I hear ya. I think I’m realizing that there’s a reason I’ve had trouble getting “into” this album. It’s recorded well, has excellent musicians on it, and has an excellent singer - but there’s something missing. The pieces are there but not adding up.
A Straight Line wouldn't sound out of place on almost any INXS album. And that's a good thing. The is probably the best song on the album. And it's obvious why this was chosen as a single. There's nothing to dislike here. I love all of the stylings. Whether it's the funkiness, the horn arrangements, the R&B / Motown feel, the bass lines, the straight forward lyrics, or even how good the bridge is - a semi-rare occurrence on this album! Not to mention how in-the-pocket the beats & grooves are and how Michael's vocal prowess shines beyond measure. Everything works here. ASL is an excellent song. Despite containing some interesting rock-oriented instrumentation, Standing On The Rooftop doesn't really go anywhere that intriguing. The lyrics are kind of generic and the chorus is half-decent and is the most enjoyable part, but that's not saying much. I can see why this was a b-side instead. The Passenger (which I already reviewed on page 89 - post #2216) is an amazingly good cover version. I love how dramatized the arrangement is - it kind of sounds like a cross between Massive Attack & the production of MH's solo album that was released in 1999. Iggy Pop (who knew Michael) would also be proud.
Baby It's Alright We open up with what sounds like delayed volume swells on the guitar, and I have always loved well used volume swells, and this has a good sound. Then we break into a drum and bass groove It wouldn't be right to take it It wouldn't be right lying down I'm sick of the dogs outside my window That's right, take a look You've been with a hook stuck into me So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright Look at the mess I'm makin', Look at that mess across your face (across your face) As bitterness started showin' Five years, no-one hears just another night too scared to bleed So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright, yeah Ah ah ah ah, yeah yeah yeah, ah ah ah, yeah yeah yeah Uh uh uh, yeah hey hey, uh huh huh, yeah hey yeah Give you some time to feel it; I tangled you up in flesh and blood Just to scared of where I took you Spotlight blue to red crashin' in your head So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright So baby it's alright, it's alright So baby it's alright, it's alright So baby it's alright, it's alright So baby it's alright, it's alright Yeah yeah yeah, it's alright Ah ah ah, na na na (na na na) It's alright, to fall into your arms Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Daniel Saber Baby It's Alright lyrics © Music Sales Corporation I kind of get the impression that this is about Michael and Paula ... typically the lyrics seem slightly cryptic ... oddly from the way I read them the verses sound like things aren't really alright, then the chorus is just "So Baby It's Alright" We have a grooving musical backdrop with some nice guitar effects. The feel is very percussive, with stabs and clicks of guitar over the drum and bass groove. The occasional longer stab of guitar. Underneath we have have the volume swell section playing along. Just over halfway through we get the guitar getting a little more driving, and I feel like it should have stayed there a little longer, but that may just be my musical bias. The last twenty seconds has a return to the power guitar ... Not bad, but like quite a few of these tracks, not quite reaching its potential. Sadly it sounds like it was .... I don't think Hutchence managed to get these finished and get them where they needed to be. A lot of potential from my perspective, but not quite reaching it.
Baby, It's Alright This one's a cowrite with producer Danny Saber and its got some levels of interest in the soundscape. The guitar work is well done and shows a variety of sounds. This is ok - I might even say it's "alright" - but I'm still not hearing a "wow moment" on this album yet. A Straight Line is still the best tune of the bunch.
Baby It's Alright is another track that would fit on just about any INXS album. And again, that's a good thing. Nothing to dislike here either. The semi-electronic / pop rock / funk grooves are addicting. And the intro, verses, short bridge and choruses, invite you in and hit all the necessary spots that keeps this track moving. This song partly reminds me of Bitter Tears, in that the bridge appears quicker than in most songs. BIA is another excellent song.
Don't Save Me From Myself We have a fairly quick fade in that has some synth sfx and a bass, with a couple of somewhat hesitant notes, and then we move into a kind of funky beat, that quickly recedes to a half time thing as the vocal comes in, and then we slide back into the groove again. I'm not keeping time, get me outta here Folding up my crimes, ready for what's said to me Does all that glitters shine? Love that new attraction Animal inside, leads me to the conclusion Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself I listen to the wind, and mystery comes alive Don't tie me up again, separate love from possession Does all that glitters shine? Love that new attraction Animal inside, leads me to the conclusion, ugh! Don't save me from myself, yeah Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself da da da dey Oh, separate love from all possession Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Don't save me from myself Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Gill Don't Save Me From Myself lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Music Sales Corporation Here we seem to have a situation of allow me to make my own mistakes, but it is accented by an almost self loathing perspective. Some of these lyrics do seem to suggest that Michael was not particularly mentally healthy at this time. I quite like this song, but I think it also somewhat works to show us some of the shortcomings here.... It feels somewhat unfinished. We have a focus on rhythm structure, and the attention to melody is somewhat lesser than we have come to expect from him. I think the bass line is really pretty cool. I like the descending guitar arpeggio in the chorus section. The drums rhythm structure is fine, but at this stage it kind of starts to feel like Michael may have been too caught up in the rhythmic fashions of the day ... to some degree. I think that may be another reason why some folks are finding this album to have less personality than they are used to. With Inxs there seems to have been less of a focus on what was the current wave of musical fashion. This ends up being another song that I like, but in context with the rest of the album, I like it, but it isn't giving me that spark that lifts it above a kind of mediocrity, that we are not used to with Michael or Inxs Like I say, I like this, but it sort of feels somewhat unfinished.
She Flirts For England We move into a slower groove with the same kind of digital drum pattern of the day. Nice groove, but too similar to everything else that was going on at the time.... and I wasn't a big fan of that particular rhythmic fashion. The guitar at the opening is pretty cool, and we get some effect type synth also. Oh give her the summer, let her live another She warms to the kiss of goodbye Her momma took a preacher, her daddy pays for lovers Her eyes like a winter sky, I Hear the echoes, calling for the secrets we hide She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She comes to the party on a kiss don't tell pony And lets me have the first of her sighs Tricks came so easy, but you know she keeps your secrets The tracks of the tears she will hide Oh voices, calling for the secrets we hide She's searching for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah Do do do do, do do do Do do do do, do do do do Do do do do, do do do She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's searching for England, ah ah She's flirting for England, ah ah She's flirting, flirting, flirting She's a complicated cookie She's flirting, flirting, flirting She's a complicated cookie She's flirting, flirting, flirting She's a complicated cookie She's flirting, flirting, flirting She's a complicated cookie I can only assume this is somewhat directed at Paula ... It is again somewhat cryptic. I like the groove and the structure works pretty well and we get some nice changes, and the feel works well... The problem again seems that it is somewhat unfinished. We have almost the same set up as the last song. Two verses and a long chorus fade out, as if Michael was still constructing how he wanted this to go.... I guess we will never know what his perspective on this were.... with the tracks being recorded over a couple of years, it somewhat seems like he was kind of demoing tracks to try and create an album he could put together at some point when he was ready, and unfortunately he never got the chance. The way the industry was at the time, we only expected an album every three to five years from major bands ... and so for a debut solo album, we have no rush whatsoever .... The thing is though, generally when albums are written over a series of years, they tend to sound that way. So unless these were demo type songs, to eventually go into the studio and make a cohesive album from the best tracks, I'm not sure how it would have worked anyway.
Don’t Save Me From Myself Again, not bad - but do I like it? I like the guitar in the chorus, the lyrics and the singing. This is in the top half of the album so far. She Flirts For England Me no like. This doesn’t go anywhere. What’s happening here is some of these songs are just too generic and of their times production-wise. Competently done, but yet not grabbing me enough to make a solid impression and pull me in. Part of what makes this album feel lifeless is that I get the impression the music and the vocals are not connected. It feels like MH is singing in front of a disconnected backing track and I get no feeling there’s a band playing here. And there isn’t - it’s just MH singing in front of a wallpaper of music. Sometimes that is working out, but mostly it isn’t.
Reference guide 1980 -1992 1992 Documentary 1993 Get Out Of The House EP Nov 1993 Full Moon Dirty Hearts Days Of Rust The Gift - video - ext. - bonus beat Make Your Peace Time - video - live I'm Only Looking - remix - video -Morales Please... - edit - club - dub - downtown - instr. - Letterman Full Moon, Dirty Hearts Freedom Deep - video -extended - live Kill The Pain - video Cut Your Roses Down - Sure Is Pure mix The Messenger Viking Juice - Butcher Mix Born To Be Wild alt tracklisting Promo tour clips MTV Asia interview Live in 1993 Oct 1994 The Greatest Hits The Strangest Party - live - remix Deliver Me - demo Sing Something (bside) Nov 1994 The Great Video Experience Keep The Peace 1995 Original Sin remixes Michael Soundtrack songs 95/96 Under My Thumb Baby Lets Play House The Passenger Spill the Wine Red Hill The Heads - The King Is Gone Apr 1997 Elegantly Wasted Show Me Elegantly Wasted - radio edit - Shagsonic - dub - Gforce - Aspen Everything - video - May 97 - Aspen - Jaxx club - Jaxx dub Don't Lose Your Head - Leadstation - Radio Edit - Tonight Show Searching - Arias - Leadstation main - Leadstation Radio - Reece - Campbell - Leadstation Funk I'm Just A Man - live Girl On Fire - mix We Are Thrown Together Shake The Tree She Is Rising Building Bridges Shine Let It Ride Never Tear Us Apart acoustic Need You Tonight Aspen Live 1997 Live In Aspen Tour Rehearsals Michael June 1999 Inxs with TTD Dec 1999 Michael Hutchence (the album) Let Me Show You Possibilities Get On The Inside Fear All I'm Saying A Straight Line Baby It's Alright Don't Save Me From Myself She Flirts For England b-side Standing On A Rooftop June 2001 Shine Like It Does Anthology Precious Heart - vs Tall Paul I'm So0 Crazy - vs Par-T-One June 2002 The Best Of Inxs Salvation Jane Tight - mix - mix 2 Oct 2002 Stay Young 1979-1982 Telefone Silent Night Breakaway Reckless Ways Pretzel Logic Feeling Good Miss Shapiro/You Really Got Me On A Bus Underneath the Colours ( Chicken Mix) The Farriss Brothers - Live at the Alley Cat Wine Bar 1979 Lucky Key Ring Jet Airliner/ Slipped My Disco Oct 2002 Definitive Dec 2002 The Years 79-97 cd and dvd Apr 2004 The Remixes Sept 2004 Original Sin The Collection Jul 2005 The TV Show
Don’t Save Me…4/5. A bit of emotion. I like the touch of Yello here. She Flirts For England 3/5. Reminds me of 1993/1995 Duran Duran. That is not necessarily a great thing.
Don't Save Me From Myself & She Flirts For England both contain deeply personal lyrics & a semi-generic electronic rock feel straight through them. The verses are decent enough but are half-baked and don't excite. However, the choruses are enjoyable and work. And if DSMFM wasn't missing a bridge, it probably would've enhanced the track significantly. Both songs are ok but aren't that great...
We're currently doing Hutchence's solo album. Then we will be doing the Kick expanded set to wrap up the Hutchence era, and then we will be moving passed 2004.
Flesh And Blood. This has a really interesting opening, it sounds like a tuned, triggered sound effect, and we get this chordal pattern built on this sound in an arpeggio form. We have a slow steady rhythm and an interesting sounding drum set comes in, in the guise of a kick and rim shot, and we have an electric piano sound with a delay accenting the bars. Trip away the bones and skin, looking for what lies within See the stars so cold above Makes no sense of your flesh and blood You walked the longest walk, talked the toughest talk You were outside, something inside Took away the words, you want to hear again You were outside, something inside All of the days we thought would come All of the words we thought had gone All of the pain and pleasure gone without you Strip away the bones and skin, show me what lies within Would you be the one that I love? Make no sense of your flesh and blood You walked the longest walk, talked the toughest talk You were outside, something inside Took away the words, you want to live again You were outside, something inside All of the days we thought would come All of the words we thought had gone All of the pain and pleasure gone without you All of the days we thought would come All of the words we thought had gone (on and on) All of the pain and pleasure gone (pleasure gone) without you We'd be making love, make it right (right, right) All of the days we thought would come All of the words we thought had gone (on and on) All of the pain and pleasure gone without you All of the days we thought would come (thought would come) All of the words we thought had gone (on and on) All of the pain and pleasure gone (pleasure gone) without you (Thought would come, on and on, pleasure gone) (All of the days we thought would come) (thought would come) (All of the words we thought had gone) (on and on) (All of the pain and pleasure gone) (pleasure gone) (without you) Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Gill Flesh and Blood lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC I'm not really sure, but this sounds like a relationship based on appearance, and when the flesh and blood is stripped away, there is nothing there. I'll be interested to read what others may think of these lyrics. Musically this is really pretty good. It sounds pretty passionate to me, and I find the song really quite engaging on that level. We have this palpable melancholy that becomes quite overwhelming and this sounds more like what Michael really wanted to record. It almost has the feeling of an epitaph. As the song moves along we have a layering of, almost, sound effects, but they comes together to create a really quite engrossing tapestry of sound, and Michael's pleading voice rides on this tapestry of sound very comfortably. I really like the change up into the chorus, and I think the chorus itself is also really engaging. Lyrically, vocally and musically it hits all the points one would want it to. After the first chorus we get a pause and the intro essentially comes back in, and we move into the pleading, searching verse. Again for me this is really quite effective. The second chorus is a little longer and we get a really well placed backing vocal, and instead of coming out into a pause, we get this we get this powerful, effected guitar that grabs the attention, because it is the first up front guitar in the song, and we slide into a major chord, which also gets the attention because we have been lamenting in minor chords up to this point. This ends up being a very short bridge, and is very effective, but I feel like the bridge could have been a little longer. We move into an out-chorus, and the song wraps itself up nicely, and at the very end we get a guitar arpeggio, over a bed of reverberating sound, and again, it is very interesting and gets the attention, and we fade of on the bed of sound. I reckon this may be my favourite thing on here so far. It isn't specifically and obviously aimed at a particular market, it really sounds like a heartfelt expression of sorrow, and it seems to be put together in such a way as to show respect for the emotion of the idea, rather than the commercially acceptable sound of the song, if that makes sense ... probably the most engaging song here so far for me.
Flesh and Blood Almost hymn-like. This would be well placed as the final track on the album. Well observed. The strings are well done too. Lots of layers here, both with instruments and various voices. This is one of the best songs on the album. It’s slow, like a lot of the others so far, but it breaks through and makes a strong impression.
Flesh and Blood-4/5. Better than most songs so far on this album. Oddly, the "flesh and blood" theme would return with "I'm Just A Man" on Elegantly Wasted. It's nice. Would have been good to have been performed for an acoustic live show.
Flesh And Blood exudes such an immense amount of poignancy & emotionality, that it makes this song truly breathtaking. The strings compliment these elements wonderfully. Virtually all parts of the song structure blend and flow incredibly well together, especially the partial open string guitar arpeggiated sequences. But admittedly, the only component that should've been extended is the bridge - since once again, it's under-developed and too short. Lyrically, it's too generalized to pinpoint who the protagonist is. Helena? Paula? Michele? Regardless, FAB is an amazing song.
Put The Pieces Back Together. We open with a solid moderate dance type beat, with some atmospheric keys that have this sort of liquid kind of sound, and just before the vocals come in we get a nice thick bass line. Saw a million pieces Of the shape I'm in Hanging from a chandelier Have a taste of everything Nothing gonna get me crying out for more Seen nothing to seduce me Seen it all before He's another leader Pretty head on the block Got another axe to grind If the dust ain't hard Can he taste the money dripping off the tongue All is fair in love and war With a cold heart and a smoking gun Sooth me Sue me Sooth me Sue me Put the pieces back together Every moment back together In your quiet moments Looking back in tears Can I count the nights you've lived That you'd live again Looking for the real thing to even up the score Finding out you're lonely With an open door Sooth me Sue me I guess I lied too I saw a million pieces Of the shape I'm in Hanging from a chandelier Put the pieces back together ***** cat, ***** cat Where have you been? I've been down to London To see the queen Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Gill Put the Pieces Back Together lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Music Sales Corporation I'm not really sure of the lyrics here, unless he is referencing himself as he, one would probably read a few different things into this. There are certainly some observational things we can see though. Certainly one can get the picture that Michael is fed up with a situation, and feels someone is just trying to bleed him for money and use him up. There's lying on both sides and nobody is really playing with an open hand. It's an interesting lyric, but I am not able to get a full grasp on it this morning. One thing this song really does have going for it, is it is really nicely dynamic, and it feels to be full of passion. I also like the way the song is spaced. We keep on moving along, but there is no rush. The verses have that floating and pulsing liquid sound. We get a slight drop back in the forward thrust of the beat during the pre-chorus, and it is really effective, particularly when we burst into the gutsy guitar driven chorus, that I think works really well. The after the second verse section we get half the pre-chorus, and we have a sort of semi-instrumental section with some talking buried in the background, and it works really well with the straight up statement "I guess I lied too" very effectively leading us into the second chorus. This is followed by another sort of atmospheric break down, and then some grinding guitar that leads to a build up that drives us into a chorus section that is spit up by a short abservation. I can't fully unwrap this song this morning, but I think the song is very effective and I think, for one of the semi-dance, or uptempo type tracks, this is quite engaging and probably sits about second to Flesh and Blood, as one of the songs to most grab me here. To some degree I could see this being on an Inxs album .... perhaps even Elegantly Wasted.
Put The Pieces Back Together This is a very engaging track. Uptempo, a bit of funky rhythm, a bit of loud guitar riffing and shouting vocals in parts. Not sure what it’s about - Bob Geldof certainly seems possible- but this is definitely one of the best songs on the album as far as I’m concerned.
Put The Pieces Back Together. 3.5/5. Another one that is good. The chorus is not my cup of tea though. It does have an Elegantly Wasted album vibe.