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Author Topic: The Fall of INXS?  (Read 4602 times)

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Offline iced

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The Fall of INXS?
« on: September 23, 2014, 02:41:48 AM »
I've always been curious what happened to this great band and yes I know Michael Hutchence died.

But why weren't they able to survive the 1980's like U2 or in some degree, R.E.M before they eventually collapsed.

I still think "Welcome to Wherever You Are" was probably their greatest album in my opinion.

I live in the U.S, so I'm sure other people's opinion of the success of INXS might have varied greatly elsewhere during the 1990's.
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Offline EnduringChill

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2014, 06:47:56 AM »
It might have been the fact that X didn't sell as well as hoped, and that they didn't tour to support Welcome To Wherever You Are. At least from what I understand just by reading about it. Welcome To Wherever You Are is also my favorite album of theirs, or I think it's their best album anyway. I think its follow-up was probably one of their worst, so that could affect their popularity too.
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Offline iced

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2014, 07:23:15 AM »
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I think its follow-up was probably one of their worst, so that could affect their popularity too.

Maybe, or was grunge that big in the US at the time?  To be honest, I always thought MTV vastly ignored U2 in part because the so-called 'grunge' movement already occurred or the so-called 'alternative-rock' movement was about to place?
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Offline briscoetheque

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2014, 07:26:52 AM »
Kick was huge as we all know. X was their rattle and hum. Inconsistent and an anticlimax.

They just never had an Achtung baby.

Hutchence was the most brilliant front man though. You didn't notice any of the others when he was on stage.
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Offline briscoetheque

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2014, 07:29:19 AM »
From there, the rest of the band have utterly pi**ed on their legacy. They have dabbled in reality shows, hunted for all sorts of replacements, and basically become a cover band. I'm all for musicians continuing to play, but they shouldn't be calling themselves inxs any more than may and Taylor should be calling themselves Queen.
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Offline Johnny Feathers

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2014, 07:48:05 AM »
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Kick was huge as we all know. X was their rattle and hum. Inconsistent and an anticlimax.

They just never had an Achtung baby.

Hutchence was the most brilliant front man though. You didn't notice any of the others when he was on stage.

I actually felt that Welcome To Wherever You Are was their attempt at having an "Achtung Baby".  I think U2 really moved the bar for a lot of veteran bands at that point, and the changing musical landscape after Nirvana broke meant that most bands had to come up with SOME kind of reinvention in order to get attention.  (See REM's Monster for another example.)  Of course, it came nowhere close to AB's impact or success, but it did have a lot of "experimentation" going on, with the middle-eastern opening, and other symphonic flourishes.  Simply put, it wasn't a straight forward INXS record, in the same way AB wasn't a straight forward U2 record.  It just goes to show that U2's success at that point was in no way guaranteed.
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Offline briscoetheque

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2014, 07:50:42 AM »
Absolutely agree. It was an attempt but although it's an album I like, it's definitely disjointed and patchy. It didn't have the cut through and you're right, the sh** stuff coming out of the West coast of the US was a wagon everyone wanted til jump on until suede, pulp, blur and oasis got their sh** together and fixed the world again ;-)
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Offline EnduringChill

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2014, 02:23:21 PM »
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I think its follow-up was probably one of their worst, so that could affect their popularity too.

Maybe, or was grunge that big in the US at the time?  To be honest, I always thought MTV vastly ignored U2 in part because the so-called 'grunge' movement already occurred or the so-called 'alternative-rock' movement was about to place?
Are you saying that INXS was also ignored by MTV because they weren't grunge, or that Full Moon Dirty Hearts leaned more towards grunge and should have been more popular because grunge was the big thing? All I know is that I find that album very mediocre, and that might have been a factor.

I don't think Welcome... is disjointed at all. I think everything fits perfectly together, except Baby Don't Cry, which to me just awkwardly sits there. And it's a good (and common) observation to say that it was like Achtung Baby for INXS... it definitely sounds like an attempt at revitalization. Both of those albums go well together, for me. I guess it wasn't what the populace was looking for.
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Offline ZooClothes

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2014, 03:01:05 PM »
Kick, X, and WTWYA is a great three album arc.
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Borack

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2014, 05:18:43 PM »
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From there, the rest of the band have utterly pi**ed on their legacy. They have dabbled in reality shows, hunted for all sorts of replacements, and basically become a cover band. I'm all for musicians continuing to play, but they shouldn't be calling themselves inxs any more than may and Taylor should be calling themselves Queen.

I agree with this post and I also tend to assign more weight to the opinion or observations of people hailing from the same band as the country. Brisco like c/would have heard more details about the band from its inception to its deceptions. ... But what I find amusing or ponderous is the notion to compare many things to "Achtung Baby". So many traits or tangents get attributed to this album that seem hard to understand. And yes, while I know I am speaking to a biased audience, I just think the greatness of the album has been exaggerated or at times stretched beyond credulity. Be well and all the best.

[And before I get lynched, well yes, I do think that the AB album represented some musical form of Charles Handy's Sigmoid Curve strategy (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) and yes, I agree that it represented more of a creative musical roundabout rather than a linear extension of their past works, and yes, I think that other bands that coasted or became stale were probably equivalent to acts that had crested and that were on the way down, but I for one don't think the Joshua Tree needed to be chopped down or that AB was that exceptionally great. Its an album I more respect than admire, though admittedly it grows on you after a while].
« Last Edit: September 23, 2014, 06:56:33 PM by Borack »
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Offline So Cruel

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2014, 05:27:25 PM »
Welcome to Wherever You Are is a good album but the times were changing. With Nirvana and Pearl Jam rock was getting dirtier, harder, and darker. U2 survived 'cause they changed their look and came out with one of the greatest albums ever, which had dark lyrics and lots of guitars. INXS made a very good INXS album, but the high school kids didn't want INXS type music anymore.
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Offline Albono

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2014, 06:05:17 AM »
completely lost interest when they started doing reality tv!

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hrsan

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2014, 01:41:22 PM »
Had Hutchence lived, I'm sure INXS would have come back on a few arena tours in the 2000s.
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Offline iced

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2014, 04:13:03 AM »
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Are you saying that INXS was also ignored by MTV because they weren't grunge, or that Full Moon Dirty Hearts leaned more towards grunge and should have been more popular because grunge was the big thing?

I have no idea how, but somehow the folks at MTV were able to wash away 90% of the popular artist of the preceding decade before them.

In just about a year or two, really.

Only a few survived from around the 1993 point, some reached 1996 than a few years later just a few.

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Welcome to Wherever You Are is a good album but the times were changing. With Nirvana and Pearl Jam rock was getting dirtier, harder, and darker. U2 survived 'cause they changed their look and came out with one of the greatest albums ever, which had dark lyrics and lots of guitars. INXS made a very good INXS album, but the high school kids didn't want INXS type music anymore.

Most of them were sent packing in the US to tour county fairs, half emptied arenas, Indian casino's and generally oldie's tours and various radio spots.

Not a bad gig if you ask me, but if you were on top of the world just a few years before...it must have hurt like hell falling like that.

I always thought, "Welcome to Wherever You Are" was the best album by INXS.
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Offline gypsyheart75

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Re: The Fall of INXS?
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2014, 07:32:23 AM »
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Absolutely agree. It was an attempt but although it's an album I like, it's definitely disjointed and patchy. It didn't have the cut through and you're right, the sh** stuff coming out of the West coast of the US was a wagon everyone wanted til jump on until suede, pulp, blur and oasis got their sh** together and fixed the world again ;-)


You forgot your beloved Manics who released 1.5 good albums at that time. ;)

And what is coming next to fix the world of Simon Cowells?!
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