Questions My brother was the first of us to buy the album and he brought it over to play at my apartment. He told me “it has a pretty wild opening that sounds like The Beatles go to India”. Pretty accurate, but actually upon further listening you realize that some “questions” are indeed being asked in the intriguing lyrics and that the music stands on its own. Letting Andrew sing his own song on the album is also a first, isn’t it? Usually the tracks with just his voice are relegated to Bsides. This a cool track, and while I understand the urge to cut it off and jump into Heaven Sent (as INXS have done on the album) it really is worthy of hearing the full version. The album INXS have constructed has its own sense of flow from song to song, and I think they made the right decision, but for further listening purposes it’s great to enjoy the full track.
Questions - instrumental Cheers @dirkster for that info. If there is another official version, please post it for us guys.
Opening the album with Questions was very ambitious. It’s like nothing we’ve heard from the band, and quite non-commercial in my opinion. Nevertheless, I think it works very well, and builds beautifully in its two short minutes. It’s a perfect opener for this album.
Some more random thoughts on WTWYA: - I've always wondered whose call it was to break with Chris Thomas on this album. I suppose it could have been mutual - Tim Farriss was reportedly largely MIA from the recording due to bone spurs, while Jon, Kirk and Garry were all going thru domestic issues. As Mark Optiz said, "The album is very much Andrew, Michael and myself."
Perfect “statement” opener – ironic since it’s called “Questions”. “How can you heal someone that doesn't want to heal” – a line that would soon became prophetic to my life with some relationships I had, just a few short years later. Once again, @dirkster is spot on – the lyrics are intriguing while the instrumental version shows the music truly does hold up pretty well on its own. Add me to the list of people who never knew that’s Andrew singing. I, too, assumed it was just one of the many vocal treatments on Michael… but now it seems obvious. Learn something new every day!
Yet another listener here who never realised the vocals on "Questions" were performed by Andrew Farriss! As many have said it really is an excellent album opener. Nothing like anything they had done before and it serves as an appetiser for what follows. Not too dissimilar to Zoo Station
"Questions" right off the bat shows the band pushing everything they've done up to this point aside and moving on. It gets your attention instantly with the middle eastern music while a disembodied voice repeatedly, well, asks questions that apparently can't be easily answered. The music then continues alone in this hypnotic groove for a bit before "Heaven Sent" just abruptly comes in out of nowhere and takes off. What a way to start the album.
Questions exudes such a bold opening instrumental statement to new and old fans: "We're back and ready to surprise you again!" I really love the combination of the middle eastern exotic (probably rooted in the phrygian dominant scale) rhythmic components. Including, what sounds like tabla and an oboe or clarinet, coupled with the soothing keyboard textures and tambourine. It just sets the mood for the rest of the album perfectly. Lyrically, it appears to be about someone who is simultaneously over-confident but is obviously still in their adolescent/innocent years. The extended/instrumental mix (the Baby Don't Cry B-side) fleshes out some of the instrumentation nicely, especially the acoustic guitar. But I'm glad they used the original version for WTWYA instead, as it works better as a shorter song and doesn't overstay its welcome...
I think "Questions" is there as an intro to prepare the listener that you're not going to get a "standard" INXS album this time around and be ready for what's coming. Or almost like an appetizer before getting into the main course.
You have regular standards and then you have INXS standards. This intro song is nothing we've ever heard before from the band. Like I said upthread, don't expect to hear a Kick Pt. 3. This was the warning shot.
Interesting that you say that, because I’ve been getting a serious Zoo Station vibe on a track or two from the NEXT album, Full Moon Dirty Hearts, as I’ve been giving it a lot of preview listens to gets ready for that one. The sequencing and editing choices on this album are superb.
I didn't expect to hear Kick Pt. 3 because I don't believe they ever made a Pt. 2. Like I've opined earlier in this thread, despite INXS not moving forward stylistically as much as they had before and after X, they still were moving forward, only to a smaller extent. Especially Suicide Blonde, since it's in E major & E minor simultaneously, Charlie Musselwhite's blues harp samples & the repetitive 32nd notes in the secondary melody. As well as the heavy blues feel, thanks to CM, on WPTP & OMW. These tracks were very different from anything INXS had written/performed before. So X isn't Kick Pt. 2. X is its own album.
On the 2002 bonus track version they released another version of questions called 'the Answer' also another version called 'the Indian song' which is questions with the lyrics from 'not enough time'..the full instrumental version of questions came out on the baby don't cry single...
Questions: It's an ambitious opening track that's for sure. The music has this mesmerizing effect that pairs quite well the lyrics, then suddenly, I'm snapped out of the trance when Heaven Sent comes on. I recall during my walks to school, as I would put the album in my Walkman, I would eventually start to dwell on the 'questions'. So, yeah, I definitely like this song and rightfully kicks the album off proper.
"Heaven Sent" Single by INXS from the album Welcome to Wherever You Are Released 18 July 1992 Recorded 1992 Genre Alternative rock, hard rock Length 3:18 Label Atlantic Songwriter(s) Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss Producer(s) Mark Opitz "Heaven Sent" is the first single by INXS taken from their eighth studio album Welcome to Wherever You Are. It was released only in Europe, Japan and Australia. The song was written by Andrew Farriss who explained on the liner notes of the 2002 remaster: "Originally I wrote the song as a 3/4 ballad. The band heard it and rocked it up to make it the recording it became. The vocal effect helped give the track some extra attitude."[1] UK 7" / Cassette single "Heaven Sent" "It Ain't Easy" UK 12" Picture single "Heaven Sent" "It Ain't Easy" "11th Revolution" "Heaven Sent (Gliding version)" CD5 – 45099-0115-2 EastWest/Australia "Heaven Sent" "It Ain't Easy" "11th Revolution" "Deepest Red" "Heaven Sent (Gliding version)" CD5 – INXCD 19 Mercury/UK limited edition collector's box "Heaven Sent" "It Ain't Easy" "11th Revolution" "Deepest Red" CD3 – WMD5-4108 WEA/Japan "Heaven Sent" "It Ain't Easy" Chart (1992) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[2] 13 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 24 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 39 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[5] 46 Germany (Official German Charts)[6] 47 Greece (IFPI)[7] 9 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] 35 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 32 Portugal (AFP)[10] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 35 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 23 UK Singles (OCC)[13] 31 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 2 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing to note, is probably that in the way we are working here we miss the excellent transition here, and on the rest of the album really, but particularly here, the transition from Questions to Heaven Sent is present excellent stuff, and it helps give the opening of the album a fantastic dynamic. The tracks opens with some nice aggressive downstrokes on the guitar, and instantly give this a more aggressive sound and feel than we reached on X. We get a nice solid fill on the drums to bring in the beat, and they are real drums, and that, in my mind helps with the immediacy of the track too. Your eyes are like deep wells of desire Once in your arms I'm on fire You were sent girl so perfectly true Changing my life Now I'm a survivor Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent That's what I call you Late at night when the evening fire has died There's a look in your eye Seductive images fly Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent That's what I call you One day you'll see what angels can see Dressed in black if she comes back I think I'll lose my mind Tuesday she works In the library uptown Some useful knowledge Can always be found Don't burn the library Till you've read all the books Sometimes in life You get a second look Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent That's what I call you Heaven sent Heaven sent Heaven sent Heaven sent Heaven sent Songwriters: Andrew Charles Farriss Heaven Sent lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group Andrew wrote this, so I know these aren't Michael's lyrics, but that's a nice photo from around this time, so I just put it in here. The lyrics here are pretty straight forward acknowledgement from a guy to a girl of how much she means to him. We have a fairly straight four chord barn burner in the verses, but they set the chorus up beautifully with a nice rhythm and accent change, that is really helped by the guitar and bass unison riff. We get a nice backing vocal chordal thing, that adds a little to the short second verse, and it kind of creates this united chord progression .... It has a flowing water kind of feel. About halfway through we get a bridge and it offers just enough of a change to throw some variation, but still manages to keep that forward momentum going, as it rises to a crescendo. I tend to prefer the vocals a little more forward in the mix .... and from a fashion perspective the vocal to music ratio is generally in constant flux in the music world. There is an interesting effect on the vocal, but it isn't overbearing. For me the Question-Heaven Sent intro is one of the most successful openings to an Inxs album. It just works really well, and we get two completely different presentations and atmospheres, but they work together so well, and give an album listener the instant feeling that this isn't going to be a boring ride. To me it seems this would have been the right choice for the lead single, and it did do pretty well ... but me and singles don't really understand each other very well lol
It Ain't Easy We open with a T rex type boogie guitar, and it sounds like they recorded it on a boat or something. It is a very unusual sounding track. Interestingly on this track, the vocal mix is right in your face. It seems like this track could have been made into something .... but as it is here, it is certainly an unusual sounding b-side.
11th Revolution I like the hesitating start here, and then the way it punches in. I guess this sounds like a Tim track, with the dominant guitar. I kind of like the aggressive erratic nature of it really. Interestingly the single say Andrew wrote it and Tim produced it ... so perhaps we can get one of you guys to clarify there. This is a quirky instrumental that could have worked as a good track with a vocal. It is nice to hear the guys playing around with their b-sides again though.
Deepest Red So the guys went all out with songs on this first single. This sounds more like it was made in consideration for the album. We have a nice kind of half time feel going on here. Probably the right decision to leave this off the album, but this is a pretty solid track in its own right.
Heaven Sent (Gliding Version) This has a sort of demo meets unplugged arrangement. Interestingly it still works pretty well..... though the vocal has a sort of slapdash delivery..... or an "I had too many bongs" delivery.
Heaven Sent: Good song and yes with the transition out of Questions it's an intriguing 1-2 punch but I've always felt bad for not liking it more...it doesn't really go anywhere and lacks that special something that would elevate it into greatness. I can understand why it didn't catch on in a bigger way.
Heaven Sent -- 5/5. Glorious rock-n-roll. A clear example of what rock should be. The guitars are raunchy, the rhythm has swagger, the vocals have punch. It Ain't Easy - 3.5/5. Pleasant song. The first time I heard this was today. Should have been on the 2002 reissue. 11th Revolution -- 3.5/5. Good ballsy song. Another one that should have been on the 2002 release. I enjoy these b-sides more than the majority of X. Sanitized and overproduced rock bores me. These are not. I, again, type that these b-sides should get a formal release. Peter Gabriel did something like this a awhile back. They should do the same, if only a download/streaming release. I would buy it even.
