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Crowded House’s second album Temple Of Low Men was released in 1988 and commercially, would be a good example of the musical “sophomore slump”. It didn’t sell as well as the previous album, and the band actually briefly disbanded.
I remember eagerly anticipating this album and for a time I considered it my favorite, but as the years have gone on, I’m not so sure. I find I’m drawn to the friendlier tunes and variety on Crowded House and Woodface.
The album has a unified and complex sound, but most of the songs are mid tempo and aren’t accessible or straight forward. Still, Better Be Home Soon is one of my favorite Crowded House songs, and Sister Madly and Into Temptation still make the grade. At only ten songs it’s a tight package of decent - if unexciting - quality.
I Feel Possessed
= 3 stars
The chromatic electric keyboard noodling is pretty neat, but it’s hard to get excited about this mid-tempo opener.
Kill Eye
= 3 stars
Better, but indicative of how this album is more mood and aura than trying to impress anyone.
Into Temptation
= 5 stars
Downbeat, sad, moody, and beautiful. One of the best songs on the album. Remember the piano chord on the IV.
Mansion In The Slums
= 2 stars
Interesting, but nothing special. Not a fan of this one, as it seems to be a down tempo Hole In The River.
When You Come
= 3 stars
Maybe I’m just perverted but this title has always bugged me. The chorus is reminiscent of the previous album’s Tombstone. The song does eventually get rocking, burning, and exploding near its end; it just takes an awfully long time to get there.
The song’s video features Crowded House goofing off in Japan which has absolutely nothing to do with the song:
Never Be The Same
= 4 stars
The first upbeat tune of the album, yet still comes across as rather business-like. There’s a nice harmony vocal contributed by Tim Finn that foreshadows Woodface. I like the way the title includes a nice falsetto on “be”. Also nice are the group vocals at (3.03). But things never seem to gel into something truly remarkable.
Love This Life
= 3 stars
Starting with an odd chant, the song eventually gets to chord progression with a bass line that reminds me of Tears for Fears. However, the song in total sounds like other songs on the album leaving it rather unremarkable.
Sister Madly
= 5 stars
In the absence of the rockabilly sound from the previous album, here’s a pitch-perfect cabaret shuffle born of Now We’re Getting Somewhere. I love how “madly” works as an adverb or the sister’s name, and how title rhymes with “systematically.” The perfect guitar solo is by Richard Thompson.
In The Lowlands
= 2 stars
Creepy with some spinning bat sounds, but not much else to say. Some askew guitar lines backed by odd strings and horns enter at 2.56.
Better Be Home Soon
= 5 stars
This is a perfect tune that is described by some as a country song, which I never really realized of until years later. The accompaniment with just guitar, moves into fuller production on the second verse, but the really nice part for me is the joining vocals at 1.11, and then the cascade into the bridge which is when the drums finally start. The organ solo enters at 1.55 that is similar in emotion to Don’t Dream It’s Over to with a nice flange, we’re back in a third and final verse.
The video is also pretty cool:
Intra Album Rank: 3.5
Wikipedia: Temple of Low Men
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This is probably my least favorite Crowded House album. The only songs I really like, off the top of my head, from this album are Into Temptation and I Feel Possessed (I think I like the latter more than you). For some reason I never got into You Better Be Home Soon so much. Though it’s one of the best cuts on the album.
Kill Eye — I just don’t like that song much at all.
Yeah I think as I look ahead to how the “Intra Album Ranking” goes this album is going to be at the bottom. Even with only 10 songs, it feels longer.
Comments on the songs w/ videos:
Into Temptation: Gorgeous in a tormented way. After ‘we can go sailing in –’ you think the sun might come out, but — it doesn’t.
When You Come: I agree it gets better when the intensity grows and the melody changes (when he goes up on ‘thunderclap’ line).
Better Be Home Soon: Love this song. Earnest yet heartbreaking. Perfect ending.
Yeah I think the tricky thing with many of theses Temple of Low Men songs is each has great moments but they don’t really grab me. The last part of When You Come is great but everything building up to it is kinda average.
Better Be Home Soon I still really love!
I think you underrate this album, perhaps because it is moody. These are ten very strong songs, which represent the arrival of Neil’s mature songwriting style. In particular his lyrics really stand out, especially Kill Eye and Mansion in the Slums. Love This Life features one of Neil’s most memorable lines “Seal my fate/I get your tongue in the mail/No one is wise/until they see how it lies.” When I first heard this back in 1988 I took a while to warm up to it, but all these years later it is second only to Woodface for me.
Listen closely to the lyrics of When You Come. This IS Neil’s hommage to the female orgasm. The build up at end and “burning and exploding” are the icing on the cake. Possibly the most erotic song he ever wrote! One of my favs.
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