INXS - Welcome to Wherever You Are (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

Better late than never.......

jabdigital | Floral Park, NY USA | 01/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album ages ago, fell in love with it, then forgot about it for a few years! I recently went through my music collection, found it again, only to be disappointed that the disc was so scratched from being overplayed. I bought it again. By far the best INXS album. Yes, there were many 80's classics, but they were all spread out on different albums. This one has a unique flow, with a few classics:

Not Enough Time

Communication

Taste It

Baby Don't Cry

Beautiful Girl

Highy recommended. I have to agree with another reviewer who said this was "criminally overlooked.""

The Adventurous Wherever

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 12/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While INXS didn't rock as hard as on "X" or "Kick," "Welcome To Wherever You Are" was far more adventurous. The arrangements and instruments were a wide variation from anything the band had tried before. And since they were one of the biggest bands in the world at the time, "Welcome" was a serious risk. To my ears, it paid off.

The middle eastern flavor of "Questions" opened the disc on a unique note, and showed the band was not about to rest on their superstar laurels. There was also the ethereal quality to the ballad, "Beautiful Girl." "Welcome To Wherever You Are" spent less time kicking, or pounding, and more time on pulsing. Songs like "Wishing Well," "Communication" and "Taste It" beat along on solid foundations, dependent more on groove than force.

Not like rock was out of the picture. "Heaven Sent" was as close to an arena rock song as "Welcome" got, but "Baby Don't Cry" is just as big. The difference is in that "Baby Don't Cry" fills in its muscle with horns. INXS was obviously trying to break away from the box that their superstar status had framed them in, and they were doing their best to make an album that would set itself apart from "X" and "Kick."

Alas, the subtle charms of "Not Enough Time" and "Beautiful Girl" - and the full orchestra on the terrific "Men and Women" - were not enough to sustain the audience that looked upon INXS as a hard rock band and Michael Hutchence as an arena god. They avoided "Welcome To Wherever You Are" and jumped on board the Nirvana train, leaving INXS in a quandary. Unfortunately, it was one they never did fully recover from, as the follow-up "Full Moon Dirty Hearts" was a paint by numbers effort, one that spotlighted Michael's growing dissatisfaction with making music. "Welcome To Wherever You Are" is something of a lost album, in as much as it sounds like this was an album that INXS, flush with success and the ability to stretch out, really wanted to make."

THEIR MASTERPIECE

BOB | LOS ANGELES, CA | 09/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I was a mild fan of INXS thru the 80's, to me, their albums possessed a similar blueprint: several great, listenable hits, accompanied by an equal or greater number of often mediocre material. Also, I believe this album was their 11th studio recording. For the few rock bands which could achieve that milestone, most would have burned out, run out of inspiration, or be recycling past hits and/or cover tunes, in a feeble attempt to keep their lifestyles running.

This is the rare exception. For a band whose signature sound was such a pervasive presence in the 80's, this 1992 album was a startling maturation. Every song is a polished gem, and there is not a weak composition on the entire recording. I am not going to attempt a track-by-track review, as this is an accomplishment where the whole infinitely exceeds the sum of its parts.

Any INXS fan who has not purchased this album just has never heard the band's finest hour. Period. No INXS album that came before, and the few albums that came afterward, match the sheer listenability of this record. While this album is instantly recognizable as INXS, it sounds like nothing the band had previously produced. It doesn't sound "80's", it doesn't sound "90's"; it has a rare, timeless sound, with many subtle influences. This CD is not just for INXS fans, it is for anybody who enjoys great rock.

The album's commercial failure must have confounded and and saddened the band. Every time I listen to it I just shake my head and wonder, what happened? What were people listening to in '92 that made them ignore this? Perhaps INXS 80's success had just jaded people and radio programmers alike.

The audio quality of the original CD was good, but this remaster is awesome. The addictive bass and organ line in "Wishing Well" will shake the foundation of your domicile. The extra tracks and the low list price of this re-issue makes it an even better deal."

The Most Welcome INXS album ever...

F. M. Moses | Blacklick, Ohio United States | 09/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though I have to admit that I was never quite one for "reality" TV based-series--the most recent CBS hit show, "INXS Rock Star" has got me hooked. It inspired me so much that I finally had to dig through & dust off my INXS tape & CD collection. Ughhh...I hate to use the term "outdated," for it means to many of us another gray hair and a step further from the "good ole' days." I was working at a record store at the time I inherited this unclaimed disc from the promotional give-aways. I was probably indeed the only few twenty-something geeked fans to see the band finally release something since the "X" album. Wasn't too happy with "X"--it seemed to reinstate the band's sound from their previous success, "Kick," with a weaker performance.

Perhaps I was tired of the new "alternative" barf that was hitting the airwaves at the time with bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, but INXS' "Welcome to Wherever You Are" seemed like a treasure at the time. It was good to finally hear a band take back the form they helped to create. But even after listening to some of the band's earlier gems such as "Listen Like Thieves," & "The Swing," this album plays like there was no yesterday. It's hard to believe that this album scored the scarce amount of hits that it did. It features some Michael Hutchence' most bone-chilling takes, such as "Back on Line," "Communication," and the heavy-orchestrated "Baby Don't Cry."

This album is so energetic and full of life that I still cannot believe that the band would ever have to create a reality show merely a decade later to replace such a charismatic heart-throb idol such as Michael Hutchence. It is very rare that talents and looks come hand in hand.

Though I never could conceive that the band could ever create another glorious album as brilliant as "Kick" until hearing "Welcome to Wherever You Are" for the first time, it withstands the test of time--it is truly the last heart-wrenching performance of the band before Michael Hutchence took his final vow on "Elegantly Wasted" in 97. "Not Enough Time," "Heaven Sent," and "All Around" are the INXS' biggest hits that never were. Unfortunately, grunge hit the airwaves, while the alternative sounds of the past remained once again, alternative."

My Favorite INXS

Erik J. Malvick | Davis, CA | 09/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"INXS had many great and many popular albums, but I think this is one of the few that are great that gets really overlooked. I love this album from the opening of Questions to Men and Women. This albums shows INXS as a solid band with solid music writing behind them. It shows that INXS was capable of better than Kick or X. Kick or X were great albums, but they were pop albums. Welcome to Wherever You Are was a progress, an experiment with a result that is above and beyond anything INXS ever did.

Highlights of this album include Not Enough Time and Beautiful Girl, the two bigger hits. However, songs like Communication, Men and Women, Questions, and Baby Don't Cry are great too... Unfortunately, the lack of popular success on the heels of Kick and X, has made this album get overlooked. This album is also a bit darker. However, the song writing is stronger than anything INXS ever did before or since. The album feels natural from start to finish and is the one I listen to the most when it comes to INXS..."

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