during the two years since their first album. [4] It was produced by Mitchell Froom, recorded by Tchad Blake and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. The cover was created by Seymour. The lyric 'Tongue in the Mail' from the track "Love This Life" gave its name to the band's official mailing list. Richard Thompson performed the solo on "Sister Madly".
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Sun-Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Classic Rock | 6/10 [7] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 9/10 [10] |
Record Mirror | 3+1⁄2/5 [11] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | 6/10 [13] |
The Village Voice | C [14] |
AllMusic praised Temple of Low Men, but noted a change of tone from the previous album, saying, "The material on Temple of Low Men demonstrates great leaps in quality over its predecessor, it is a darkly difficult album ... Finn digs into the depths of his emotional psyche with obsessive detail, crafting a set of intense, personal songs ... Through all of this introspective soul-searching, Finn reveals most of all his true mastery of melody. [5] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice panned the album as being buried in sanctimonious self-pity, and commented that "Finn has neglected the only thing he has to offer the world: perky hooks." [14]
In October 2010, Temple of Low Men was listed at number 71 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums , with the band's next album, Woodface at No. 3. [4]
All tracks are written by Neil Finn, unless otherwise noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "I Feel Possessed" | 3:48 |
2. | "Kill Eye" | 3:14 |
3. | "Into Temptation" | 4:33 |
4. | "Mansion in the Slums" | 3:45 |
5. | "When You Come" | 4:45 |
6. | "Never Be the Same" | 4:28 |
7. | "Love This Life" | 3:36 |
8. | "Sister Madly" | 2:52 |
9. | "In the Lowlands" | 3:56 |
10. | "Better Be Home Soon" | 3:07 |
Total length: | 38:04 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Whispers and Moans (Home Demo)" | 2:03 | |
2. | "Never be the Same (Home Demo)" | 1:19 | |
3. | "Dream On (Home Demo)" | 1:31 | |
4. | "Never Been Born (Rehearsal Excerpt)" | 1:01 | |
5. | "Think I'm Gonna Change (Home Demo)" | 1:43 | |
6. | "Into Temptation (Home Demo)" | 2:17 | |
7. | "Fire Will Keep Me Warm (In the Lowlands Home Demo)" | 1:25 | |
8. | "Love This Life (Home Demo)" | 2:25 | |
9. | "Sister Madly (Studio Outtake)" | 3:30 | |
10. | "Mansion in the Slums (Live)" | 4:47 | |
11. | "This is Massive (Live)" | Paul Hester | 4:02 |
12. | "Love This Life (Live)" | 3:41 | |
13. | "In the Lowlands (Live)" | 6:21 | |
14. | "I Feel Possessed (Live)" | 6:11 | |
15. | "Burnt Out Tree (Live)" | 1:27 | |
16. | "Mr. Tambourine Man (Live)" | Bob Dylan | 2:35 |
17. | "Eight Miles High (Live)" | Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby | 4:50 |
18. | "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (Live)" | Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn | 2:49 |
19. | "When You Come (live)" | 7:06 | |
20. | "Sister Madly (Live)" | 4:59 | |
21. | "Better Be Home Soon (Live)" | 5:11 | |
Total length: | 71:13 |
Chart (1988-95) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [15] | 1 |
Canadian Albums Chart [16] | 10 |
Dutch Albums Chart [17] | 20 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [18] | 2 |
UK Albums Chart [19] | 99 |
US Billboard 200 [20] | 40 |
Chart (1988) | Position |
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Australia (ARIA Charts) | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [21] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [22] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [23] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [24] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members included Finn's brother Tim who was in their former band together Split Enz, sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.
Neil Mullane Finn is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz, of which he shared lead duties with his brother Tim, and the lead singer, guitarist, and a founding member of Crowded House. He has also been a member of Fleetwood Mac since 2018. Ed O'Brien of Radiohead has hailed Finn as popular music's "most prolific writer of great songs".
Paul Newell Hester was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for their last year together from December 1983 to December 1984, and co-founding member and drummer of the band Crowded House.
Nicholas More Seymour is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitarist in the rock band Hunters and Collectors.
Woodface is the third studio album by Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol Records in July 1991. It features five singles: "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "It's Only Natural", "Weather with You", and "Four Seasons in One Day". Woodface was a major hit in Australia and New Zealand as well as giving the band their first top ten hit album in the UK. It was listed at No. 3 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums in October 2010. It was voted number 80 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
Together Alone is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. It was released in October 1993 and was their first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full band member. Unlike the band's first three albums, which were recorded in the US and Australia and produced by Mitchell Froom, Together Alone was recorded in New Zealand with producer Youth. Six singles were released from Together Alone, including "Distant Sun", which was a top 10 hit in New Zealand and Canada, and "Locked Out" which reached number 12 on the UK singles chart and number 8 on the US Modern Rock chart, the latter on the strength of the song's inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Reality Bites.
Crowded House is the debut album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. Produced by Mitchell Froom, it was released in August 1986 and was certified platinum in four countries. The album includes the hit singles "Don't Dream It's Over", "Something So Strong", "Mean to Me", "World Where You Live" and "Now We're Getting Somewhere".
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", and "Everything Is Good for You".
"Better Be Home Soon" is a song written by Neil Finn and performed by rock band Crowded House. It appears on their second studio album, Temple of Low Men, which was later released in July 1988. The song was issued as a single in June 1988 by Capitol Records, peaking at number two on the Australian and New Zealand charts, number one on Canada's The Record chart, and number 42 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Something So Strong" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and Mitchell Froom and performed by Crowded House for their eponymous debut album. The track was released as the album's fifth and final single in April 1987. The single peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 3 in New Zealand, No. 7 in the United States Billboard Hot 100, and No. 10 on the Canadian RPM 100.
"Sister Madly" is a 1988 song by rock group Crowded House. It was released as the third single from the group's second album Temple of Low Men in New Zealand, and as the fourth single from the album in Australia.
"When You Come" is a song by rock group Crowded House and was released in August 1988 on Capitol Records as the second Australian single from their second album Temple of Low Men. The song peaked at #27 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Both B sides, "Something So Strong" and "Better Be Home Soon" were previously released as singles. All songs were written by band leader Neil Finn except "Something So Strong" by Finn and record producer, Mitchell Froom. In UK and European markets, "Sister Madly" was released as the second single from Temple of Low Men, also in August.
"Into Temptation" is a song by Australasian rock group Crowded House. It was the third single from the group's second album, Temple of Low Men (1988). The single peaked at number 59 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in January 1989 and reached the top 20 in the Netherlands.
"I Feel Possessed" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and performed by Australian band Crowded House for their album Temple of Low Men. The song was the final single released from the album. The song later appeared on the group's greatest hits collection Recurring Dream.
"Fall at Your Feet" is a 1991 song by Crowded House, from their 1991 album, Woodface. It is the only single from Woodface to be written solely by the group's leader Neil Finn, who co-wrote all other singles from the album with his brother Tim Finn. It peaked at number 17 in the UK, making it Woodface's second most successful single behind the follow-up, "Weather with You".
"Instinct" is a 1996 song by rock group Crowded House. It was the first single released from the group's greatest hits compilation Recurring Dream in the United Kingdom, and the third and final release in Australia. It was a top-20 hit in New Zealand and the UK, peaking at number 17 and number 12, respectively. In Australia, "Instinct" peaked at number 90 on the ARIA Singles Chart in March 1997, spending two non-consecutive weeks in the top 100.
Spring Break '87 is a 1987 concert performed by Australian rock group Crowded House at Daytona Beach, Florida, United States.
The Very Very Best of Crowded House is a compilation album featuring 19 singles from the period spanning Crowded House's first five studio albums. A CD and DVD box set is available, which includes a DVD of 25 of the band's music videos. The album is also available as a 'Deluxe Digital Version' which features 32 tracks including a rare 1987 live recording of the band's cover version of the Hunters & Collectors song "Throw Your Arms Around Me".
Goin' Your Way is a live album collaboration recorded by Neil Finn and Paul Kelly during a performance at the Sydney Opera House on 10 March 2013. It was released on 8 November as a stand-alone 2× CD, Blu-ray or DVD; or in a Limited Edition Deluxe version with all three formats. From 18 February to 18 March, Finn and Kelly undertook a joint tour of Australia, they performed tracks from their respective careers, including re-interpreting each other's work. The CD album peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart while the DVD reached No. 1 on the related Music DVD Chart.
Dreamers Are Waiting is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band Crowded House, released on 4 June 2021 through EMI Music Australia. It is their first studio album since 2010's Intriguer, with the band reuniting with producer Mitchell Froom, who is now also the band's keyboardist, for the first time since Recurring Dream (1996). It is also Crowded House's first album with Neil Finn's sons Liam and Elroy as members of the group.