Elegantly Wasted: 5/5. Much better than Full Moon to me. This album shows the band getting mighty hard with their rock. Oddly, the title track is one of the weaker songs to me now. I skip it for the most part. The slower songs are soulful, heartfelt and moving. I'm Just A Man is one of my favorite songs here and in general. We Are Thrown Together and Building Bridges are top notch. Sadly, Michael would be no more, but this album captures a band on fine form and if it is the last with the original members what a last it is. Shine should have been on all releases -- love it. Dare I say it but I find the sound reaching into Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath territory a bit. If only Michael would have stayed around, I would have to seen where they could have gone. But, he didn't and we eventually got Switch, a good album but not near this at any measure. Didn't expect it to either. All the other songs not mentioned are great songs with brilliant construction. Also enjoyed the artwork, which I found funny. Apparently that location looks totally different now too.
Reference guide 1980 -1992 1992 Documentary 1993 Get Out Of The House EP Nov 1993 Full Moon Dirty Hearts Days Of Rust The Gift - video - ext. - bonus beat Make Your Peace Time - video - live I'm Only Looking - remix - video Please... - edit - club - dub - downtown - instr. - Letterman Full Moon, Dirty Hearts Freedom Deep - video -extended - live Kill The Pain - video Cut Your Roses Down - Sure Is Pure mix The Messenger Viking Juice - Butcher Mix Born To Be Wild alt tracklisting Promo tour clips MTV Asia interview Live in 1993 Oct 1994 The Greatest Hits The Strangest Party - live - remix Deliver Me - demo Sing Something (bside) Nov 1994 The Great Video Experience Keep The Peace 1995 Original Sin remixes Michael Soundtrack songs 95/96 Under My Thumb Baby Lets Play House The Passenger Spill the Wine Red Hill The Heads - The King Is Gone Apr 1997 Elegantly Wasted
Elegantly Wasted (album preview) True Story: a friend sent me a one-sided promo cassette of this album (it had side one on both sides as a”preview”of the upcoming new release). I played it in my car for about a week, liked it well enough. I was surprised to hear from INXS for the first time in 3+ years, and it must be admitted I had really moved on and forgotten about them. Listening to the cassette, it was like something out of a time capsule. They also seemed to have gone back a bit and settled on a “safer” sound. All the songs on the cassette that I heard were pretty good, but the one that really stood out to me as memorable was “Don’t Lose Your Head”. Anyway, I put the cassette aside after that week, and moved on without going out to buy the album. Then later that year the news of MH’s death shocked me, and I remembered I had that cassette in my car. Next time I was driving I looked for it and put it in the deck. Whoops! The damn thing completely self-destructed in an epic snarl and when I pulled it out it ripped. It’s as if the tape knew. That was my signal to go buy the album, finally. This is another good solid album from INXS. It didn’t have the effect of reigniting huge interest in them as a Top Rock Act (TM). However, just like FM, DH it’s a very well done album, that unfortunately didn’t find much success chartwise. It is surprising to me that they hired on Bruce Fairbairn to produce (or “co-produce” with Andrew). This was a person I associated with some big 80’s albums, but wasn’t familiar with anything he’d done in the 90’s. One aspect of this album that I like very much is the “unified” approach to the album artwork and all the associated singles. Striking photography of a car wreck from many different perspectives. This was their best overall art approach since the 80’s in my opinion. So, having said all that, I like this album, but I am a bit unfamiliar with a good chunk of the songs here. This is my least heard INXS album since their first two, and I look forward to hearing it a lot more over the next few weeks.
Elegantly Wasted is a weird one. It's a fine record but I think INXhauStion had set in for me a bit here. I never really clicked with it and it feels a bit meandering...although again, they rarely released any songs that were less than solid when listened to on their own. I count Michael's suicide as one of the greatest musical tragedies of my lifetime, yet in an odd way I don't wish there were more INXS records. EW sounds like a band with nothing left to prove but also nothing left to say.
By the time of Elegantly Wasted, INXS had sadly dropped off the pop-music radar. Another strange (some would say arty) album cover didn’t help things. The strange concept carries through the liner notes, and including lyrics to only three of the songs is strange. In the end, I suspect only die-hard fans were aware of this album. I have never connected with this album. I’m hoping a deep dive will help me fix that; based on the handful of comments so far, there seems to be some love for it here.
In the early spring of 1996, when I read online and in the local papers that INXS were going to be recording here, I just couldn't believe this was happening. And I immediately phoned the Armoury Studios to confirm the reports. And it was true. My favourite band was going to be recording their next studio album here for 3-4 weeks. But for whatever reason, I didn't go to the studio to see if I could meet them. I remember waiting and waiting and waiting some more for the release date. But their label delayed it for months. It eventually wound up being released a full year later. I still feel the same way about it as I did on April 15, 1997: Elegantly Wasted is a solid INXS album. Despite still containing the usual "grab bag" or variety-styled approach that hard-core fans were so used to, it's mostly a hard rock album. In fact, apart from the title track and parts of Don't Lose Your Head & Searching, there's hardly any funk included at all. Bruce Fairburn's co-production is significantly different from Chris Thomas' & Mark Opitz'. It's a much thicker, wider, broader & looser sounding album, especially how Jon's drums are recorded. I admire its boldness. And Michael's lyrics are some of his most personal - which is why INXS decided to rarely perform songs from it after MH died. I don't think it's as strong as the previous two records (WTWYA & FM, DH) but it's a great album nonetheless. And I'm looking forward to when we start reviewing it on Monday...
I remember EW being released around the same time as Depeche Modes 'Ultra' and both being hyped as big comebacks. On reflection who would have thought that Dave Gahan would outlive Michael Hutchence. The album itself is a firm favourite of mine. I believe a lot of the songs were initially written and demoed by Michael and Andrew in Dublin around summer 1996. There are many hidden gems to be discovered on the second side and as a whole the album seems more cohesive than the patchwork vibe to FMDH. I love the artwork and colour scheme throughout. You can tell the band perhaps saw this as their last big shot so they threw everything at it from a promotional perspective. For any football fans the attractive girl on the cover is now married to Man Utd and Denmark goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel!
I am a massive Oasis fan and a Noel Gallagher fan but I am also a proud loyal Aussie and grew up with INXS and what Noel Gallagher said in front of everyone at a public awards show was disgraceful , wrong and uncalled for . I have due to my job met many people that had the pleasure of working with or knowing “ Hutch” and they all say he was a top bloke humble and warm kind and generous. As for “has Been’s “Noel as per his last album and EP’s is the very definition now of a has been and as fans we all know never try to meet him as he is an absolute dick .
FM, DH (alt. tracklisting - take 2) I said I’d post this before we got fully into the Elegantly Wasted discussion, so here it is. I like the video tracklisting because it recasts some of the songs by breaking up the order on the CD, however there a couple of nicely done transitions on the CD that I am reluctant to mess with. The “Make Your Peace/Time” transition is nice and actually overlaps a bit, as does the “Full Moon, Dirty Hearts/Freedom Deep” transition that I found so jaw-droppingly stunning back when I first heard the album. This tracklisting keeps both: Days Of Rust Make Your Peace >> >> Time Please (You Got That) Full Moon, Dirty Hearts >> >> Freedom Deep Strangest Party (These Are The Times) [from 1994’s Greatest Hits] Cut Your Roses Down I’m Only Looking The Messenger The Gift Kill The Pain Bonus tracks: Viking Juice (Butcher Mix) Born To Be Wild [Bside] What I like about this tracklisting is that it opens with a 1-2-3 punch of straightforward rousing rock, transitions to the R&B flavored-with-hardrock duet with Ray Charles, then into the bluesy title track. The big changes I’ve made here are: 1st moving The Gift to the next-to-last spot. It anchors the album and properly lets Kill The Pain wrap things up quietly, and then 2nd importing Strangest Party from its spot on the Greatest Hits and giving it a proper home on an album. This song is too good to strand on an island of misfits with other non-album tracks, and it seems fairly clear to me that the band held it back from FM, DH. I know it’s produced by Chris Thomas, but everything else about it feels to me as if it goes here. “Cut Your Roses Down” follows “Strangest Party” very nicely if you listen to them back-to-back. Give it a shot.
I’ll be honest I haven’t heard their album since it came out (and really can’t remember in much detail, so I can’t comment on its music - I must give it another listen.) However I will say Elegantly Wasted is one of the best rock n roll album titles ever. It’s such a shame what happened after...
FM, DH (alt. tracklisting - take 3) One final idea: Days Of Rust Make Your Peace >> >> Time Please (You Got That) Full Moon, Dirty Hearts >> >> Freedom Deep Kill The Pain Strangest Party (These Are The Times) [from 1994’s Greatest Hits] Cut Your Roses Down I’m Only Looking The Messenger The Gift Viking Juice (Butcher Mix) Born To Be Wild [Bside] So here we have Kill The Pain following Freedom Deep, as on the CD. However, it’s moved up to the end of “side one”. @David Jakubowski had the idea of using this as a side-ender and it’s a good idea. This also works for me because after the downbeat ending of Kill The Pain we hear the ambient crowd noise intro of Strangest Party start up and now we recognize “side two” is starting up. Then that leaves us with the big finish of The Gift, followed by “the end of rock and roll” aka Viking Juice but in the much better Butcher Mix, and then a nod in the direction of “nope, rock’s not dead at all” with a very spirited cover of Born To Be Wild. I love this Bside and it was done during the album sessions as a special for the startup of Virgin Radio so why not throw it in here too. This is my final attempt. I think this is the one I’ll use for the flash drive I play in my car.
Elegantly Wasted (album): Okay, I'll have to admit I haven't listened to this album in a very long time. Not sure why, considering this album is superb. Listening to it in the past few days pretty much confirms that and to me, it did mark a comeback of sorts, which unfortunately got cut short that year.
Show Me (Cherry Baby) We get a clucky little riff, and then a descending keyboard line, and it has a moderately ominous feel to it. The snare brings the drums in and then we burst into a completely different feel. It has a blues rock feel, and then we move into a n ice chordal riff. This is actually a really cool opening to the album, and shows a lot of colours as an intro. Show me, show me Show me how Show me, show me Show me how Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry I found you wanting Like everyone Always trying, happy lying 'Cos I'm no stranger to the ways of the world I felt like crying I felt like dying We took a coffee, you took it so strong Shaded from the neon I could still see your eyes Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Found in the gutter With a knife in her back Letter said sorry, please don't worry She had a lover With danger in his eyes I tried to tell her But she had the wildest heart Show me, show me Show me how Show me, show me Show me how Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Oh cherry baby Oh cherry Show me, show me Show me how Show me, show me Show me how Show me, show me Show me how Show me, show me Show me how Songwriters: Andrew Charles Farriss / Michael Hutchence Show Me (Cherry Baby) lyrics © Chardonnay Investments Ltd We have the intro and then three distinct musical parts. The Show Me Show Me section is pretty much straight up blues rock. The Oh Cherry section reminds me of something, but not so much that it detracts from the song. Then we have the verse section. To be honest I'm not sure where we're going with the lyrics here, but the whole song fits together nicely as a package, and it's a strong opening to the album. The slide guitar at the end is also a nice way of closing us out.
Show Me (Cherry Baby) I think this is a terrific opening track. The band come out swinging and Hutchence delivers a fantastic menacing vocal. I read that this was apparently written about the late L.A. singer Flame Fortune. Around 1984/1985 Michael was given her demo tape and was impressed enough to bring her back to Australia to record her debut single 'Sex Symbol'. Sadly she was the victim of a homicide in L.A. in 1991 hence the dark lyrics - "found in the gutter, with a knife in her back"
Show Me: 4/5. Great way to open the album, diving into a funky track based on their recent albums output but more abrasive and harsh. The best part of the song is Michael's elongated notes at the end, and how it seems into Elegantly Wasted. Very cool, and better sequencing than the whole prior album. First listening to it, I thought, yes, they are back. Was wandering around in Eastern Europe at the time and found a cassette of it in a shop, probably bootleg. It's slinky, sexy, and drips of splashed alcohol.
Show Me (Cherry Baby) An atypical track here to open with. If it wasn’t for MH’s voice, I might try to place this as some random alternative group from the 90’s. The “show me, show me” parts aren’t that pleasing to my ears, but there are some very well done pieces of this song, if it is indeed inspired by Flame Fortune then that’s a personal touch that adds some depth and background. Overall this starts up the album nicely while showing us not to expect the same thing from INXS after a 3+ year absence.
The guitar solo at 2:22-2:42 is terrific, and then when the song comes back with the “found in the gutter” verse I feel some momentum building. It might go a bit long at 4:17 but it’s worth it for the vocal yell at the end followed by the slide guitar noises.
INXS does Collective Soul. At least that’s how Show Me (Cherry Baby) comes across to me. It’s not a bad song, a bit different from their earlier material, and a solid start to the album.
Nailed it! Al Gator for the win. “Shine” by Collective Soul was the best imitation of a Smashing Pumpkins song out of the many entries in that category of mid-late 90’s rock.
Gah! I wish I’d joined this forum sooner. Gotta 2,000 post thread on INXS going here and I show up when you’re on Elegantly Wasted! Anyway, like a lot of folks, I like this album but haven’t spent enough time with it. Title track’s a banger, though. The quick decline in INXS’s fortunes is still kinda mysterious to me, even though I’m simultaneously admitting I didn’t listen much to their final record. I will say INXS seems like a band that could easily play festival shows in the late 90s, blowing out groups like Sugar Ray and Third Eye Blind at the pop rock game.
Alternatively, EW sounds to me like a rejuvenated band that was possibly one album away from a late-period minor masterpiece. Thinking about Aerosmith's Done With Mirrors, obviously a band that sounds nothing like INXS, but a similar situation. After some time apart, they reconvened to make an album with a fresh start, but it didn't quite gel or come together right away. Not to mention, I think culturally they would've been ripe for a proper comeback just a couple years later. I feel like a lot of great 80's artists finally got a proper critical re-evaluation around the turn of the millennium, as people got tired of 90's crap and realized INXS, Duran Duran, etc were actually pretty great.
The last time I saw INXS was at a local radio fest in 1997. They topped a bill with Echo & the Bunnymen, Better Than Ezra, Paula Cole, Matchbox 20, Michael Penn, Cowboy Mouth and the Caulfields. Michael was pretty erratic and even from my crappy spot on the lawn I could tell he was not well. Not really how you want to remember one of your seminal favorites.
