INXS - The Album thread

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

  1. Al Gator

    Al Gator You can call me Al

    One of my favorite things about these album-by-album and song-by-song threads is the chance to reevaluate songs I've overlooked. Even with my favorite bands I've found new gems. The Rush thread comes to mind.
     
  2. MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt

    MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt Just spinning on my axis

    Location:
    London
    The Stairs is a funny one for me. I like it. I can recognise that it's a well constructed song, I like how it's a bit of a slow builder...and the chorus acts as a climax and Michael's vocal is great but...I tend to skip it. I much prefer the next track (adore the next track). I can't put my finger on why The Stairs doesn't move me except to say that it's missing something for me. Missing a memorable riff maybe, or a memorable bassline? Is it just me who thinks this? 7/10
     
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  3. MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt

    MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt Just spinning on my axis

    Location:
    London
    Nice turn of phrase there! Makes me want to give the song another listen.
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    It only clicked for me this morning lol
     
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  5. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va

    It clicked for me again when the reissue came out awhile back. I’ve been listening to a lot of new bands on Bandcamp, which rock. Yet, there are hardly a few reaching song construction like this.
     
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  6. Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD

    Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    The Stairs is one of INXS' finest deeper album tracks and for a variety of reasons. I love how Kirk's lead guitar parts in the extended intro develops a type of fragmentation, setting the song up for what is to develop later on. His textures/effects here are so unique, that it sounds like he's utilizing delay, reverb AND a guitar synth of some kind. Lyrically, Michael has reached yet another peak. Vocally, he doesn't disappoint either. The complete arrangement is overwhelmingly atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking and just plain beautiful. Considering the extended intro, length, etc., I totally understand why INXS didn't release this as a single worldwide. However, it doesn't really matter because I feel TS is a very good deep album cut from X. After the Concert For Life in 1992, it's too bad they never played this song again live with MH...
     
  7. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    The Rush thread was epic. 400+ pages and the songs just kept coming. I re-evaluated a lot of their familiar catalog and heard a lot of great things in the back end of the catalog I’d never even looked into. I draw the line at post-Hutchence INXS though. Rush never had a lineup change after finding their “forever drummer” one album into their career. As much as INXS was a band effort I just can’t bear to hear anyone else singing their songs.
     
  8. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    I know what you mean. There’s no huge payoff in The Stairs. There’s no transcendent moment where a guitar solo cuts through the mix and kicks it up another notch. I too used to feel this song was missing a certain “something”. But no - it really is perfect the way it is.

    The biggest “moment” for me in The Stairs comes around 3:50 when Hutchence sings “we pass each other on the stairs” and the song just stops dead, letting it linger in the air as the import of the moment sinks in. The song restarts with a sort-of guitar solo that says a lot by not trying to do too much. What’s remarkable is the restraint. If they had gone for a big singular moment I think they would have blown it.
     
  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    To be honest I feel the same way. I will certainly cover that stuff when it comes along, but the whole scenario just seemed a little strange and the way it panned out, it felt like the band couldn't heal after Michael's death, and they seemed to just lose their focus but felt compelled to continue, but it seemed like they didn't really want to.
     
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  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Faith In Each Other

    We open with a solid backing track that has these rich interwoven sounding keys and a solid bass and drum beat.

    All the people
    In this world
    All the people
    In this world
    I gotta tell you it's alright

    Look at the cover
    Of a magazine
    The pride of a nation
    They're down on their knees
    I gotta tell you
    Let the people speak
    I gotta tell you

    Yeah, you got to have faith
    In each other
    All you ever, all you ever
    Have for each other

    They give us a reason
    To go on living
    It's all in the choices
    That you have to make

    I got to tell you
    You better make them good
    I got to tell you

    All you got to have faith
    In each other
    All you ever
    All you ever have for each other

    All the people
    In this world
    All the people
    In this whole wide world
    I gotta tell you
    Let the people speak
    I got to tell you

    All you got to have faith
    In each other
    All you ever
    All you ever have for each other

    Faith in each other
    Faith in each other

    Songwriters: Jonathan James Farriss / Michael Kelland Hutchence
    Faith in Each Other lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

    Interestingly these tracks broken down into individual tracks seem to be appealing to me quite a lot. Being so new to the songs here, I had no idea what this song was, but as soon as it started I knew that I liked it.

    Lyrically this is one of those we're all in this together songs. Although there don't seem to be an awful lot of lyrics, it seems the economy of the lyrics works really well..... and again it seems to come down to the bands ability to arrange their songs so well. It is always going to be a nice sentiment from my perspective, because we are all in this together, and the forces that constantly cause division are bewildering to me..... anyway I am not going to go off on some wandering philosophical rabbit trail, so I'll leave it there :)

    The two things that really seem to sell this to me, are the smooth groove and the very well measured and melodic chord change, that although it isn't any kind of technical wizardry, just comes together well, and brings the song to me attention.

    We get some really nice little bits and pieces added that just give it enough flavour to be very palatable, and it is a certain simplicity that matches the message well, and for me delivers the goods as a track.

    We get a nice little sax interlude, with a cool little vocal chant in there, that seems like it may have been an adlib that worked well so they kept it.

    This isn't probably the most exciting song the guys have ever made, but I really like the feel, and at the end of the day it is the feel that sells this song to me.



     
  11. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Faith In Each Other 3.5/5. Nice little song that really doesn't go anywhere but push the album forward. At least, it is something different from the soon to come "ditto" area of the album. Again, Kirk's sax saves a song from being just more than average.
     
  12. MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt

    MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt Just spinning on my axis

    Location:
    London
    This is one of my favourite tracks from this album. It has that typical INXS funky groove and actually is vaguely reminiscent of The Swing - mood wise. The sax is used to great effect in this song. There's also some bell-like sound that is used - I have no idea what it is but it stands out to me and just adds another layer of sound. I like the lyrics, very positive and suits the song. Michael's vocal is wonderfully varied as usual, especially with that spooky echoey effect. 10/10
     
  13. Al Gator

    Al Gator You can call me Al

    Faith in Each Other is a solid album track, although it’s a bit preachy and ironic given what was to come. The saxophone works really well here. It's not my favorite but it's enjoyable in its way.
     
  14. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    Faith In Each Other

    Cool vibe here: laid back, world-weary, but not too tired to do some sax grooving in the last half. I’m not sure I’ve heard a song like this from INXS prior to hearing it on X. The muted and chunky bass riff is nice, and the synth drum hits are dramatic accents. The star is the groove though, and the sax riffing, egged on by some vocal “doo duh doo’s” around 2:20 is superb as well.

    Coming on the heels of the epic The Stairs, the album needs a slower thoughtful tune, and this one’s references to “all the people” lend some continuity theme-wise. If The Stairs was about how far apart we are despite living in close company, then Faith In Each Other is urging us to listen and hear each other:

    “They give us a reason
    To go on living
    It's all in the choices
    That you have to make
    I got to tell you
    You better make them good”

    The vocals throughout are of interest. Hutchence often competes against a background set of vocals, as if showing how although we should listen to each other’s voices the competition makes it difficult to hear.

    This is an excellent 1-2 punch with The Stairs. They are back to back on the album but I never play one without the other because they are two sides of the same coin.
     
  15. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    I’ve been thinking about this the last few days: “Why don’t I like X as much as Kick or Listen Like Thieves?” I like these individual songs a lot. I think part of my issue with the album stems from Suicide Blonde. It just doesn’t seem like it belongs with this group of songs. These are very good songs so far and yet the album opens up with the worst one as the lead single. If it had been a non-album track from a movie soundtrack it’d be ok, but think about the other openers from the previous albums: The One Thing, Original Sin, What You Need, Guns In The Sky. Compared to those, Suicide Blonde is a weed standing next to tall trees in the forest.

    Listen Like Thieves has some consistency issues, but it has nothing as singularly ridiculous as Suicide Blonde. Kick has a couple tracks in the middle that are “meh” to a lot of people, but again: they didn’t release The Loved One or Wild Life as a major single to introduce the album to the world.

    INXS is still at the top of their songwriting on X. They are still bringing socially conscious lyrics into pop culture and doing grooves in the way that only they could do. But this work got momentarily overshadowed by a bizarre single choice. It worked out since it was a hit, but I think it colored expectations for the album and shifted the way people may have considered the group. And wouldn’t any song released first from X have been a hit? People were hungry to hear from the band after a couple years’ hiatus.

    This is probably a terrible analogy, but here goes anyway: Suicide Blonde is to X what “Get On Your Boots” is to U2’s No Line On The Horizon. A decent enough song that was an ill-advised single from a group that was chasing after a big radio hit when they should have just let the album stand on its own merits.

    And I *like* Suicide Blonde. I just don’t like it on this album.
     
  16. MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt

    MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt Just spinning on my axis

    Location:
    London
    Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Suicide Blonde a radio hit? I thought it was. Haven't looked it up. Edit: just realised I misread your post.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2021
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  17. blastfurniss

    blastfurniss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marion, OH, USA
    Went to 9 in the US, 11 in the UK and 2 in Australia according to Wikipedia. Huge? Debatable. A mistake like Get on Your Boots? No. Not at all.
     
  18. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    Faith In Each Other is the one song on X I've never really enjoyed. Well performed as always and Michael sounds great in the verses, but I find the chorus pretty limp.
     
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  19. blastfurniss

    blastfurniss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marion, OH, USA
    Well said. I was working retail when this album dropped. I put it on in the store anxious to hear it and despite the strong singles it felt formulaic and safe. I don't think it's a bad album (thanks to the singles) but it was certainly a missed opportunity.
     
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  20. ARK

    ARK Forum Miscreant

    Location:
    Charlton, MA, USA
    One of my favorite album tracks by INXS
     
  21. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    Not to belabor a U2 comparison...but X is sort of their Rattle & Hum. A commercial success but mostly a holding maneuver.
     
  22. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    A “holding maneuver” - good description. I like that.
     
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  23. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    It was indeed a big radio hit. But wouldn’t any lead single from X have been a big radio hit? People had been waiting for two years. Suicide Blonde just struck me at the time as something akin to pandering. But that just might be my own personal viewpoint not shared by most other people.

    I certainly like the song Suicide Blonde, even though it might seem that I don’t. It just really rubbed me the wrong way when it was the face of the new album.
     
  24. MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt

    MaybeI'mMrsVandebilt Just spinning on my axis

    Location:
    London
    In what way does it pander? Not asking that to be difficult, just curious as to your viewpoint. Is it too poppy? I get that it doesn't vibe quite like Faith in Each Other, but it still sounds quintessentially INXS to me. Especially the bassline.

    And fun question: which song would you have chosen to be the lead single? I would still have gone with Suicide Blonde, but Bitter Tears could have been a contender.
     
  25. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Suicide Blonde is the obvious single. Kinda like some Stones albums, like how could Angie and Start Me Up not be the lead singles...
     

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