Definitive Collection 1979 - 1997 [Australian Import]

At first listen, it probably doesn't click but the smooth & subtle tones of INXS' lead singer Michael Hutchence, melts all your doubts away. The standout track is 1992's "Not Enough Time" which appears as # 32 on the compilation.
The cover is red in colour and is pretty simple with embossed diagrams of the 5 original memebers plus new singer Jon Stevens who sounds tight on new single "TIGHT". Overall an A-class effort but one should never forget the talent that was Michael Hutchence!

The highlights:

7. Original Sin
13. Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
14. Listen Like Thieves
16. Need You Tonight
17. Devil Inside
18. New Sensation
19. Mystify
20. Kick
21. Never Tear Us Apart
22. Suicide Blonde
25. By My Side
32. Not Enough Time
35. Time
36. Strangest Party (These Are The Times)
37. Elegantly Wasted
38. Don't Lose Your Head
39. Searching
40. Salvation Jane
41. Tight

Simply, the "Definitive INXS" album includes some of the most vibrant and influential songs of their career.

Although not much is heard of this band at the present time their career spanning over 25 years has become a great mixture of all the music industry has to offer.

This album including the great key tracks: "Need You Tonight", "New Sensation" and "Disappear" - which truly show their style, flare and individuality - is a collection of all the truly miraculous compositions and representive of the INXS rollercoaster.

Since their formation in 1979 and from their hits in Australia, America, the UK and around the world - their music has taken on a different and completely magical critical element. How does a band become truly great? No-one can quite answer this question, but platinum selling albums such as "Kick" and sell-out world tours has to be an indication that this is perhaps a major step towards this.

All I have to say about this album is that it introduced me into the world of INXS and other greats - such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones - and for this I will be forever indebted.

Buy this album if you like the greats, or if perhaps like me you seek a truly rewarding musical experience!! Enjoy!!

[*] [Please see my note in my reply to this review for comparison with another INXS anthology]. I say "almost definitive" but this is only a minor quibble. Some tracks which I think SHOULD have made this compilation is one of their early releases, I think, called "Black and white". I don't remember that being a great track, but it wasn't bad and should have made the cut. One GLARING omission for me is the grunty "Guns in the sky", which has an absolutely killer riff and its absence here is incomprehensible. Not sure if the band released a song I liked around the time of "Taste it". If they did and it's on here, then, obviously I got more out of it before than I do now. A nice treat would be to have included the Michael Hutchence solo song which had the lyric "Whether it's God or the bomb, it's just the same and it's only fear under another name". Hutchence delivers one of the all time great vocal performances in that song-he defines what it means when you say "Sing like you mean it". Oh yeah, I forgot to mention "Melting in the sun" from "The swing". I remember liking that song years ago. Hmmm, just reading the track listing from "The swing", I'm not so sure now whether "Love is (what I say)" shouldn't be on this album too.

All that is just nitpicking, I suppose, as this compilation pretty much takes the best songs from the albums that I've owned in the past or now [i.e. "The swing", "Listen like thieves" and "Kick". I've reviewed the latter two albums on this site].

The early tracks on this compilation are off-centre pop songs and interesting in their own right...songs like "Just keep walking" and "Don't change". I'm not certain, but I think they have used a different version of their cover of The Loved Ones "The loved one". The version on Kick struck me as more conventional.

The stand out tracks on the first disc are, in my view: "Kiss the dirt (falling down the mountain)" and "Never tear us apart". However, there are still plenty of good songs left to listen too. Listening to this album, I could see how some tracks deserved to be on there, even if I didn't remember them...songs like "Dancing on the jetty". That song has a delicate guitar lead guitar and a pretty vocal melody.

Basically, the first disc follows INXS' trajectory from an alternative pop sounding band to conventional pop/rock band with their trade-mark killer riffs and funky sound, e.g. "What you need". The songs are varied though-some songs are less guitar driven and even feature violins or whatnot...e.g. "Never tear us apart" (beautiful violins) and "Shine like it does" (which has a very pretty bass guitar melody).

The second disc covers the band's music following the heights it hit in the US with their "Kick" album. Personally speaking, I don't find the second disc as strong as the first, but there are still some very good songs here. My pick as the best of disc two would be the very funky and riff heavy "Taste it". I'm not sure what he is singing about, but I like the way that he sings it! Another top song is "Disappear" which is a very singalongable pop song-the "do do do" bit is very catchy. "Baby don't cry" is also another pop song with a sing-a-long sensibility.

I can't say that I like "Suicide blonde". To me that song is a disappointment. It has a killer harmonica riff but the lyrics don't really work for me. "Taste it" is another song which utilises the harmonica.

"Please (you got that)" is noteworthy for featuring Ray Charles singing with Michael Hutchence.

Some tracks on disc two are also a bit off-centre. "Heaven sent" has vocal distortion and sounds a bit like what The Strokes would sound like years later. "Searching" has a more laid back groove and sounds more soulful. "Time" has some really hard sounding guitar riffs.

Anyway, unlike Midnight Oil compilations, this album by and large does justice to the heights INXS reached. Pretty much all the best songs are here. From alternative pop to sledgehammer riff rock songs to sweet sounding pop songs and funky pop-rock.

This band is on my list of the top 5 pop/rock bands of all time. Listen why.

N.B. Recently I saw INXS' live performance in England "Live baby live". That concert has really upped my admiration for Michael Hutchence. I'm not musically trained but I'm guessing that Hutchence is, as they say, singing from the "diaphram". He has a tremendous vocal projection live [I think he does't use that in the studio...he tones it down].

P.S. I've reviewed albums by other Australian acts here too:

INXS-more reviews

Midnight Oil-multiple albums by them reviewed

The Vines

The Saints

Rogue Traders

Alex Lloyd

Skyhooks

Johnny O'Keefe

John Farnham