Temple of Low Men
| Temple of Low Men | ||||
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| Studio album by Crowded House | ||||
| Released | July 1988 | |||
| Recorded | Platinum Studio Melbourne, Australia Sunset Sound Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre | Rock, pop rock, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 38:05 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Mitchell Froom | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Crowded House chronology | ||||
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Temple of Low Men is Crowded House's second studio album, released in 1988. The album had five singles, Sister Madly, I Feel Possessed, Into Temptation, When You Come and Better Be Home Soon.
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[edit] Album
Temple of Low Men was produced by Mitchell Froom, recorded by Tchad Blake and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. The cover was created by bassist Nick Seymour. The lyric 'Tongue in the Mail' from the track "Love This Life" gave its name to the band's official mailing list.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Neil Finn.
- "I Feel Possessed" – 3:48
- "Kill Eye" – 3:14
- "Into Temptation" – 4:33
- "Mansion in the Slums" – 3:45
- "When You Come" – 4:45
- "Never Be the Same" – 4:28
- "Love This Life" – 3:36
- "Sister Madly" – 2:52
- "In the Lowlands" – 3:56
- "Better Be Home Soon" – 3:07
[edit] Reception
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]
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.[2]
[edit] Chart performance
| Preceded by '88 Kix On by Various artists |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 25 July – 31 July 1988 |
Succeeded by Age of Reason by John Farnham |
[edit] Album
The album performed well in Australasia, reaching #1 in Australia[3] and #2 in New Zealand.[4] It was certified platinum in Australia (x6), New Zealand (x3), Canada (x2) and Spain.[5] The album was less successful than its predecessor in the US, only reaching #40 in the Billboard 200 album chart.
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[3] | 1 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[6] | 10 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[4] | 2 |
| UK Albums Chart[7] | 138 |
| US Billboard 200[8] | 40 |
The album did not chart in the UK until February 1995.
[edit] Singles
The album's first single, "Better Be Home Soon", was a top ten hit in Australia,[3] New Zealand[4] and Canada,[9] but only reached number 42 in the US.[10] The other singles released from Temple of Low Men were largely commercially unsuccessful.
| Song | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aus | Can | Ned[11] | Ger[12] | NZ[4] | US[10] | |||
| "Better Be Home Soon"[3][9] | 2 | 8 | 31 | 59 | 2 | 42 | ||
| "When You Come"[3] | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Into Temptation"[13] | 67 | — | 20 | — | 38 | — | ||
| "Sister Madly"[13][14] | 81 | 92 | — | — | 26 | — | ||
| "I Feel Possessed"[13] | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||
[edit] Band
- Neil Finn – vocals, guitar
- Nick Seymour – bass, backing vocals
- Paul Hester – drums, backing vocals
[edit] Additional musicians
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[edit] Album credits
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[edit] References
- ^ Woodstra, Chris "Temple of Low Men, Review" Allmusic
- ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
- ^ a b c d e "Discography Crowded House" australian-charts.com
- ^ a b c d "Discography Crowded House" charts.org.nz
- ^ "Temple of Low Men (1988)" crowdedhouse.com
- ^ "RPM Top Albums/CDs – Volume 48, No. 22, 17 September 1988" Library and Archives Canada
- ^ "1994–2008 > Chris C. – CZR" Chart Log UK
- ^ "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Albums" Allmusic
- ^ a b "Top Singles - Volume 48, No. 20, September 03 1988", RPM, Library and Archives Canada
- ^ a b "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Singles" Allmusic
- ^ "DISCOGRAFIE CROWDED HOUSE" dutchcharts.nl
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Crowded House / Single" Musicline.de
- ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top Singles - Volume 50, No. 4, May 22 1989", RPM, Library and Archives Canada
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Crowded House |
Official Crowded House website
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