The other two writers were also contestants on the show. I forget how far into the show they were but the challenge of that week was to write a song with the band (or at least Andrew) and Pretty Vegas was the final result. I was even more obvious after this that JD would win the contest.
I always found it highly unlikely that INXS participated in this show without at least a few surefire tunes already written and ready to go. "Pretty Vegas" had to be one of them. Then they pretended to let JD write it with them...right?
It sounds very Inxs to me.... I never saw the show, and I don't know who any of those other folks are... but this could have been a Michael and Andrew track on initially hearing it.
Pretty Vegas Well. This was my first time hearing the song. It felt like the backing track was somewhat generic hard rock/pop from the late 90’s so I guess that’s about right. I can’t fuss about the lyrics because they are good too. I suppose this was pretty well cued up by the interest from the TV show and it was bound to be a hit because of that. Their final big chart hit - correct? True that. I don’t know what to say myself. It was like listening to a ghost sing. I am very curious what others who followed this in real-time thought.
I watched the series as it aired, mostly torn between "I still love INXS and want them to be successful" and "None of these singers can hold a candle to Michael and it's bound to end in tears."
Pretty Vegas. 3/5. When this show came around, I felt sick. The contestants were not rockers in my opinion. INXS blurs with American Idol. It was pretty obvious that JD would win. He was the only one with a bit of spark, yet he was too much like Michael to these ears. The band looked awkward at times during this too, especially Andrew, kinda lost and forced to do it. Just my general reaction.
I assumed that they had most of the album done or at least written considering how soon it was released after the show was over
Switch must have been a hard album to make after the events of the previous several years. Unfortunately it comes across as somewhat formulaic to me. Several of the songs have moderate verses and loud, repetitive choruses; it’s clear they were trying to make radio-friendly tracks here. The new singer, J.D. Fortune, sings very much in Michael’s style, even directly adopting a number of his mannerisms. I’m sure this is one of the reasons he was chosen; he’s actually quite good. Pretty Vegas is a solid effort, with a lively chorus which contrasts with the lyrics, seemingly about the dark side of Vegas when the party’s over.
Despite what you may think of INXS continuing on without Michael Hutchence, or if you feel the Rockstar: INXS show was too Hollywood, or if you believe JD Fortune sounds too much like MH, etc., judging Pretty Vegas based on its own merits is what's important here. And considering that, there's not a shadow of a doubt that PV is a very good classic pop rock song and one that sounds like INXS. There isn't even one component that I would change, as it hits all the marks of enjoyability. And while I agree that JD's vocals do sound similar to Michael's, JD's baritone is a bit deeper in pitch, which works incredible well on this track, especially during the bridges. I think the goal here was to re-introduce the classic elements of INXS to the masses. And for the most part, it worked. Also, I was shocked at the time, but now proud to point out, that when PV went Gold in Canada in late 2005, it became INXS' highest ever selling single here. Love it or hate it, Pretty Vegas clearly signaled the return of INXS to the world stage...
INXS: Live at Barker Hangar Live album by INXS Released 4 October 2005 Recorded 8 May 1993 Genre Rock Length 80:04 Label Island Def Jam, Atlantic/Rhino Producer Mark Opitz INXS: Live at Barker Hangar is a digital download-only live album by the Australian rock band, INXS, which was released on 4 October 2005. It had been recorded at the band's performance on 8 May 1993 at the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport in Southern California.[1] INXS performed to a crowd of nearly 4,000; the concert had sold out in less than three minutes. Radio network, Westwood One, broadcast the live gig. The music video for "Time", the group's third single from Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (November 1993), includes footage shot at the venue. The four B-side tracks from "Time" (maxi-single version) are from the same concert and appear on INXS: Live at Barker Hangar. The group had undertaken the Australian leg of their Get out of the House Tour starting on 10 April 1993 with concerts in Perth followed by Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane. That leg finished in early May and they travelled to San Francisco to commence their North American leg. The show at Barker Hangar was their second, they continued with gigs in Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. The group's European leg was from late May to the end of June. Mark West of Strange Tales described the tour as "a back-to-basics affair, stripping everything down and benefitting greatly from a marketing campaign that played on it being a return to the 'pub tours' of old", they deliberately chose to perform "gigs in towns they’d never played before and in venues that were much smaller than they were used to".[2] In 2005 four different digital service providers offered the full album along with exclusive bonus material: iTunes,[3] MSN,[4] Yahoo!, and Real Rhapsody;[5] each offered an additional exclusive track from the encore of the show which were "Time", "Bitter Tears", "Mystify" and "Don't Change", respectively. At the band's request, a local cover band, Dread Zeppelin, opened the show and performed tracks from that group's third album, Hot & Spicy Beanburger (1993). Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar Andrew Farriss – keyboards, guitar Jon Farriss – percussion, drums Tim Farriss – guitar Michael Hutchence – vocals Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals Mark Opitz – producer "Communication" – 5:19 "Days of Rust" – 3:03 "The Gift" – 4:04 "The Loved One" – 3:56 "Cut Your Roses Down" – 4:17 "Taste It" – 5:19 "Need You Tonight" – 3:18 "Mediate" – 4:17 "Full Moon, Dirty Hearts" – 3:53 "Please (You Got That...)" – 3:11 "Suicide Blonde" – 5:31 "I Send a Message" – 3:18 "All Around" – 3:17 "What You Need" – 5:20 "New Sensation" – 3:55 "Kick" – 3:25 "Devil Inside" – 5:56 "Heaven Sent" – 3:31 "Time" – 3:13 "The Messenger" – 4:35 ------------------------------------------------- I had assumed this was the new band, as prior to this thread I had never heard of this before, but now I see that this was only available as a digital download, and that explains it ... I am not a downloader or a streamer, so I just wouldn't have noticed this at all. This is a pretty interesting setlist, and essentially that's all I have here.... I'll need you guys to fill in any of the blanks, and possibly correct the wiki info in need be. Communication. We open with an enthusiastic sounding crowd, and then we get some sound effects that lead into the groove of the song. As we expect by now, the band sound solid and tight. We get some tape inserts as was very acceptable in nineties concerts, and brings some of the album sound to the show.
Days Of Rust We punch into this one following the hats intro, and we get a nice rock sound. We opened with a Welcome To Wherever You Are tracks and roll straight into the opener for Full Moon Dirty Hearts ... no matter what the buzz surrounding the albums, the band show confidence in their new material, and as we saw when we looked at the albums, there is no reason why they shouldn't have. These are all good albums. This is a solid track, that's short and sweet.
The Gift. The Second song and lead single for Full Moon kicks in, and again it is a solid version. I still really like this track, and it seems like it should have been a bigger hit. Hutchence introduces the song nicely and shows he was still in the groove. I have no idea if these were touched up, but it all sounds live and solid.
The Loved One. This just seems to be a song that the band loved, it shows up all over the place, and they recorded it for two albums.
Cut Your Roses Down. Straight into another Full Moon track. We get a spare sounding track here, relying on the funky groove. I'm not a big fan of the synth horns, but I can live with that. Nice arrangement. I like that we are five tracks in, and there is nothing off Kick yet.
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, video 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 Flesh and Blood Put The Pieces Back Together Breathe Slide Away 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 Kick Deluxe and special editions 1989-2017 Mediate live in US Never Tear Us Apart live in US Kick live in US Jesus Was A Man The Trap Different World 7" and 12" Mystify Chicago demo Move On ( Guitar /version) Never Tear Us Apart (soul version) Need You Tonight (big bump mix) Calling All Nations ( kids on bridges mix) Sept 2005 Pretty Vegas Oct 2005 Live At Barker Hangar Communication Days Of Rust The Gift The Loved One Cut Your Roses Down
On the songs from the Live at the Barker Hangar. Well done by the band, but the recording is horrible. Sounds like a bootleg.
The Barker Hanger release makes no sense. Did a different record company have the rights and try to cash in? The band just finished the tv show, picked a new singer and released a fairly successful single so why put out a live show from 12 years earlier?
Because of its extended intro, Communication is the perfect intro track for the GOOTH tour. Andrew's improvisational keyboard parts in the instrumental section does wonders to enhance the emotionality of the song. This, Days Of Rust, The Gift & Cut Your Roses Down, are a bit looser but are just as good as the album versions, if not better (apart from CYRD since the outro is cut out for some strange reason?). Which is really saying something, especially considering that FM, DH wasn't even officially released yet. I would've preferred a substitute for The Loved One because I feel it's been over-played live. But INXS obviously loved playing it and it is a great version...
INXS - I'm Only Looking - The Best Of I think as far as INXS releases go the above 2 DVD set released in 2004 needs to be added to the list. It was an (almost) complete release of their clips + heaps of live + remix + documentary and featured full audio remixes (from the multitracks) on the clips. I'm Only Looking - The Best Of INXS Just Keep Walking 2:44 The One Thing 3:24 Don't Change 4:24 Original Sin 3:47 This Time 3:07 What You Need 3:34 Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain) 3:58 Listen Like Thieves 5:42 Need You Tonight 3:09 Mediate 2:38 Devil Inside 5:12 Never Tear Us Apart 3:51 New Sensation 4:11 Mystify 3:37 Suicide Blonde 4:05 Disappear 4:07 Bitter Tears 3:50 By My Side 3:37 Shining Star 3:46 Not Enough Time 4:13 Taste It 5:00 Baby Don't Cry 4:45 Beautiful Girl 3:23 The Gift 5:04 Elegantly Wasted 3:55 Bonus Material - Live / Rare & Documentary Live (1980-1997) Simple Simon (Gold Coast / Australia - 1980) 2:36 Original Sin (Narara / Australia - 1983) 5:20 Listen Like Thieves (Melbourne / Australia - 1985) 3:49 Kick (California / USA - 1988) 3:12 New Sensation (Wembley / London - 1991) 3:46 What You Need (Osaka / Japan - 1994) 3:21 Mediate (Osaka / Japan - 1994) 4:15 Searching (Sydney / Australia - 1996) 4:10 Elegantly Wasted (Aspen / USA - 1997) 3:58 Don't Change (Montage '83 - '97) 5:19 Remixed Suicide Blonde (Launay 12" Version) 6:51 The Stairs (7" Version) 4:54 Bitter Tears (Lorimer 12" / Live Version) 6:36 Disappear (Lorimer 12" Version) 6:55 Welcome To Wherever You Are Heaven Sent (Live Montage) Rehearsal / Recording Montage Taste It (Live Montage) Pictures From A Full Moon Time 2:53 Make Your Peace 2:41 I'm Only Looking 3:30 Please (You Got That...) 3:01 Rare & Unreleased The One Thing (Live USA 1983) 3:54 The Strangest Party (These Are The Times) 3:40 Everything 3:20 Searching 4:24 Don't Lose Your Head 3:56 - Behind The Scenes 20:02 Photo Gallery