Reference guide The band's origins May 1980 Simple Simon / We Are The Vegetables Aug 1980 Live Paris Theatre, Sydney Oct 1980 Inxs (debut album) On A Bus Doctor Just Keep Walking - On TV Learn To Smile Jumping In Vain - live - interview Roller Skating - live Body Language Newsreel Babies Wishy Washy - live Just Keep Walking b-side Scratch Mar 1981 The Loved One/The Unloved One Sept 1981 Stay Young/Lacavocal Oct 1981 Underneath The Colours Stay Young Horizons Big Go Go Underneath The Colours Fair Weather Ahead Night Of Rebellion Follow Barbarian What Would You Do? Just To Learn Again Prehistoria - bside 1982 INXSive Live 8/12/1982 -Sydney Four Corners - Flavour Of The Month After Dark Interview Oct 1982 Shabooh Shoobah - Ad The One Thing - 12" - live - countdown To Look At You - 12" - live 84 Spy Of Love - live Soul Mistake - live Here Comes - live Black And White - live Golden Playpen - live Jan's Song - live Old World New World - live Don't Change - Countdown b-sides Space Shuttle Phantim Of The Opera Sax Thing You Never Used To Cry Here Comes II Go West Long In Tooth 1982 Freedom Soundtrack - with Don Walker Speed Kills Forest Theme Stop The Drop - live Feb 83 Inxs at LA Zoo Mar 1983 Live At Perkins Palace May 1983 US Festival Sept 1983 Dekadance US Black And White 12" To Look At You 12" The One Thing 12" Here Come II new version Apr 1984 The Swing Original Sin - single - video Melting In The Sun - video I Send A Message - single - live - live - live Dancing On The Jetty - video The Swing - live Johnson's Aeroplane Love Is (What I Say) - video - videos Face The Change - live Burn For You - single mix - live All The Voices - video B-sides Jans Song/To Look At You (live) Mechanical The Harbour Johnson's Aeroplane alt. April 1984 Dekadance Original Sin - Dance Mix I Send A Message - ext Burn for You - ext Dancing On The Jetty - remix Melting In The Sun - remix Love Is ( What I Say) - remix Jackson 1985 The Swing And Other Stories (video) The video Merry Christmas (fan club) Oct 1985 Listen Like Thieves What You Need - 12" Listen Like thieves - 12" - video Kiss The Dirt - video - 12" Shine Like It Does - live Good + Bad Times Biting Bullets This Time Three Sisters Same Direction One X One Red Red Sun b-sides Sweet As Sin I'm Over You Different World Begotten Six Knots 1985 The Living Inxs 1985 Oz For Africa Feb 1986 Do What You Do - Pretty In Pink Dec 1986 Dogs In Space Dogs In Space Golf Course The Green Dragon Rooms For The Memory - movie version Jul 1987 Laying Down The Law - Lost Boys 1987 Australian Made 1987 Inxs and Jimmy Barnes Good Times - live Oct 1987 Kick Guns In The Sky - Kookaburra mix - Kick Ass Mix New Sensation - Nick's 12" mix Devil Inside - video - radio edit - 12" mix Need You Tonight - full video - Mendelsohn Mix - Ben Liebrand Mix - Andrew Farris Mediate The Loved One Wild Life Never Tear Us Apart - video - alt. Mystify - video - Chicago demo Kick Calling all Nations - Alt. mix Tiny Daggers b-sides On The Rocks I'm Coming (Home) Move On Aug 6th 1988 Toronto Live 1988 Kick The Video Flick 1989 In Search Of Excellence Sep 1989 Max Q Sometimes - video/straight rock mix -Rock House ext. - dub The Way Of The World - 12" Ghost Of The Year Everything Concrete Zero-2-0 - Terry Todd Remix Soul Engine Buckethead Monday Night By Satellite Tight Ot-Ven-Rot b-sides Love Man Zero 2 0 Sept 1990 X Suicide Blonde - earth - devastation - milk - demolition - 7" nik - performance - video Disappear - 12" - live - Morales Mix The Stairs Faith In Each Other By My Side - demo Lately Who Pays The Price Know The Difference Bitter Tears - 12" -instr On My Way Hear That Sound b-sides Everybody Wants You Tonight Middle Beast What You Need Cold Cut Force The Other Side Soothe Me Nov 1991 Live Baby Live part 1 part 2 part 3
Kirk's extended saxophone intro in Lately sets up a moody atmosphere before the band launches into the track proper. Absolutely stunning. And it's such a shame that after the X tour, INXS never performed this song again. The Loved One always seemed to come off as a band favourite (since they've played it so many times over the years), but not necessarily a fan favourite. Regardless, it works wonders here. INXS exude incredible energy performing Wild Life. And when Michael jumps down into the section between the barrier and the stage to high five and slap the fans' hands in the front, it makes the live rendition even more enjoyable. Mystify was the final single released from Kick (in parts of the world) and was a big hit in the UK for them...and this version shows exactly why that is. Though, admittedly, it seems a bit too up-tempo and rushed. I love when Michael entices the fans to sing the lyrics with him, especially right near the end. The energy level in Bitter Tears hits another high point in the show, partly because it was the new single. And fans clap along in unison addicted to its rhythms/beats. Suicide Blonde is another track from this show where INXS is so in-the-pocket rhythmically, that it rivals Original Sin's performance earlier in the show. What a phenomenal rendition here! What You Need opens up an improvisational/jam section mid-way through, and delights to no end. "Play the ****ing riff Timmy!" Kick has such a wonderful straight-forward, virtual ska, groove to it. And live, it certainly doesn't disappoint.
I know this is an album to album thread but I've been trying to figure out what the best book(s) there are about Hutchence/INXS out there. I ask the experts to offer their opinions if they may.
It's pretty gossipy and the writing is not especially thoughtful...but it's pretty much all there is, right?
I don't think it's that bad, since there is plenty of insight and information included (especially detailing their personal lives) that I wasn't even aware of before reading it. However, there are numerous historical/factual errors...
Just a Man by Tina Hutchence and Patricia Glassop (his sister and mother) is an entertaining but heavily biased autobiography. It focuses more on his upbringing and personal life than the music. Another good read is Kick by Ed St John. This focuses mainly on the music and the band.
Need You Tonight A solid version of this track .... probably the song that lifted Kick into the stratosphere. The sensuality just really captured the imagination of the general public.
Mediate It's interesting to me that they did this one live, it seems more like an album track for effect, rather than a live track .... but it works ok.
-- I remember when that came out. Bought a copy on drastically reduced sale on it's first week out. It's so "wishy-washy" that I got rid of it about 10 years later.
Devil Inside Again the guys do a good job of this .... and I know it just shows my biases, but it seems like Don't Change would be a more up final track .... but this works fine.
Live Baby Live is a solid live album from the band, but I just don't think they dipped into enough of their music. Even if the earlier albums weren't big in the UK, it just seems a little timid to ignore them all. Even though I enjoy Kick and X now, after being more exposed to them, the set just falls flat for me, because to me, the two albums just don't have enough to hold up a whole show. The show starts off so promising, but ends up falling a bit flat for me. As for the technology in the live show. I do somewhat understand the criticisms, but it is mainly due to the fact that in 90/91, the idea of using drum machines and inserts was still very new to the live concert scene. It had been done before, but it was still looked at as cheating. These days there are so many concerts with sequencers, drum machines and backing tapes, nobody thinks twice about it, but back then it wasn't really as acceptable. So for me this is good, but it could have been so much better.
The shots of fans singing/clapping to Need You Tonight / Mediate, are part of what makes these songs work wonders live. There are arguably better live versions but these deliver nonetheless. In this live setting, Never Tear Us Apart taps into the audience's emotionality so well, that I'm glad INXS abruptly bring the song to a halt and wait for several seconds before Kirk launches into his signature sax solo. And this is because it sets up the perfect climax to an already amazing solo! Who Pays The Price is very good live but I don't think it's as good as the studio version with Charlie Musselwhite's harmonica wonderment. However, Andrew pulls off some impressively sweet licks on the instrument that he has rarely included in INXS' songs. And that alone is worth watching/listening to. Devil Inside helps to bring this amazing concert to end with one of the best guitar riffs in music history. The chorus seems a bit rushed. But the instrumental section during final 90 or so seconds always delights, as Michael belts even more lines out like his life depends on it! Since mark probably isn't going to specifically review the additional tracks from the original album release, I'll quickly do that now... Shining Star is the only new song placed (and oddly placed, I might add) on the original LBL album release. I've always enjoyed it. SS includes classic elements you'd come to expect from INXS - and quite a funny music video to go along with it. It was a top 40 hit for them in a handful of countries. One X One is much superior live than the original LLT version. Mostly because it's a bit more up-tempo. Which I think benefits the track greatly. And of course, it's catchy as hell. Burn For You & The One Thing are also superior to the original album versions, primarily because the live production is far more organic and doesn't sound dated like parts of the originals do. This Time is almost better live. But the only thing that gets in the way of that happening, is that it's too up-tempo. Despite its tracklisting / sequencing flaws, as well as its quaint oddities ("He's got no pants on!", "Flowers not finance...oh...oh...oh", and let's not forget their Tom Jones cover, It's Not Unusual, that fades out at the end of the album) the original LBL album is a very good listen and contains some of the best live versions of classic and semi-obscure songs INXS ever performed. It's a great audio document of the 1990-1991 X tour (that saw INXS play 110 shows to 1.2 million people and grossed around $25 million in only 9 months). And of course, the LBL concert film is simply one of the best in history (I can only think of a handful that equal it)... Here are my song ratings for Live Baby Live ~ 4.55/5 Guns In The Sky ~ 4.5/5 New Sensation ~ 4.5/5 I Send A Message ~ 4.5/5 The Stairs ~ 4/5 Know The Difference ~ 3.5/5 Disappear ~ 4.5/5 By My Side ~ 4.5/5 Hear That Sound ~ 4.5/5 Original Sin ~ 5/5 Lately ~ 4.5/5 The Loved One ~ 4.5/5 Wild Life ~ 4.5/5 Mystify ~ 4/5 Bitter Tears ~ 5/5 Suicide Blonde ~ 5/5 What You Need ~ 5/5 Kick ~ 5/5 Need You Tonight ~ 4.5/5 Mediate ~ 4/5 Never Tear Us Apart ~ 5/5 Who Pays The Price ~ 4/5 Devil Inside ~ 4.5/5 Shining Star* ~ 4.5/5 One X One* ~ 5/5 Burn For You* ~ 5/5 The One Thing* ~ 5/5 This Time* ~ 4.5/5 * only on original LBL album
Ok, so I forgot that the album had a different set of tracks on it...... "Oh dopey me" "Shining Star" Single by INXS from the album Live Baby Live B-side "I Send a Message" (live) Released 2 November 1991 Recorded 1991 Genre Alternative rock Length 3:52 Label Atlantic, Mercury Records, EastWest Songwriter(s) Andrew Farriss Producer(s) Mark Opitz "Shining Star" is a song by Australian popular rock band INXS and was the only single issued from the band's live album, Live Baby Live, released in November 1991. It is the one new studio track recorded for the album and it peaked at No. 21 on the ARIA Singles Chart,[1] No. 27 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's ninth Top 40 single. In the United States, it peaked at No. 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 14 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, but did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100. 7"/12"/Cassette EP/CD Mercury/Europe, Atlantic/US, EastWest/Japan "Shining Star" "Send a Message" (Live) "Faith In Each Other" (Live) "Bitter Tears" (Live) 12"/Cassette EP/CD EastWest/Australia "Shining Star" "Send a Message" (Live) "Bitter Tears" (Live) "The Loved One" (Live) Chart (1991) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[1] 21 Belgian Singles Chart[2] 37 Canadian Singles Chart 26 Dutch Singles Chart[3] 40 German Singles Chart 47 Swiss Singles Chart[4] 24 UK Singles Chart 31 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 14 U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do vaguely remember this track coming out. We open with a groove built on the bass and drums. Hutchence opens with with a semi-rap kind of delivery. It feels like the vocal is against the rhythm until we get to the first chorus. It's not a bad track, but it isn't exactly in their best tracks. It kind of rambles a little, and it seems like it could have done with some focusing
One X One This is a good track for a concert. It has a relentless beat and a cool groove that translates well live.
Burn For You It would be hard to imagine an Australian concert without this track. We get the nice atmospheric build, and then some great layered rhythms. It could just be youtube, but it doesn't sound like a great recording.
The One Thing It seems hard to believe that this song and Don't Change would be left off the Wembley video. They are songs taylormade for concert performance, and it is hard to imagine that the audience wouldn't have been drawn into them.
When looking at the album tracks that are different, for me the Wembley concert would have been a lot better with these tracks included. I have never had this live album, but from the youtube links, it sounds like the tracks fade up .... that's unacceptable for a live album. The audience noise should at the very least be crossfaded. The studio track on the live album is just a bit odd. It is certainly not the first time an artist has put a new studio track on a live album, but for me it always seems a little odd, and doesn't really work. When listening to Shining Star, it sounds a little rushed, and could have done with a little bit of a rearrangement .... I kind of feel it should have been held over until a new album was ready, and then judged accordingly with the other songs.... to which I assume it would have ended up a b-side.
Shining Star -- 3/5. There is a better song hiding in there somewhere. No lasting impact -- a treading water song, but we get a bit of sax though. Putting a studio track on a live album is very odd to me, like Wild Boys on Duran's Arena album.
For me, Shining Star is a notable boundary line in their career. It's almost shocking in its laziness and would have been a bad album track, let alone a lead single. This is what autopilot sounds like, much moreso than the singles from X. They did some great things afterward but now they would be the exception, not the norm.
