To Look At You -- 5/5. One of the stellar songs on the album. Always gets me dreaming. The video is pretty avant-guard too, considering their later videos. Love the panoramic of the band -- genius. The B-sides, well nothing really stands out except the extended mixes and Space Shuttle. Shows, like others have already stated, an experimentation that seems to have departed from them throughout the years. Agree above that a b-side compilation should be done -- hell, even as a streaming one. Can't be that hard now, can it?
To Look At You is my favorite INXS song. It's not Michael's lyrics though, it's Andrew's. Feel like he gets left out a lot since they often collaborated on songs. A pretty overlooked song by them that they rarely acknowledge. It appeared on none of their music video collections other than "The Swing and Other Stories" in a chopped up form. I don't think anything else quite sounds like it in their discography. It's a haunting track with lots of references to art in the music video that would continue with the Spy of Love video as well. I think the problem with a lot of INXS b-sides are they won't generally appeal to casual fans because they can be pretty different and experimental from what you'd expect. There was never that much interest in them.
Joining in late. Glad to see this. will have some catching up comment soon. loved shabooh shabooh, and the swing. later -1
To Look At You My first impression of this song, hearing it as an album track not a single all those years ago, is that it just carries that drum sound implacably through the whole track and gradually builds as it goes. The guitar blends really well with the sustained keyboard notes and we get a real slow grinder that gradually builds up some steam. The section around 2:30-3:00 with: “What do you fear in the simple Still of a summer's nite I understand I sympathize for a day dream Fairytales and I love you” This is great. Those weird synth stabby sounds in this section are always so unexpected and work so well here. As the song continues it just keeps getting more and more intense before ending suddenly. Brilliant track. The video is one I had never seen until a few years ago. As I said, I never knew it was a single, so I didn’t expect the song had a video. A bit pervy actually! He’s looking at his love interest through window blinds, and then later we see the band in the room with him. Interesting development plotwise.
I like To Look at You. Like others have said, it's a little different, but variety is the spice of life, right? The vocal delivery is varied, at times almost mumbling but getting clearer and stronger as the song goes on. And that's intentional, as it matches the music which builds nicely. I don't place it quite at the level as some of the other commentators, but it's a very good, enjoyable track. That's two winners to start this album.
To Look At You is one of the best new-wave-ish love songs conceivable. It's all about atmosphere here. Garry & Andrew's bass / synth lines & interplay are seamlessly interwoven enough to create just the right relaxed vibe. Michael's vocals slither along in sync with the verses & mood too and then build to a simultaneous crescendo with the rest of the instrumentation for the choruses and outro. It's interesting to me that despite the fact there's hardly any guitar arrangements in this track, it's one of my top 10 favourite early INXS era songs. The extended versions & B-sides (Space Shuttle, The Phantim Of The Opera, The Sax Thing & You Never Used To Cry) from these singles provide enough interest for the hard-core fan, but not necessarily for the casual fan. Regardless, these quaintly experimental tracks were important for them, in that it shows they NEVER were really satisfied with creating one particular sound or painting with one color...and IMO, that's a good thing. And I might be in the minority on this, I but LOVE Here Comes II so much, that I think they should've released this on SS in some for or another, or maybe as a hidden bonus track at the end of the album?
Spy Of Love Have you noticed to this day How many times we've prayed and played Lifting lovers up and down It gets around in this old town Sleight of hand and sleight of mouth A dirty trick to catch me out I don't mind but what I say Use that magic for better days Standing above this moment Listening to all I say The spy of love will track me Will catch me Through the window I see a face That dirty face that speaks with sorrow You listen to the walls for clues Stand in shadows protecting you Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Michael Kelland Hutchence / Andrew Charles Farriss Spy of Love lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group This is a great song, and almost hard to believe it wasn't a single. We open with an atmospheric style thing that has some cool guitar effects, and some cool synth effects, and a couple of things that sound almost Caribbean. The kick and the bass stay solid and we get a nice glistening of sound before the vocal comes in. There is really nice use of space here, and it creates a certain tension, but that chorus comes in beautifully, and it is absolutely killer. I really like the way the instruments are peppered like miniature aural assaults on the senses. The instrumental break has some melodic keys over the persistent bass and kick. Then we get some synth squelches and some nice little pieces of guitar and the vocal comes back in. I suppose it wasn't a single, because it is slightly less consistent in beat, and so not really dance oriented, but I love this song, and I reckon it is among the highlights of the album.
Here is an interview on a show called After Dark from 1982. The host is Donny Sutherland, who used to host another Aussie music show called Sounds. Anyway, I just thought this would be an interesting little insert to show the band and their mindset at this point in time.
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 b-sides Space Shuttle Phantim Of The Opera Sax Thing You Never Used To Cry Here Comes II Stop The Drop - live Feb 83
Spy of Love -- another 5/5 song to me. I thought Tim wrote the music to this one though. Like the exotic feel of this, the Caribbean dashes of sound. This album just goes from high to high. Brings me right back to the era upon listening. Miss those days of smoke-filled rooms and sexy ladies who could apply lipstick as an art form.
Spy Of Love I don’t rate this one as high as the two openers. It might be one of the lesser tracks on the album for my tastes, perhaps due to the sing-songy chorus. However, it still has a lot to recommend in it. I like the way this track fades in and then has a long fade out. It occupies a space in the middle of side one of the LP and announces that this band will record whatever kind of song they feel like recording. As noted by Mark, the Caribbean-flavored percussion in spots is very interesting for a new wave band. Am I hearing a xylophone occasionally in here? It’s a change of pace track that shows the broad scope of abilities INXS brings to the table. Lots of unexpected sounds in here: whooshes like exhales through a tube, guitar noises that sound a bit like jungle cats, etc. and like everything else on this LP, it does a great job of setting up the next track.
The bass is where the album got the title from. I know this was one of their favorite songs around this time. It's too bad the music video is blocked on youtube in the US but I found it on facebook- Spy Of Love
Again, while we have Sunday off, I'll post an extra track, so you guys have some more to talk about. Soul Mistake. Promises are carved out of lust With a fire in the heart That burns with no regret I vow to play the part In this a meeting of the soul My feelings are unknown I learn with no regret I'm getting what I get Feel some pain Though I'm miles away And ring to let you know Are you seeing someone I'd better let you go She said this was a lesson in love She said this was a love to end all loves This soul never listens to me This soul has a lot to learn Honesty eludes one and all Like a gypsy's search for gold He's dreaming all the time But the gold is hard to find Promises are carved out of lust With a fire in the heart That burns with no regret I'm getting what I get She said this was a lesson in love She said this was a love to end all loves This soul never listens to me This soul has a lot to learn Having the dreams Of some gypsy Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Farris Soul Mistake lyrics © Browning Music, Deluxe Music Publishing, Mca Music Publishing, A.d.o. Universal S, Chardonnay Investments Ltd This track opens with a killer riff. It is really quite simple, but so effective, and the phrasing makes the beat turn around on itself beautifully. Again we get a song that comes in like we are going to get some kind of punchy rock song, but we get this beautifully measured, and thoughtful track, that works more on atmosphere, than the brute force and ignorance of a rock song (I can say that, as rock, and hard rock were always my main bag ) The guitar drops out, and we get this solid bass, with the kick drum, and in the second half of the verse we get a really cool sounding low pitch synth, just holding the atmosphere. We also get some really nice accents from Jon on the drums. The guitar comes in, and I just find the atmosphere and melodic structure works so well here. Hutchence in the meantime delivers a very cool moody vocal, that is kind of engaging and disarming at the same time. The subtle structural changes are really nice in this song, and the emphasis changes also work really well. I really like the way the chorus is put together. The melody guitar works really well, and the vocal delivery is so relaxed and kind of, loose ... it is beautifully spaced. The way it kind of drags out, is perfect for the feel of the song, and it makes this a chorus on this album I really enjoy, because it is quite different. That riff comes back in once more and we move through another verse and chorus, and then we get a sort of part instrumental break, and part bridge to take us out of the song really smoothly. I suppose it is a coda really, and it works really well. We also get the keyboards kind of quietly reprising the intro riff. Another excellent track on this top notch album.
Soul Mistake yeah! This song is great. That rolling bassline gets the momentum going, the guitar riffing is great and it has the sense to drop back and allow space for that synth “buzz” sound to come to front periodically. This is a fast-paced adrenaline rush - and the sudden stop accents this.
Weird side note. Oddly, I had a shirt just like Jon's in that video. Wish I would kept some of that 80-craziness in storage to annoy my sons by wearing them now.
Soul Mistake -- 5/5. Okay, we are now 4 songs in, and the album doesn't let up. Another perfectly paced song, every note has its place. They should have been legends from this album.
The One Thing (extended) To Look at You (extended) Here Comes II These feel less like “remixes” than alternate and/or unedited versions of the songs. There was a time in the early ‘80’s when a 12” single often wasn’t really a “remix” so much as the band mapping out and playing a longer version of the song. Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth” and “Girls On Film” fit this description too. The extended version of “To Look At You” really goes off into some wild dubby territory with those infinitely echoed guitar licks - so much better than just an extended version. “Here Comes II” takes a perfectly good album track and reimagines it as a slow eerie burner that I think I prefer to the original. So, what tracks are in “God’s top ten”?
The Bsides Is “Space Shuttle” the only one of this bunch with vocals by Hutchence? It seems that there weren’t many early Bsides with Hutchence vocals. Lots of experiments, and that’s cool. But Hutchence was the voice of the group and pretty much sang every album track they ever did, so his voice missing from so many Bsides is probably the reason most people haven’t been clamoring for them. Anyway, “Space Shuttle” is a cool enough track, but it definitely doesn’t belong on Shabooh Shoobah, as it seems to exist in its own plane of existence - and who is that doing the female vocals? Any story there?
