INXS - The Album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Nov 19, 2020.

  1. Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD

    Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I'm indifferent towards Get On The Inside. The lyrical & musical intro and verses are semi-generic and aren't intriguing enough to want to sink my teeth into the track. However, it's quite the opposite when the choruses hit, because they are well-constructed, with light funk stylings, horn parts and enhancing backing vocals. But then again, once we get to the bridge, it doesn't really fit the flow of the song and somewhat seems out of place. This track probably would've benefited from a more up-tempo arrangement instead. Having said that, I do like GOTI, just not that much...
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Fear

    This song seems to bring to mind Jesus Jones .. not a bad thing, it just has some sounds and such that bring them to mind for me.

    We open with a guitar that has an interesting sound and we get these pulsing surging synth sounds, that embellish the song, and to me it is an effective collage of sounds.

    Tell me something
    I gotta know
    All your troubles
    I wanna own
    I'm not preaching 'cause I'm full of sin
    Nothing's secret that I have not done

    Alone with your situation
    Fear on the face you're saving

    Kiss the warm knives as they dig for your soul
    There in the corner of my dirty home
    Take the silver: I've paid that price
    Here's the scandal
    They don't let the truth get in the way

    Alone with your situation
    Fear on the face you're saving

    Don't you worry don't you run away
    There are some things that we know will never change
    Don't you worry don't you look away
    There are some things that we know we'll have to change
    Burning, teasing, searching, fever, twisting,
    Turning
    I'm the white truth dealer

    Alone with your situation
    Fear on the face you're saving

    Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew James Dalrymple Gill

    This is an interesting lyric, and could be approached a couple of ways.
    The first and most logical, is that Michael has a friend or acquaintance who is going through some problems, and he wants to be their for them.
    The encouragement is that "hey I have been here, and I am not without problems, but I'll be here for you if you want help" ...
    The layout seems to suggest that the person is facing the same ugly media scrutiny that Michael himself faced.....
    Which brings us to the other possible angle here .... This could be an inner dialogue alos... That is the other angle that one could probably take with this song.
    I think that these are some pretty good, and interesting lyrics ... A couple of lines I a little lost as far as what may be meant, for the most part the meat of the song makes perfect sense.

    We get a moderate nineties dance groove, and the bass pulses this along nicely. The guitars have a nice rhythmic edge and the wall of effect sounds work well in the general groove of the song.
    The chorus doesn't sound typical, and I think it is quite effective.

    We get a bridge of sorts, and it starts off in the same mold as the verse, but it changes up, and it needed to.

    I think this is a pretty good song. I would say a good album track.



     
  3. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Fear: 3.5/5. Good construction one could type, but, again, doesn't move me that much. Andy should have let it rip. I'm kinda let down by his lack of savagery.
     
  4. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    Fear

    I like the verses but the chorus is very weak. Probably one of the weaker tracks on the album.
     
  5. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    Fear

    I agree with @Bluepicasso on this one: decent but it would’ve been nice to hear more from Andy Gill. The song just sort of floats by without making a strong impression.
     
  6. Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD

    Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Fear flows relatively well throughout the near entire track. But again, we have another semi-generic / light funk rock arrangement and unfortunately a bridge that segues well initially, but just doesn't have any pay-off & temporarily disrupts the flow of the song. However, lyrically, Michael continues to expand his palette and is creating more thought-provoking subjects. Overall, Fear is a good but not great song...
     
  7. galactica1971

    galactica1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Australia
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    All I'm Saying .

    You put your heart
    With trust into my hands
    I held so tight
    Kept you protected from things

    Did you ever think about it?
    Did you ever cry about it?
    Would you ever, ever doubt it?

    All I'm saying is come around
    Tell me 'bout the life you found

    I put my heart
    With trust into your hands
    One day, comes change
    Some pain and rain comes falling down

    Did you ever think about it?
    (Don't say it)
    Did you ever lie about it?
    (Don't say it)
    Could you ever live without it?

    All I'm saying is come around
    Tell me 'bout the life you found
    (Tell me 'bout the life you found)

    We search endlessly
    For answers to war and pain
    We love the nights
    Some days we laugh, feel like it's alright

    Did you ever think about it?
    (Don't say it)
    Did you ever cry about it?
    (Don't say it)
    Could you ever live without it?

    All I'm saying is come around
    Tell me 'bout the one you found

    All I'm saying is come around
    Tell me 'bout the one you found

    Songwriters: David Clayton / Michael Hutchence / Tim Simenon
    All I'm Saying lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management Inc, Music Sales Corporation

    I like the acoustic percussion that opens us up here. We have a nice low bass, and some atmospheric sounds in the background and then a guitar with a kind of melodic line instead of a chord pattern.

    In some ways this feels and sounds a little like something Peter Gabriel might do.

    This is a very obvious questioning of a relationship, and things aren't really going too well. It seems like there is a lack of appreciation going on. It also appears that one partner has moved on, and the other is reflecting on that.

    I really like the atmosphere created in this track.... The only thing about this track that seems a little not quite right is the vocal is mixed really low, and I think that was to enhance the atmosphere, but particularly at the start it is a little too low.
    I really like the way the guitar is used in this track. It manages to really create a nice wall of atmosphere.
    About three quarters of the way through we get a sort of instrumental break, and essentially it is just a hi hat break, with that crickets kind of hi hats sound ... I'm not sure about that bit, but essentially it works.

    I really enjoy this track, and it may be my favourite so far, and it has its own identity and is reasonably distinctive.
    But again, this is the first time I have heard any of these songs ... so this is all just first impressions.


     
  9. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    All I'm Saying. 4/5. Agree. Definitively an improvement. These songs though all seem to be factory made, and I could all see them as being filler tracks on an INXS album. Should have tried flamenco jazz, synth-pop, or something with a dance beat for a solo excursion. I have the same problem with Mick Jagger's solo albums -- they are only lower-tier Stones albums. I can see why he held this album back during his lifetime, tbh.
     
  10. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    All I'm Saying

    I really like this. Very understated but nuanced production and another meaningful lyric. I know i've mentioned it before but I think Hutchence could have had a similar solo career to Dave Gahan. This solo album and Paper Monsters by Gahan are cut from the same cloth IMO.
     
  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Hello fellow West Aussie, how is my beautiful Perth going?

    Yea, we did cover the dekadance set. The US version, and the Oz version.
    The Aus version certainly was pretty big. I knew folks that didn't like cassettes that bought it :)
     
    galactica1971 likes this.
  12. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    All I’m Saying

    Nice production here: the whistle-synth line and the percussion have a cool sound. I see what @mark winstanley is saying about it resembling a Peter Gabriel production. This is a good track.
     
  13. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    I didn't realize this, always figured it was intended for eventual release. You think it would have stayed buried if Michael had lived?
     
  14. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    I don’t know of the exact timeline, so I’d appreciate someone clarifying it too. I know work on this album started in 1995, then MH died in 1997, some posthumous work was done on the album and then it was released in 1999. So that’s 3-4 years right there. Maybe the album didn’t get much of a promo push because it wasn’t “fresh”?
     
  15. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    I think it was a combination of a lack of confidence coupled with his negative media portrayal at the time that caused him to abandon its release and return to the safety of INXS.
     
  16. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    -
    Dunno, but the album doesn't have life to it. Possibly, a reflection of how he was then. Good question.
     
  17. Interpolantics

    Interpolantics Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    Yes the album is downbeat and dark but I disagree with it not having life to it.

    If the artists state of mind is downbeat and dark surely the art will reflect this. Thereby the art in itself is the very essence of life.

    Sorry if that sounds a bit highfalutin!
     
  18. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    ==
    I get where you are coming from. This album is like listening to traffic. Some beeps along the way but artificial.
     
  19. Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD

    Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    All I'm Saying sets up an emotionally moving atmosphere from the very beginning and follows through until the end almost perfectly. Despite the relatively obvious Massive Attack influence again, virtually every compositional component works here. I really like how the verse & bridge segues just pour into the choruses, even without a tempo change. However, it does bug me that the choruses are short. Because I feel they should've been twice as long and are under-developed as a result. Overall, AIS is a great song...
     
  20. galactica1971

    galactica1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Australia
    I managed to score a NM/NM original copy on vinyl a few years ago, talk about a happy day. I am/was never a huge INXS fan but I really truly loved "The Swing".
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Michael Hutchence ‎– A Straight Line
    Genre: Electronic, Rock, Funk / Soul
    Style: Rhythm & Blues, Pop Rock, Funk
    Year: 1999

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    This was the single off the album, we open with a swirl off effects and the launch into a pretty cool guitar riff, with a snare led beat. Then we break into a groove, with the somewhat typical kind of instrumentation and arrangement that we would get from an Inxs song.

    Yeah we're just watching history
    Now that the dogs are barking
    Take a picture for your children
    Make it real in FujiColor
    Life in the junkyard's hard
    Even when the dogs are sleeping
    But if you win you lose the next spin
    Madame, monsieur's, rien ne va plus

    I watch the black and white bleeding
    Don't you know the pain I'm in
    I've been working all week
    I've been thinking on my feet
    And I've come to the end of my losing streak

    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line

    Wave goodbye to your innocence
    Sell it to the highest bidder
    In a tight spot call for assistance
    Is that American Express?
    Get me out of here

    I watch the black and white bleeding
    Don't you know the pain I'm in
    I've been working all week
    I've been thinking on my feet
    And I've come to the end of my losing streak

    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line
    Take a straight line

    I'm up the top, looking down
    Everybody looks just like ants
    It would be so easy

    Lyrically we are looking at problems, the myriad of problems in life, and the chorus tells us to take a straight line.... I figure the idea being that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and that the journey from the problems to relief will be shorter in that way?

    This is a pretty good song, and we get some nice modulations and some solid backing vocals giving this a good feel.
    I reckon after a few listens this might grow on me.

    It's awkward coming to these songs cold, with no previous exposure.

     
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Standing On A Rooftop.

    This is one of the b-sides, and it starts off with a more appealing groove to me. We have some sound effect kind of synth sounds that are creating a pretty good atmosphere.

    Glad to make me happy
    With your friends down the low
    Think they got the picture
    But they don't really know, oh, oh
    I'm reading all about sin
    There's a chapter I'm in
    Do I have to wait, oh, do I have to wait
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Do you have that now?
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Gonna bring me down

    Glad to make me happy
    With your friends up the block
    Think they got the picture
    But they don't really know, oh oh
    I'm reading all about sin
    There's the porch light on me
    (Oh oh oh oh) Do I have to wait?
    (Oh, do I have to wait) Oh, do I have to wait?

    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Gonna bring right in
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    I'm waiting for the lightning
    Don't you want the thing? Ah ah

    I need the words to begin
    (I need the words to begin)
    I need the cease to be part of the mess I'm in
    I need the words to begin
    (I need the words to begin)
    I need the stars to be part of the mess I'm in

    I'm reading all about sin
    There's a chapter I’m in
    (Oh oh oh oh) Do I have to wait?
    (Oh, do I have to wait) Oh, do I have to wait?
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Do you have that now?
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    (Oh, do I have to wait?)

    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Do you have that now?
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning
    Gonna bring me down
    (I'm standing on the rooftop) oh oh

    Waiting for the lightning
    Oh waiting for the lightning
    (I'm standing on the rooftop)
    I'm standing on the rooftop
    Waiting for the lightning

    This track is a slowish dirty bass and drum groove with a swarming, pulsating series of synth effects creating the musical backdrop.
    I actually quite like it. It has a bit more of its own personality.

     
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    The Passenger

    This is the other b-side.
    Here we open with a nice bassline with a synth backing. The atmospheric opening works well, and it makes me wonder where we are going.
    We move into a punchy industrial rock groove, with a distorted bass coming in.
    This is the Iggy Pop song.... I'm pretty sure that we looked at this song earlier.... I'm running a little late this morning so I'm afraid memory will have to do.
    I think this is a different version though.
    This has a sort of techno industrial sound about it, and Michael gives us a sort of dead pan delivery that fits in with the musical arrangement well.

     
  24. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    A Straight Line
    An upbeat spark of life here! This is a nice single and I think it is indeed about urging to "take a straight line" and follow the shortest most sensible path through our problems when they crop up. This is the first track here that I might actually envision as an INXS song.

    Standing On A Rooftop [Bside]
    Interesting soundscape here. I think the chorus is not all that great though, so it doesn't add up to a great song.

    The Passenger [Bside]
    Yup - this is the same as the version from that Batman movie. Sonically it fits right in with this album though, and truth be told its one of my favorite MH solo tracks.
     
  25. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    A Straight Line. 3/5. I hate to read like a broken record, but, again, I’m not moved. The same with the b-sides. It’s like a computer designed these and put them to disc. Intricately made but lacking human soul.
     

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