Temple of Low Men

Last updated

Temple of Low Men
CH-TOLM.jpg
Studio album by
Crowded House
Released5 July 1988
Recorded1987−1988
StudioPlatinum Studio (Melbourne)
Sunset Sound (Los Angeles)
Genre Pop rock, alternative rock, jangle pop
Length38:04
Label Capitol
Producer Mitchell Froom
Crowded House chronology
Crowded House
(1986)		Temple of Low Men
(1988)		 Woodface
(1991)
Singles from Temple of Low Men
  1. "Better Be Home Soon"
    Released: 12 June 1988
  2. "When You Come"
    Released: August 1988
  3. "Into Temptation"
    Released: December 1988
  4. "Sister Madly"
    Released: 1989
  5. "I Feel Possessed"
    Released: 29 January 1990

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.

Contents

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".

Background

The band at the Montreux Pop Festival, May 1988. L to R: Nick Seymour, Neil Finn, Paul Hester. Two months later they released their second album, Temple of Low Men. Ch-montreux.jpg
The band at the Montreux Pop Festival, May 1988. L to R: Nick Seymour, Neil Finn, Paul Hester. Two months later they released their second album, Temple of Low Men.

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]

Composition and recording

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".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Chicago Sun-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Classic Rock 6/10 [7]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
NME 9/10 [10]
Record Mirror 3+1⁄2/5 [11]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
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]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Finn, unless otherwise noted

No.TitleLength
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
2016 reissue adds a 2nd disc: Unreleased and rare material
No.TitleWriter(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

Personnel

Crowded House

Additional musicians

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988-95)Peak
position
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

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)Position
Australia (ARIA Charts)14

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [21] 3× Platinum210,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [22] Platinum100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [23] Platinum15,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowded House</span> Pop rock band

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 include Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn and sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Finn</span> New Zealand musician (born 1958)

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"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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister Madly</span> 1988 single by Crowded House

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Into Temptation (song)</span> 1988 single by Crowded House

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References

  1. ↑ Bourke, Chris (1997). Crowded House: Something So Strong. South Melbourne, Victoria: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   0-7329-0886-8.
  2. 1 2 3 Denton, Andrew (16 July 2007). "Neil Finn and Nick Seymour". Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed. "Crowded House". Howlspace. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 21 February 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums . Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN   978-1-74066-955-9.
  5. 1 2 Woodstra, Chris. "Temple of Low Men – Crowded House". AllMusic . Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  6. ↑ McLeese, Don (18 July 1988). "Crowded House, 'Temple of Low Men' (Capitol)" . Chicago Sun-Times . ISSN   1553-8478 . Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Staunton, Terry (25 October 2016). "Crowded House – 30th Anniversary Reissues album review". Classic Rock . Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Hochman, Steve (17 July 1988). "Crowded House—Hooky, Introspective Pop". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Fyfe, Andy (August 2021). "Home Comforts". Mojo . No. 333. p. 36. ISSN   1351-0193.
  10. ↑ Donegan, Lawrence (30 July 1988). "Crowded House: Temple of the Low Men". NME . p. 29. ISSN   0028-6362.
  11. ↑ Giles, David (6 August 1988). "Crowded House: Temple of Low Men". Record Mirror . p. 31. ISSN   0144-5804.
  12. ↑ DeCurtis, Anthony (14–28 July 1988). "Crowded House: Temple Of Low Men". Rolling Stone . ISSN   0035-791X. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Pinnock, Tom (December 2016). "Crowded House". Uncut . No. 235. p. 52. ISSN   1368-0722.
  14. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (29 November 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice . ISSN   0042-6180 . Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Crowded House – Temple of Low Men". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "RPM Top Albums/CDs – Volume 48, No. 22, 17 September 1988" Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Library and Archives Canada
  17. ↑ "CROWDED HOUSE - CROWDED HOUSE (ALBUM)" Ultratop
  18. ↑ "Charts.nz – Crowded House – Temple of Low Men". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company.
  20. ↑ "Crowded House - Crowded House" Billboard
  21. ↑ "Crowded House at ARIAs". ARIA Charts . 26 May 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  22. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Crowded House – Temple of Low Men". Music Canada.
  23. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Crowded House – Temple of Low Men". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 10 August 2022.
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