It is a tribute to Andrew Wood, the former lead singer of Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died on March 19, 1990, of a heroin overdose.

[2] The line-up eventually included Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and newcomers Mike McCready (lead guitar) and Eddie Vedder (background vocals).

The name Temple of the Dog is derived from the opening lyrics of the Mother Love Bone song "Man of Golden Words": "Wanna show you something, like joy inside my heart.

[3] Ament described the collaboration as "a really good thing at the time" for him and Gossard that put them into a "band situation where we could play and make music".

Steve Huey of AllMusic said that the "record sounds like a bridge between Mother Love Bone's theatrical '70s-rock updates and Pearl Jam's hard-rocking seriousness ... Keeping in mind that Soundgarden's previous album was the overblown metallic miasma of Louder Than Love, the accessibly warm, relatively clean sound of Temple of the Dog is somewhat shocking, and its mellower moments are minor revelations in terms of Cornell's songwriting abilities.

[22] AllMusic staff writer Steve Huey wrote: "The album's strength is its mournful, elegiac ballads, but thanks to the band's spontaneous creative energy and appropriately warm sound, it's permeated by a definite, life-affirming aura.

"[17] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ and said: "Maybe because the musicians avoid the often-labored anthems they play with their own bands, the songs sound relaxed and airy without losing any of the crunch or drive of the best arena rock."

He ended by stating: "Singer Chris Cornell's lyrics remain as annoyingly oblique as they are with Soundgarden, but don't worry.

Just sit back and revel in the whomping guitars of Mike McCready and Love Bone member Stone Gossard as they mesh with the imaginative pummeling of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron—the untamed side of the much-hyped Seattle sound, in all its wailing glory.