Welcome To Wherever You Are is INXS' masterpiece. "Suicide Blonde" is my favorite of their singles -- so damn funky.
Instrumentally, Communication is rooted in B major. And throughout the near entire song, the keyboard/guitar riffs, arpeggios & fills are almost all surrounding this particular chord, despite there being a few related chord progressions. It's as if Andrew wanted to see how much of a song he could write around almost only one chord. And it works so well because the flow of the song is constantly intact. And consequently, all the vocal / studio effects included elevate the atmosphere of the track perfectly. And the final 90 or so seconds contain some very cool improvised parts, and even more so live on the following GOOTH tour. Apart from the political nature of the song and the Gulf War references, Communication also appears to be a take on FAKE NEWS, with the lines, "Gonna keep up the lies...And our version of life." Without getting too political, these two lines are very relevant & fitting considering today's world. Lastly, I'm getting sick to death of the U2 comparisons. AGAIN, the majority of WTWYA was written months BEFORE Achtung Baby was released. Also, U2 weren't the first ones to invent vocals effects, nor were they the first ever band to experiment. And remember, U2 only starting getting funkier AFTER MH & Bono became friends in the late '80s and AFTER INXS were outselling U2 in the UK from 1988-1991. So who's really borrowing (if not stealing?) from who? Come on, guys. Anyway, Communication is a very solid album cut.
Pretty much agree with all that. Yea, I still don't get the U2 thing ... To me it is somewhat like saying Def Leppard Sounded like Peter Gabriel III because they used gated drums lol
I don't think the influence of Achtung Baby on WTWYA is heard so much in the songwriting as in the production and sounds. But sure, we can table it for now.
Heaven Sent is a very good lead song...but it just lacks that extra bit of magic to elevate it into something more. 4/5.
-- Very good point about getting funkier. They reached a pinnacle with Joshua Tree. The only way to progress was to change. Don't forget U2 and INXS were hanging out with Duran Duran too. One can see the collective influences on all the 90s material really.
i mean, “Suicide Blonde” is almost entirely one chord, so can’t fault them for rolling with that concept. But I don’t really think “Communication” is as static as you make it out to be. The verses go places and the chorus, albeit simple, at least uses the IV chord to its fullest.
I never said there weren't other chord progressions in Communication. Just that the vast majority of it is rooted in B. Suicide Blonde is not even remotely close to being only one chord. The verse guitar strums are E / G / A / Asus2. And the primary chorus funk guitar riff is Em7 / Em7/maj.6 / Em7...Em7 / Em7/maj.6 / Em7 / A. And like I've pointed out a couple of times already in this thread, it's awkwardly in two entirely different keys simultaneously (E major & E minor). However, both keys have the same E bass note. Maybe that's what you're referring to?
No comparison at all. I just hear two bands that were peers and occasionally, as in the case of today’s song “Communication”, happened to be touching on similar subject matter as inspiration for lyrics.
the major/minor tonality is ambiguous. The bass never strays far from E. It’s basically a one chord song.
Increasingly throughout the 90’s, the US record companies got stingier about releasing singles. The strategy was probably to get airplay for “Heaven Sent” with the video on MTV and sending the promo CD-single to radio, in order to build anticipation - and then to funnel all that excitement into album sales when it finally came out. Slightly off-topic here: The focus on album sales got to a point in the late 90’s where most top US rock radio tracks didn’t seem to have a single you could buy. I recall one indie starting up whose sole purpose was to release sound-alike singles by a house “band” of cover musicians. Each single had a fake band name starting with the same letter of the alphabet as the real band so they’d get stocked in the same location alphabetically in Best Buy, Circuit City or the music store. Into this environment, with the takeoff of the widespread internet, stepped Napster and other file sharing services. The public, understandably in my opinion, started using them to find the songs they could not buy legally. By trying to make everyone buy albums and refusing to sell singles, the record companies shot themselves in the foot.
I agree with your 1st and 2nd sentences. But I definitely don't agree your 3rd and final sentence, as I've explicitly gone over. Excellent points.
I mean, I’m a guitar player who’s played this in bands...the guitar plays a lot of passing chords that resolve back to the original ambiguous E, never a serious chord change. It’s not a criticism, the song works in a way almost no other band could pull off, but reduced to its core, it’s entirely on one chord.
Cool...I'm a guitar player too. And I've created guitar tab versions of INXS' songs for 25+ years. Despite the fact that the bass note almost never changes (which we agree on), there's plenty of variety (and deceptive intricacy) in SB's chord progressions. So I just don't see how you could come to that conclusion. If anything, Communication is almost entirely one chord. Anyway...
Communication has actual changes, particularly in the root note. SB just has a series of little guitar licks over the same chord/pentatonic bass pattern. I don’t know why this is so complicated.
"Communication" starts off as "Heaven Sent" fades away with somebody switching through radio stations before stopping on what sounds like military communication as a nice groove starts up and plays through. Michael sings with this cool detached vocal while the song continues to go back and forth playing samples of voiceover/TV in the background as a U2 like atmospheric piano line plays. The most important part of this song seems to be that as it ends, it's setting up via the segue what I think is the meat of the album with the Taste It/Not Enough Time/All Around/Baby Don't Cry/Beautiful Girl sequence.
But Communication doesn't have many changes at all. Whereas, SB has plenty of intricacies that can be and are easily missed (the simultaneousness of dual keys, etc.)...
100%. The first three songs, good as they are, are setting the table for this next batch that follows.
"Taste It" Single by INXS from the album Welcome to Wherever You Are Released 14 November 1992 Recorded 1992 Genre Alternative rock Length 3:26 Label Atlantic (U.S.) Mercury Eastwest Songwriter(s) Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence Producer(s) Mark Opitz, INXS "Taste It" is the fourth single from the 1992 album Welcome to Wherever You Are, by Australian rock band INXS. The song was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence. It peaked at No.36 on the ARIA Singles Chart,[1] 7" single INXS23 Mercury/UK "Taste It" (LP version) "Light the Planet" CD5 maxi single INXCD23 Mercury/UK "Taste It" (LP version) "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix) "Not Enough Time" (Ralphi Rosario Mix) "Light the Planet" CD5 maxi single INXCB23 Mercury/UK "Taste It" (Youth Acapella Mix) "Suicide Blonde" (Oakenfold Milk Mix) "Disappear" (Morales Mix) "Bitter Tears" (Lorimer 12" Mix) CD5 864 685-2 Mercury/Germany "Taste It" (LP version) "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix) "Light the Planet" "Suicide Blonde" (Oakenfold Milk Mix) CD5 45099-1293-2 EastWest/Australia "Taste It" (LP version) "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix) "Not Enough Time" CD single 7-87409-2 Atlantic/US "Taste It" (LP version) "Questions" (No Vocals) CD3 WMD5-4123 WEA/Japan "Taste It" (LP version) "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix) Cassette single INXMC23 Mercury/UK "Taste It" (LP version) "Light the Planet" Cassette single 7-87409-4 Atlantic/US "Taste It" (LP version) "11th Revolution" Chart (1992) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[1] 36 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[3] 31 Switzerland Hitparade[4] 38 UK Singles Chart 21 U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 1 U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- We open with the swirl sound effect carrying on and then drop into a nice groove on the drums. We also get kind of a harmonica reprise from the ideas on the last album (kind of). We get a solid bass that is holding fort, and a light blow from the sax here and there, and the vocal comes in. Yes it's me I am the one To make you see Where we belong I was shaking Like a leaf All wrapped up In my dirty sheets If I agree to what comes next I would be faking With the best of them It seems a crime I would commit Without the difference Of all the world's gifts Sweet sweet sweet Could you taste it Never never never Never never never (taste it) To dream All the time Without a scream In the dead of night All those faces Come back to me I'll be begging To swim that sea Yea I made A picture story Make you cry In all your glory A need to quench The thirst of many To justify And make ready Sweet sweet sweet Could you taste it Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) This realization Owes us strength to show If you're uncertain You're invited to believe These are the words I speak These are the words I speak A dislocation From where we once came from Give sons and daughters Because we want to go on These are the words she speaks These are the words she speaks Sweet sweet sweet Could you taste it Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) Never never never (taste it) Never never never Never never never Taste It lyrics © Chardonnay Investments Ltd., Inxs Publishing Pty. Ltd. This is a really interesting lyric ... I could take this lyric so many ways, that I am not even going to try and break it down. The atmosphere set up in the verse is excellent, and there are some nice tom fills too. The chorus comes in really well with the tacet opening up the space, and the the guitars come in for a really nice dynamic emphasis ... that I must say have a really nice stereo effect on them too. As we come out of the verse we get a cool sax, that is either reversed, or has a reverse reverb effect on it.... either way it is very effective again. In this verse we have the guitar come in with a rhythm to add colour and as the verse goes on the rhythm guitar gets more intense building up to a crescendo as we break into another chorus. Then we get a really cool atmospheric bridge and there is a very subtle but well placed piano line than again just adds a really nice colouring to the track. The bridge really comes to an aggressive crescendo and drops out completely before the next verse. Then we get the final chorus section. This is a really solid song, that back in the day I never paid any attention to, to be honest. Over the last couple of weeks it has grown in my estimation a lot.
The video To be honest I have never seen this before, and I didn't even know people were still making videos like this at the time.
Light The Planet This opens with a really nice bit of blues slide. Then some showtune type piano comes in... Then it drops into this quite surprising two beat thing. We have some piano and some casiotone keys. This seems to be intentionally kind of goofy, and I actually really enjoy it..... Not for the album, but another track that makes me wish these guys would compile a b-sides collection.
Taste It - Youth 12" mix This is like one of those dance type remixes, and it sounds fine, but I prefer the dynamics of the album version.
There is a remix of Not Enough Time, but I don't want to prematurely bring the song into the discussion.... If I forget about the alternate mix when we get there, please remind me, or post it guys. Cheers
Taste It: 5/5. Rock at its sleaziest, every instrument drips with a wanton, lustful passion. Kirk's sax! Light the Planet: Demo from Andrew it sounds like to me. Not much to say about it. The video is disturbing to say the least. Remember only seeing this video in Europe, not in the US, which I am sure the moral majority would have been outraged. Could imagine if they released this today, they would be front-page news!
