Crowded House 2: Temple Of Low Men

The first album by Crowded House deservedly brought singer/songwriter Neil Finn more sales and airplay than anything he’d done with Split Enz. The pressure was on for their follow-up, and the demands common to The Difficult Second Album tower over Temple Of Low Men. He gets right to the heart of the matter on “Mansion In The Slums”, ruminating on the double-edged sword of “success” and its enticements.

The songs fall generally in a minor key, suggesting personal turmoil, particularly on “I Feel Possessed” and “Into Temptation”. (While Neil has now been married to his wife Sharon going on thirty years, perhaps there was some “straying”, shall we say, during his trips around the globe.) Similarly, the sample of someone whispering “I need you… forgive me” at the start of “Kill Eye” only adds to the aural freakshow in the song.

The soaring “When You Come” (despite the suggestive title) and “Never Be The Same” boast aching hooks and fantastic harmonies, taken to an even greater level on the beaten determination to “Love This Life”. The mildly rockabilly “Sister Madly” sports a guitar solo by Richard Thompson in between wordplay designed to confound (“Sister madly waking up the dead/Systematically stepping on my head”). “In The Lowlands” seems to rise out of a rainstorm, with the narrator trying to reach a safe haven from wherever he is. All of which dovetails nicely with “Better Be Home Soon”, rewarding the patient listener with a melody, harmony and organ solo that earn the label “Classic Crowded House”.

With its explorations on temptation, guilt and insecurity, Temple Of Lo Mein (as we like to call it) has a much darker mood all around than the sunny singles from the debut, and could easily repel the casual listener. But that’s unfortunate, as they’d miss out on some great material. At ten tracks and only the slightest extra color from producer Mitchell Froom, it’s a compact gem. The album was not a commercial success, save perhaps “Better Be Home Soon”, and it didn’t help when the band had to make videos for the likes of “Into Temptation”, which pitted Neil’s earnest lyrics against Paul and Nick clowning in the background.

The Deluxe Edition includes a variety of demos of songs-in-progress (this time the sneak peek is for “Whispers And Moans”, which would transform somewhat before showing up on the next album). Half of the disc is devoted to live recordings, some of which had made onto B-sides. Three Byrds classics performed with Roger McGuinn put the band in a much more complimentary light than the guy they’re backing; the interplay amongst the trio, during and between songs, show just how much fun they must have been to see onstage.

Crowded House Temple Of Low Men (1988)—4
2016 Deluxe Edition: same as 1988, plus 21 extra tracks