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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.

Temple of Low Men
Studio album by Crowded House
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
Crowded House (1986) Temple of Low Men (1988) Woodface (1991)
Singles from Temple of Low Men
"Better Be Home Soon" Released: 12 June 1988 "When You Come" Released: August 1988 "Never Be the Same" Released: October 1988 "Into Temptation" Released: December 1988 "Sister Madly" Released: 1989 "I Feel Possessed" Released: 29 January 1990

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".

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Sun-Times	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
Record Mirror	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Village Voice	C[7]

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.[1] 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."[7]

Background

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.[8] 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.[9] Music journalist Ed Nimmervoll claimed that Seymour's temporary departure was because Finn blamed him for causing his writer's block,[10] however Finn cited "artistic differences" as the reason.[9] Seymour said that after a month he contacted Finn and they agreed that he would return to the band.[9]

Composition and recording

Neil Finn wrote all ten tracks for Temple of Low Men during the two years since their first album.[11] 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.

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.[11]

Track listing

Personnel

Crowded House

• Neil Finn – lead vocals, guitar
• Nick Seymour – bass, backing vocals
• Paul Hester – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Tim Finn – backing vocals
• Mitchell Froom – keyboards
• Richard Thompson – guitar solo "Sister Madly"
• Alex Acuña – percussion
• Heart Attack Horns – horns

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988-95)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	1
Canadian Albums Chart[13]	10
Dutch Albums Chart[14]	20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15]	2
UK Albums Chart[16]	99
US Billboard 200[17]	40

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)	Position
Australia (ARIA Charts)	14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[18]	3× Platinum	210,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[19]	Platinum	100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[20]	Platinum	15,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

External links

• Official Crowded House website

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