Everything . This is a message from inner space This is a message from me to you face to face The continuity of all you gave Time to undo the shackles of a slave And Everything everything everything everything everything Everything everything everything everything everything Here comes positivity cruisin' on a wave We've got every dream recorded Loaded up and ready to save Feed off that power that's in your dreams Mass total energy from things unseen Ignore the architect of our dreams Spinning the wheel with thought unseen Part of the whole ignorance removes the soul And sends it scurrying blindly Off to dig its hold Here comes positivity cruisin' on a wave We've got every dream recorded Loaded up and ready to save Feed off that power that's in your dreams Mass total energy from things unseen This track has a nice pulsating feel, and pushes along well. I like the interplay between the the layered guitars that creates this kind of swampy groove. I guess the chorus may irritate some people, but interestingly, although I rarely lime repetitive lyrics, the chorus works well for me here, and I think iy merely comes down to the delivery of the lyrics.
Concrete. I think this track is excellent. We have this smooth moderate tempo groove. Again the guitar layers work well with the drums to create a nice groove. I think Michael's vocal delivery works really very well too. I'm sitting in a bar Staring that the universe that's in my drink The motion of my straw Is stirring anti-clockwise in the glass I recall the moments, well And I raise my glass to you You held me in your arms And saved me from despair And as I'm older and more stupid The years have etched stupidity into my skull I condemn my foolishness And I raise my glass to you Yeah, the world is packed with murderers and madmen They promise us a slow, slow death Those who torture with a smile I don't like their idea of business at all And in this drink I see my momentary freedom But I know the smell of my own prison Yes, I know it well I know the smell of me (Fascination won't change my mind) I hear those telephones ringing Everybody wants out Ring, all those sleepless nights And those wailing phones won't set things right Such a state of disorder Go one way, two ways, four Anyway, our feet are still cramped Oh, sure it's a concrete idea We get a nice change up at about the halfway point and I think the way the track has been put together works very well.
Ghost of the Year 3.5/5. Much better than the first two tracks to me. Like the pulse and feel. I haven't listened to these probably since 1990. Everything 2.5/5. The chorus brings it down. Kind of like electro-blues. The artificial percussion is annoying tbh. Hutch could have done better with the lyrics. Concrete - 4/5. Michael brings his talents here. A co-write and it shows. Much better than any other song on here so far.
Ghost Of The Year is a decent song but is semi-generic in execution. Everything includes some cool melodies & guitar riffs, but it's half-baked and doesn't hit the mark. Concrete, which somewhat sounds like a slower tempo or deconstructed version of WOTW, contains thought-provoking lyrical content but doesn't seem to include a chorus and is also a little half-baked in presentation.
Zero-2-0 this track is like a little intermission. We have a solid beat, and some overlayed guitars, but the main focus here is really some effected telephone conversations of some distinction. I just take this for what it is a minor intermission, and for me it works pretty well.
Zero-2-0 Terry Todd remix It seems such an odd choice to remix .... but here we have Terry Todd remixing this track. The drums again take the centre stage. The guitars get used in a different way, and they are reasonably effective. About halfway through we get a cool little piano insert, and that gives us a nice textural change. A very unusual choice of a track to remix, and it bears little resemblance to the album version. It holds minor interest, but I am unlikely to revisit it.
Soul Engine We fade up with a nice moderate funk kind of groove. I like the arrangement. We have a nice beat and drum groove. Some wah guitar, and a nice embellishment with some string sounds that add a nice melody into the mix. We were talking While driving at night Talking about freedom Freedom in golden cages Illusions, some call them dreams Someone said, "Do the words make a difference?" She said, "Never underestimate your soul." We took to the highway in a car full of dreams [Chorus] You bought your freedom In golden cages Some people call dreams You bought your freedom In golden cages Some people call dreams If you strip everything away What are you left with? You're left with nothing If you took away your big black cat Would there be anything at all? Your hats and furs and diamond rings Don't mean a thing And those chains you got around your neck They're just pulling you down Walk naked to me Walk naked to me Walk naked to me [Chorus: x2] I like this song well enough. It isn't a stand out to me, but I find it interesting enough to keep things rolling along. I think it would have worked a little better for me, if the melodic interlude had broken up the vocal section in the middle there. So, not a favourite, but I certainly don't feel a need to skip this.
Buckethead We open with the female vocal that has that kind of house feel that was so popular for a while. Again we get a nice groove laid down, and again for me the arrangement of the instruments underneath is economical and works for me. Sometimes you feel like hell And your whole world is hell as well Sometimes you feel just like All you can do is sleep There's an eyeball on your shoulder And Lord it's been there such a long time And you can't escape this feeling Though there's nothing there wrong There's a monitor where the mind once was An aircraft passes overhead Resounds like rain in the bucket of my head Bones just like guns Marching off to bore Some sizable holes in this suit of skin Sometimes you feel like hell And your whole world is hell as well Sometimes you feel just like All you can do is sleep I know that sickness is here Come on and buy your own disease Cause we're the product of the product Can't turn but to rot There's a monitor where the mind once was An aircraft passes overhead Resounds like rain in the bucket of my head Bones just like guns Marching off go bore Some sizable holes in this suit of skin To me this song grooves along quite well, and the chorus is phrased well in the vocal delivery. For me this is a pretty good album track that keeps the album moving along well.
Zero-2-o. 1.5/5. Zero interest from me. The song apes every single trick that was being used at the time. Soul Engine. 3.5/5. Not bad like tempo and subtle guitar. If this album had more songs like this, I would have kept it. Hear a bit of "Taste It" here. Buckethead. 2.5/5. Kinda makes me reach for a bucket to be honest, and not in a good way. Nothing groundbreaking here. It's why I deem this project to be a failure on every major accord. If Michael wanted to do something different, he should have gone in a different direction. All of this is just watered down INXS "acting" hip but not actually achieving remotely like it. I can't make it past the one-minute mark for the majority of these songs.
Thanks to this thread I checked out "Way Of The World" last night and really enjoyed it. Great vocal performance. Time to listen to the whole album.
I have been listening to the album over the past week but didn't want to jump in here with comments until the end as I accidentally ended up summarising the whole album (and I didn't want to mess up this thread!) lol
I find it interesting that, for a punk/indie record, the production is a very high quality. Somebody spent money on this to make it sound so good...maybe Michael?
Apart from some interesting lyrical content, Zero-2-0, Soul Engine & Buckethead are also mostly half-baked and only mildly enjoyable at best. There's really nothing new here.
Monday Night By Satellite We open with a pretty solid bass and drum section, and then we have a sort of Eastern melodic theme play, and drop back to the bass and drum skeleton with a few little embellishments for the vocal to come in. You stained my chair I stained your dress People think we're brats But I think we're pretty smart CHORUS: Monday night by satellite I'm walking through your dreams Life's so strange when we're together But I feel like we're twins Oh the will To carry on The time is short But I have the time (CHORUS) If I were to spend my whole life over I'd spend it with you Monday night by satellite I love you Monday night Monday night Monday night By satellite Songwriters: Hutchence Michael Kelland / Olsen Ian Christopher Essentially this is a pretty cool song. We have nice use of atmosphere, and again, the layers tend to make this a fairly interesting listen. It isn't one of the top songs here for me.
Tight This song kicks straight in, and it has an urgent sound, and a nice hybrid rock/tech feel to it. Hold tight Nothing missing Look around Pupils glisten Can you listen? Or is it that You've learned too much What's your limit? You know you've heard Teeth are clenched A pack of lies-yeah Chords in the neck are tense So hold tight Sometimes it seems to make no sense And don't you cry Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Hold tight Yeah, I can see ya You got it all under your skin Turn around where you stand Everybody takes aim at adversity You know you've heard Teeth are clenched A pack of lies-yeah Chords in the neck are tense So hold tight Sometimes it seems to make no sense And don't you cry Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Hold tight I got ya message I got it all And there's no limit The travel between our dreams Has not come to an end So let's keep up Our unholy alliance You know you've heard Teeth are clenched A pack of lies-yeah Chords in the neck are tense So hold tight Sometimes it seems to make no sense And don't you cry Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I like the punch that this song has to offer, but the thing that really sets this song off for me is the female backing vocal. I like the vocal interplay, and the entwining rhythmic and melodic interplay between the two vocals. The music isn't necessarily particularly dense, but I think that goes to highlight the two vocal performances. I like this track.
Ot-Ven-Rot We open up with a nice subtle rhythmic construction, and the instruments come in gradually building the start nicely. Hutchence speaks gently and then the bass and acoustic guitar come in. A keyboard with a part piano, part sitar type sound plays a nice simple melody, and we get a nice sharp higher pitched percussive sound, that reminds me a little of Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells. This bruised brain can only take so much heat This mind has been used as a skittle in a dust bowl A wrecking of the soul-turned over and spewed out Carried away over junk left behind by all [Chorus: x2] Till the cattle finally come home And all the worker's bodies pile up Like so many used cars This carriage of skin and bone is my home I'm in need of new tissue but I ain't gonna get it I use the leftovers the junk left behind by all That junk chucked away to be replaced By some new So bright and shiny golden silver That it shatters the sun So as God can see it And will not spit on their land That land was bought by the skin of their teeth Or the spine and spirit of those crushed below them In the world below where the junk ain't so bright And those who got it-build for those who got better Anything they want with their bones and skin I like the drama that they have put into this one. We have this ever gentle, but swelling urgency. Hutchence starts of with an almost crooning type vocal and by the end he has a sort of semi-frenzied delivery that dds to that urgent feeling the song is going for. I think the way the song is constructed it is the perfect album ender for this album, and like most of the songs here, I think it works well.
Well I like this album, it isn't going to get into my greatest albums of all time list, but I think it is solid. Personally I think it was important for Hutchence to step out and do something else. I don't particularly feel that it was a threat to Inxs as a band, I don't think that was the point. I think that it was Hutchence attempting to give some exposure to an artist that he admired, and thought he could make a good album with, and I think they achieved both those goals. Hutchence was a restless spirit, and restless spirits need to entertain themselves or they move in self destructive paths. So to me, with the band essentially taking a break to renew themselves, it was necessary for Michael to refocus himself on something so that his inner demons didn't take the wheel. In the end a side project like this, was more likely to help the longevity of Inxs, rather than cause some kind of disbanding.... but I understand how some folks may have seen it as some kind of threat to band morale or something along those lines. Perhaps Michael should have told all the guys about this project, but at the end of the day, if they were taking a break, and this is how he chose to take a break, I really don't see why he would have needed to make a big deal of it. Normally when you get back from vacation you tell people what you got up to, you don't tend to give the itinerary before you even leave.... but anyway, horses for courses. It surprises me how much folks seem to dislike this album ....
Monday by Satellite 3.5/5. Clearly one of the better songs on the album. More songs in different styles were needed on this album for sure. Tight 2/5. For me the backing vocals turn me off. The guitar riffs clearly do not have any thought -- just strums. Ot-Ven Rot 4/5. Perhaps the best song on the album. To me, this should have been an e.p. The whole album sounds rushed, meaning quickly done with how to get from point A to point Z not figured out with the majority of the songs. In an odd way, reminds me of the Mick Jagger solo cds from the period. The voice is there, the only thing needed were the songs.
Well I feel like I can jump in here with my bullet point summary now that the song by song bit has finished. I must have been 16 when it came out and never paid it attention because teenage me didn’t endorse 'solo Michael'. I do remember it being a bit of a big deal though and getting some praise. Apart from that, I haven' listened to it until last week. For me, it's a mixed bag with some real gems. It probably helps that I’m also into mainstream electronic music so some of the sonic textures don’t grate as they might to someone not in to that genre. The good: Sometimes - the most INXS-ish of all the tracks Way of the World - in spite of the cringy lyrics, but as I understand it, Michael didn’t write most of the lyrics, is that right? Ghost of the Year - outstanding Concrete - Great song, love the opening, nice vocal Buckethead - enjoyable…a grower….like the backing vocals and some perky guitar Monday Night By Satellite - awesome Ot-Ven-Rot - outstanding. The bad: Everything - too monotonous. A lot of electronic music is also monotonous but usually what gives it a lift is a thudding bass, missing here Zero 2-0 - it’s not bad as such, it’s kinda interesting but to me it functions as a sort of interlude, or bridge between songs so hard to judge Soul Engine - has potential but again, slightly monotonous, actually features nifty little bass sound that reminds me of a scuttling insect so maybe I’m being a bit harsh and should been the good category Tight - doesn’t work for me Final thoughts: Take all the tracks in the good category, maybe throw in Soul Engine and there’s your album. As it is, it’s too long with too many weak tracks dragging it down.
Monday Night By Satellite holds together well-enough to make it slightly interesting. Tight is one of the strongest tracks from the album. Finally, one of the few songs that digs in and excites. Ot-Ven-Rot drifts along nicely and provides a trance-like atmospheric landscape worth entering. One of the best tracks from MQ. I somewhat understand what MH was getting at when making the Max Q album. But, for the most part, despite there being a handful of interesting moments lyrically & instrumentally, it generally falls flat and isn't a strong album. And come to think of it, MQ could've drastically benefited if a top name producer had been involved. Here are my song ratings for this album: Max Q ~ 2.95/5 Sometimes ~ 3.5/5 Way Of The World ~ 3.5/5 Ghost Of The Year ~ 3/5 Everything ~ 2.5/5 Concrete ~ 3/5 Zero-2-0 ~ 2.5/5 Soul Engine ~ 2/5 Buckethead ~ 2.5/5 Monday Night By Satellite ~ 3/5 Tight ~ 3.5/5 Ot-Ven-Rot ~ 3.5/5
X Studio album by INXS Released 25 September 1990 Recorded 1989–1990 Studio Rhinoceros Studio 2, Sydney Genre Alternative rock, pop rock Length 41:42 Label Atlantic US Mercury EU WEA AU Producer Chris Thomas X is Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, released on 25 September 1990. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US).[1] Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success.[2] A fifth single, "The Stairs", was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album. It was the third consecutive INXS album produced by Chris Thomas. The title, the Roman numeral for "10", represents the band's tenth year since their debut album was released in 1980. X features a sample of blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite on "Suicide Blonde", and Musselwhite himself playing on "Who Pays the Price" and "On My Way". In 2002, a remastered version of the album was released which included five previously unreleased tracks. The singles "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" were used in the 1991 teen movie Mystery Date. Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar, double bass and backing vocals Andrew Farriss – synthesizers, drum machine, harmonica and guitars Jon Farriss – drums and backing vocals Tim Farriss – guitars Michael Hutchence – lead vocals and backing vocals Kirk Pengilly – guitars, saxophone and backing vocals 1. "Suicide Blonde" 3:53 2. "Disappear" J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[9] 4:10 3. "The Stairs" 4:56 4. "Faith in Each Other" J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[9] 4:09 5. "By My Side" A. Farriss, M. Hutchence, C. Thomas[9] 3:06 6. "Lately" 3:37 7. "Who Pays the Price" 3:37 8. "Know the Difference" 3:18 9. "Bitter Tears" 3:49 10. "On My Way" 2:56 11. "Hear That Sound" 4:05 Weekly charts Chart (1990–1991) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 23 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[34] 9 French Albums (SNEP)[35] 7 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 9 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[23] 13 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 10 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 5 UK Albums (OCC)[17] 2 US Billboard 200[30] 5 Year-end charts Chart (1990) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[36] 29 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[37] 83 Chart (1991) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[38] 39 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39] 70 US Billboard 200[40] 45 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[28] 2× Platinum 140,000^ Canada (Music Canada)[32] 2× Platinum 200,000^ France (SNEP)[24] Platinum 376,300[41] Germany (BVMI)[42] Gold 250,000^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[29] Platinum 15,000^ Sweden (GLF)[43] Gold 50,000^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Platinum 50,000^ United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Platinum 300,000^ United States (RIAA)[31] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^ Summaries Worldwide (IFPI) N/A 10,000,000[44] ------------------------------------------------------- Obviously wiki-info, can be a little hit and miss, but I include it so we can have something to work off.... in relation to the charts and sales as such. I know some guys here will have info, and if you do, please feel free to share it with us, and sources are useful for this kind of thing. ---------------------------------------------- So probably unlike everybody else here, when X came along, I didn't necessarily dislike it, I mean the songs were fine, but it was the first Inxs album that seemed, from my perspective, to tread water. I was used to the band boldly striking out in slightly different directions, and X was the first album that seemed to be trying to be the prior album, to some degree. Another thing that made the album difficult for me to connect with was the lead single. Although I didn't really dislike the song, having had a couple of friends kill themselves around this time, Suicide Blonde, from my perspective at the time, seemed to be trivialising the word ... I'm sure it goes deeper than that, but I can only go by the impression it gave me at the time. I have made peace with all that, at this stage, but it wasn't really an ideal introduction to the album, so this is where I pretty much got off the ship. I recently purchased this and the other three Hutchence albums, just to have a point of reference for the thread, and I have enjoyed them .... I am still awaiting the last two to arrived, and they should arrive next week, so I will get a good chance to have a listen before we slide into them, but essentially my perspective from here on out, is going to be that of a newbie or outsider to the music (except obviously the singles and such, I wasn't living in Antarctica ) So for me I certainly have enjoyed this album well enough, but to some degree it felt like, and still somewhat feels like, a stall, in the ever forward moving life of the band up until this point. So here is where you guys really take over as far as in the moment thoughts and feelings. Where most of the world was jumping on, I jumped off, and it had nothing to do with the success of the band, merely my perspective at the time. I'm not one of those, these guys are successful, so they aren't cool kind of guys ... it was other stuff that led to me moving along. Anyway, I hope that all makes sense, and I hope nobody is perturbed by that, for me this is where it will likely get really interesting, and I am looking forward to reading all your comments about this, and the following albums. So please give us your thoughts and feelings about X, and we'll hit the first song in the morning. Cheers Mark
