INXS: Biography
INXS hailed from the pubs of Australia, which is part of the reason the band never comfortably fit in
with new wave. Even when they branched out into synth pop on their early recordings, they were
underpinned by a hard, Stonesy beat and lead singer Michael Hutchence's Jagger-esque strut.
Ultimately, these were the very things that made INXS into international superstars in the late '80s.
By that time, the group had harnessed its hard rock, dance, and new wave influences into a sleek,
stylish groove that made its 1987 album, Kick, a multi-million-selling hit. While that sound was their
key to stardom, it also proved to be their undoing; INXS became boxed in by their Stonesy pop-funk
in the early '90s, when their audience became entranced by harder-edged alternative rock. In spite
of declining sales, they soldiered on, continuing to tour and record for a dedicated fan base until
Hutchence's 1997 death brought the band's heyday to a close.
Appropriately for a band that featured three brothers, INXS had their roots in a family act, the
Farriss Brothers. The group came together while keyboardist Andrew Farriss, the middle brother,
was attending high school with vocalist Michael Hutchence. The two formed a band with bassist
Gary Beers. Simultaneously, guitarist Tim Farriss was playing in various groups with his friend,
guitarist/saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. Eventually, the two groups merged in 1977, with Jon Farriss
joining the unified lineup as drummer. Two years later, when Jon graduated from high school,
the band renamed itself INXS, moved from Perth to Sydney, and began to play the pub circuit.
Within a year, the group landed an Australian record contract and released an eponymous
debut on Deluxe in 1980.
INXS and Underneath the Colours (1981) became Australian hits, leading the band to an American
contract with Atco Records. In 1983, they released their U.S. debut, Shabooh Shoobah, and embarked
on an extensive tour which, thanks to the hit single "Don't Change," made them minor new wave stars.
For their next album, INXS recorded a few sessions with producer Nile Rodgers, which resulted in the
sleek, funky "Original Sin," the first inclination that the band was making a move toward a fusion of
Stonesy rock and dance music. "Original Sin" made 1984's The Swing a minor hit, yet the group didn't
have a genuine mainstream breakthrough until 1985's Listen Like Thieves, which climbed to number 11
in the U.S. on the strength of the single "What You Need."
Listen Like Thieves laid the groundwork for Kick, the album that made INXS international superstars.
Released late in 1987, Kick worked its way to multi-platinum status over the course of 1988,
as four singles -- the number one "Need You Tonight," "Devil Inside," "New Sensation," and
"Never Tear Us Apart" -- climbed into the U.S. Top Ten. In the wake of the album's success,
Hutchence was hailed in some quarters as the heir to Jagger's throne, and the group was considered
to rival U2 in terms of international popularity. However, such success went to the group's head.
Hutchence released the "experimental" side project Max Q in early 1990, and the record tanked.
X, INXS' follow-up to Kick, appeared in the fall of 1990 to mostly negative reviews. While the album
generated several hits, including "Disappear" and "Bitter Tears," only its first single, "Suicide Blonde,"
reached the Top Ten in the U.S., and the sales of X were disappointing when compared to Kick.
X hurt INXS' momentum considerably. Although the group was still quite popular on its accompanying tour --
the 1991 live album Live Baby Live was recorded at Wembley Stadium, the second largest stadium in Europe --
the group could no longer be considered in the same league as U2 or R.E.M. Hutchence continued to live a
jet-setting lifestyle, dating Kylie Minogue and various supermodels, which did not wear well in the wake of
alternative rock's commercial breakthrough in 1992. By the time INXS released Welcome to Wherever You Are,
their most adventurous record, they were out of date in 1992, and even a rash of reviews that favorably
compared the record to U2's Achtung Baby couldn't make it a hit. Full Moon, Dirty Hearts followed in 1993 and was
generally ignored. Following its release, INXS left Atlantic's roster, releasing Greatest Hits as their last album for the label.
INXS signed with PolyGram in 1994, yet it took them three years to release a new album. During that time, Hutchence
was involved in several tabloid scandals, most notably his love affair with British TV personality Paula Yates
(which brought an end to her marriage to Bob Geldof), and he hinted that he was recording a solo album.
That record didn't materialize, but INXS returned in the spring of 1997 with Elegantly Wasted. While the album
was greeted with poor reviews, its hedonistic dance-rock was better suited to the late '90s than the early '90s,
which made the record the group's biggest hit since X. On November 22 of that year, however, Hutchence was
found dead in his Sydney hotel room, the victim of an apparent hanging. His long-in-the-works solo debut was
posthumously issued in late 1999.
Terence Trent D'Arby took the frontman role for an abbreviated set at the opening of Sydney's Stadium Australia
in 1999, and Jon Stevens filled the spot for occasional gigs that took place through the end of 2003. The latter
singer eventually left to pursue a solo career. INXS remained quiet throughout the following year, but in 2005
they teamed up with reality show maverick Mark Burnett to launch Rock Star: INXS, a global TV show that aimed
to find a permanent replacement for Hutchence. The winner was J.D. Fortune, a former Elvis impersonator from
Canada. Fortune joined INXS, sang on their 2005 album Switch, and participated in the accompanying world tour.
Switch only charted well in Fortune's native Canada, though, and his cocaine habit drove a wedge between
Fortune and his bandmates as the tour wound down. Another period of inactivity followed. When INXS returned
in 2010, they did so with a long list of guest vocalists, retaining Fortune as the official frontman but enlisting stars
like Rob Thomas and Ben Harper to appear on their next album, Original Sin, which featured reworked versions
of the band's past hits.
Album Review (c/o Amazon)
"X" was the natural follow-up to the outstanding breakthrough album of INXS, "Kick".
"X" is more polished, less spontaneous. As if the sextet is really wanting to do "the right thing".
But this may exactly be the weakness of this album! 'Cause the refreshingly youthful spontanity
of the songs on "Kick" is missing here.
Still, there are a number of really great rock compositions on this one. Like the powerful hit and opener
Suicide Blonde with the crispy harmonica, the nearly symphonic semi-ballad By My Side, or the album's
best track The Stairs where Michael Hutchences great way of singing comes through even more catching
than on the other songs.
"X" is one of the two INXS albums you MUST own!
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INXS - X (2011 Remastered)
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Artist......................................: INXS
Album........................: X (2011 Remastered)
Genre.....................,.................: Rock
Source........................................: CD
Year........................................: 2011
Ripper: NMR
Codec...............................: LAME 3.98
Version......................: MPEG 1 Layer III
Quality.......: Insane, (avg. bitrate: 320kbps)
Channels....................: Stereo / 44100 HZ
Tags...........: ID3 v1.1, ID3 v2.3, APE v2,000
Information..: 2011 Remastered Edition of INXS 1990 album "X"
Ripped by..........................: NMR
Posted by..............: BSW on 7/7/2011
News Server..........: news.astraweb.com
News Group(s).: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.metal.full.albums
Included..............: NFO, SFV, M3U
Covers........................: Front
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Tracklisting
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1. Suicide Blonde [03:53]
2. Disappear [04:10]
3. The Stairs [04:56]
4. Faith In Each Other [04:09]
5. By My Side [03:06]
6. Lately [03:37]
7. Who Pays The Price [03:37]
8. Know The Difference [03:18]
9. Bitter Tears [03:49]
10. On My Way [02:55]
11. Hear That Sound [04:07]
Playing Time.................: 41:43
Total Size................: 96.70 MB
NFO generated on.....: 7/7/2011 10:03:11 PM
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Barcode (Text): 6 02527 70641 2
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:: Generated by Music NFO Builder v1.21a - www.nfobuilder.com ::
