The Strangest Party I really like this. It has an air of confidence about it despite the group being at a crossroads. I think the chorus comes in a bit too early but apart from that it's great. It was a modest hit in the UK too which shows that they still had a sizeable fanbase buying their records. It would also be their final single release for almost three years.
Deliver Me For years I thought this was a track from the 80's as it is very similar to the INXS sound of that era. Not one of my favourites but I do think the demo is superior to the finished version
Worth noting that the new Greatest Hits songs marked a reunion with Chris Thomas, probably in hope of a return to previous commercial heights. They're both totally fine, everybody's on good form, just missing that extra something to make them indelible. It's almost like they became so good at elevating ordinary songs through their performances, they stopped writing consistently excellent stuff?
The Strangest Party This is one of their top singles in the 90’s. Mind you, I never heard this in the 90’s, as I wasn’t into the idea of buying a greatest hits album for two new songs and US radio wasn’t into playing INXS any longer, but when I did hear it much later I realized I had missed out and then got the single for it. The single has some more good remixes of the title track and others and also a non-album Bside. The Strangest Party is exotic, with that percussion hit playing in the forefront, horn hits and very well done guitar bits. They’ve got a very appealing sound here and thematically it feels like the lyrics are part of the FM, DH sessions even though this is an excellent Chris Thomas production. With a songs like this, in addition to Cut Your Roses Down, and Wishing Well I hear an updated INXS sound in the 90’s that I wish I’d heard even more of. They chased a more direct grungy guitar sound on their rock tracks, but on their dancier club-oriented songs they really achieved a nice balance of incorporating the newer 90’s production sounds with their own unique approach. Deliver Me This one, on the other hand, feels like a leftover from the X sessions that still hasn’t quite jelled. @Interpolantics is right - the demo might be better. Thanks for linking to that. The demo actually achieves what is missing from the finished track: a bit of funky swagger. On the finished track the electronics somewhat bury this. I’m just guessing on the origins of both songs. Does anyone know for sure where they originated?
Strangest Party delivers the goods. It’s a helluva track. Any album they released in the 90’s would benefit from its presence, and I include WTWYA on that list even though it’s a damn near perfect album. Deliver Me - meh. I’m with you on that one.
It's kind of a bad lyric, though. "These are the times/these are the crimes" is a pretty blah statement. Toward the end they had some pretty killer tracks with convoluted sentiments in the chorus ("Please, you got that need" being one of the more nonsensical) that make the songs a little more...inaccessible (puts on sunglasses).
Strangest Party, had a remix (by Apollo 440), in my opinion it's one of their best 'electronic' remixes, I almost like it better than the single version. There was also some of the Deliver me Demo on the Mystify soundtrack...
“Strangest Party” and “Deliver Me” are exactly the kinds of tracks that usually end up as the “new” songs on compilation albums… they’re decent enough, but nothing special. People who aren’t mega fans of the band who only “need” the hits won’t be offended by these songs, and the big fans who bought the compilation just to get the 2 new songs will enjoy them, but after the dopamine hit of hearing new music wears off, you’re likely to forget these tracks existed. “Strangest Party” is definitely the better of the two, but that’s not saying a whole lot, either. I’m fine with them though; there are very, very few “Last Dance With Mary Jane”’s.
Strangest Party and Deliver Me. As stated above, these two songs do -- nothing -- for me. They have never stuck out to me. I think a month after buying this on cassette, I lost it. Didn't bother on picking it up again. I still haven't even downloaded these two songs either. They are okay, but 99 percent of their catalogue during this time has the same style and much better.
Dude, you are right on about that Apollo 440 remix. It’s just about my favorite INXS remix of the decade. It takes the song in a whole other direction. I assume there will be a separate posting for the single since right now we are just talking about the Gteatest Hits “album”.
INXS hired Chris Thomas again (producer of LLT, Kick & X) to produce the two new tracks from The Greatest Hits. The studio version of The Strangest Party (These Are The Times) takes on quite a different feel in tempo, looseness and dynamic range than compared to its live versions (which there aren't many, since INXS only played it live a few times in the fall of 1994 when promoting TGH). Whereas, live, they performed it with a more up-tempo & tighter feel. In fact, because both versions contain a selection of very different but beneficial components, I can't quite decide which is the better version. One of the most intriguing parts of the song, is how Michael's phasing completely changes at the end of the 2nd bridge live (in the link below) when he sings, "...into the blue sea..." INXS have written some of the best bridge sections in history. But this one, despite its brevity, just might be THE best bridge in their entire catalogue, especially since it transitions so smoothly out of the 1st chorus and into the instrumental interlude and guitar solo and then back into and out of the remaining choruses towards the end. Amazing. Come to think of it, I think the studio version chorus is better than it is live but most of the rest of the song is better live. Here's one of the live versions for comparison... Deliver Me is probably my absolute least favourite INXS song. In fact, I can barely even stand to listen it, it's THAT bad. And until now, I probably haven't listened to it in 25 years. They can't all be zingers!
Greatest Hits (The US Version): As hits packages go, this one is more like a Cliff's Notes of the band's repertoire. Some key tracks are missing and the fact that new tracks are tossed on as incentive to buy the album which is something I'm not particularly a fan of. I think it would of been better to kick off the album with Strangest Party and close out the set with Deliver Me, which provides decent bookends to the hits. This does have an honor of being the last album I bought on cassette, which did provide some great entertainment on the road to/from Anchorage and Fairbanks. The Strangest Party (These Are the Times): Aside from hearing it for the first time during the end credits of Drop Zone, the local rock station did have it on rotation for a little while. For me, It's not a bad song overall and with that, it still gets some love on my playlists to this day. Deliver Me: meh. Not much to say about this one, considering I haven't heard the song in a long long while. Pretty much a b-side throw away.
Strangest Party, Deliver me and Keep the Peace form a trilogy of INXS tracks that seem to be out on their own with very little info. A recording Chronicle style book of what was recorded when is obviously missing. We know Kirk kept a diary of what they were up to (as seen in the Kick 30th Book), I had the official INXS autobiography and felt it was very shallow on this subject.
Keep The Peace (From the Beverly Hills Cop III soundtrack 1994) We get this pulsating, throbbing beat, after a swell of sound. The arrangement of the drums and percussion here is pretty cool and it just keeps this track moving forward. Keep The Peace Should you fall into my arms again You know I'll pray with you (You know I'll pray with you...) In my room at night, your vision shining bright I'm waiting for you (I'll be waiting for you...) Dancing in the light Shadows fall from you Learn to watch your step - You come falling In my arms again, in my heart again You will break like a butterfly Keep the peace for what you're talking "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" Walk of fame is where you're walking "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" Keep a hold of what you're taking Even though the walls are shaking Keep the peace there's still tomorrow "Keep the Peace" When you break into my arms again You know I'll stay with you (You know I'll stay with you...) Now you're holding on, I'll be with you tonight I'll watch over you (Yeah, I'm watching over you...) On the street inside, see the blinding light Am I dreaming - you come falling In my arms again, in my heart again You will break like a butterfly Keep the peace, the walls are talking "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" Walk of fame is where you're walking "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" "Keep the Peace" Keep a hold of what you're taking Even though the walls are shaking "Keep the Peace, Keep the Peace" Again this is the first time I have heard this one, and I don't mind it at all. I like the backing vocals and the lead vocals. It seems like the most important elements here are the percussion instruments. We get the guitar punch in power chords to help things keep moving forward. I think this would have been a good album track somewhere.
Worthy “new” songs on greatest hits packages. Petty seems the rare artist who actually pulled it off haha
Keep the Peace 3/5. It's sleek, gotta give it that. Like the other two from yesterday, I'm pretty indifferent about it. Thinking about this period of disconnect with the band and Michael due to his injury. Can't help to think this played a part in these three songs. Something is missing in the machine. They did it get back with Elegantly Wasted which rocks pretty damn hard.
Pleased to hear somebody likes it... I have only had a chance to get a couple of listens in but it sounds like a pretty good album to me.
Well, that would be awesome, actually… But I think the thread idea would be something like “Great ‘New’ Songs from Greatest Hits Albums” or maybe “Great ‘New’ Songs That Deserved a Better Fate Than to be Stuck on a Compilation Album.” (Think “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” which comes from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits.)
Keep The Peace The first Beverly Hills Cop movie had a huge hit with Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On”, the second movie gave Bob Seger what may be his only #1 US hit in “Shakedown”, and the 3rd..... well it didn’t have the same result for INXS. Each movie had a bunch of R&B chart hits from the soundtrack as well, but INXS’s rock entry flopped here. It’s a song that time has forgotten and it doesn’t appear on any of their compilations so it would appear that the band isn’t eager to remember it either. What the heck *is* this song? I don’t really even hear much of INXS in it. It’s decent, but feels a bit generic for them. The singing doesn’t really hang together well and it all feels a bit forced. It’s produced by Keith Forsey, and has a co-write by Mark Younger-Smith, who also adds some guitar. Actually, perhaps that’s mostly him on the distorted guitar riffing we hear except for the recognizable INXS flourishes. Mark Younger-Smith is the guitarist on Billy Idol’s Charmed Life album from 1990 - the one with “Cradle Of Love” and at this point in 1994 I guess he’s playing the role of the “in-house session guitarist” for Keith Forsey. Just a guess, but perhaps the various parties involved all looked at this song as something along the lines of “Call Me” by Blondie. That song was a Giorgio Moroder soundtrack effort that had vocals by Debbie Harry and a few contributions from the rest of Blondie set against a backing track that was largely Giorgio Moroder’s creation. I think that’s what this song is too. Forsey comes from the Moroder production house and started his career with him, so this all makes sense to me.