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X (INXS album)

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X is Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, released in 1990. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US).[1] Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success.[2] A fifth single, "The Stairs" was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album. It was the third consecutive INXS album produced by Chris Thomas.

The title, the Roman numeral for "10", represents the band's tenth year since their debut album was released in 1980. X features a sample of blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite on "Suicide Blonde", and Musselwhite himself playing on "Who Pays the Price" and "On My Way". In 2002, a remastered version of the album was released which included five previously unreleased tracks.

The singles "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" were used in the 1991 teen movie Mystery Date.

Background

In 1987 and 1988, INXS toured heavily in support of their sixth album, Kick.[3] During 1989, the band took a break to work on side projects. Vocalist and primary songwriter Michael Hutchence collaborated with Ian 'Ollie' Olsen in the band Max Q,[2] the two having previously worked together on Richard Lowenstein's film Dogs in Space. Upon entering the 1990s, INXS wanted to follow up on Kick, their multimillion-selling international success. In a radio interview shortly after the release of X, Hutchence said, "We had to follow-up (on Kick) otherwise we'd disappear".[4]

Recording and production

The band worked again with producer Chris Thomas at the Rhinoceros studio in Sydney, Australia with rehearsals beginning in November 1989. Sticking to the formula that was built on Kick, Thomas urged primary songwriters Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence to advance their song writing strengths on X. Some songs that appear on X were written years earlier including "Lately" and "Disappear". Andrew originally wrote the lyrics for "Lately" during the recording sessions for "Listen Like Thieves" while Hutchence and Jon Farriss both wrote the lyrics for "Disappear" when they were living in Hong Kong during 1989.[5] "Disappear" turned out to be one of the albums biggest singles. Hutchence and Jon also wrote the composition for "Faith in Each Other" and "Deepest Red" (studio outtake) during the sessions for X. Thomas assisted in writing the composition for the albums third single, "By My Side" along with Hutchence and Andrew.[6] The songs original demo is titled "Dark of Night" and can be found on the 2002 remaster. Andrew wrote the song for his wife, Shelly.[6]

An idea that Andrew pitched to Hutchence and the rest of the band was the sound of a blues harp, which he first played on keyboards. After discovering Blues musician Charlie Musselwhite had been playing shows in town, the band met with him and decided to use his harmonica playing talent on the album. Rather than playing a live recording on "Suicide Blonde", Musselwhite instead lay down harp samples. He does play full harmonica on "Who Pays the Price" and "On My Way". Like their previous two albums done with Thomas, X features a slickness and polish in its production, a quality that would be removed during production of their next album (Welcome to Wherever You Are) and subsequent albums. It would also be the groups last studio album produced by Thomas. Their next collaboration would take place four years later on the recording of both "The Strangest Party (These Are the Times)" and "Deliver Me", which were two new songs that appeared on the band's Greatest Hits compilation released in 1994.

One month after the release of X, INXS started preparing for their world tour.[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Q[10]

While reviews for X were generally favourable with some critics commenting that INXS had stepped up their game, others felt that the album followed too much in the same formula as Kick. Allmusic's Steven McDonald mentions this in the beginning of his review – "The seventh album from Australia's INXS basically sticks to the formula set up on Kick, mixing solid remixable dance floor beats with slightly quirky production tricks, Michael Hutchence's rough-edged, bluesy vocals, and some good solid song hooks."[8]

In his 1990 review for Rolling Stone magazine, music critic Paul Evans rated the album four stars and felt that the band's seventh studio album helped define the band by stating "Cosmopolitan and canny – the group's professionalism still in service to soulfulness". He also added, "X is big-audience rock & roll that feels right for our times".[9]

Commercial performance

Even though the album and its singles did not exceed the success of Kick, the album did perform well worldwide, particularly in Europe. In the United Kingdom the album reached number 2 and remained in the charts for an impressive 44 weeks.[11] The album was certified Platinum in January 1991 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). X proved successful across Europe, reaching number 5 in Switzerland, number 10 in Sweden, number 13 in Norway, and number 9 in Germany.[12] In their native Australia the album entered at number 1 and stayed there for two weeks.[13] In the U.S. the album reached number 5 on the Billboard Top 200.[14] In December 1997 the album was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Suicide Blonde" 3:53
2."Disappear"J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[16]4:10
3."The Stairs" 4:56
4."Faith in Each Other"J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[16]4:09
5."By My Side"A. Farriss, M. Hutchence, C. Thomas[16]3:06
6."Lately" 3:37
7."Who Pays the Price" 3:37
8."Know the Difference" 3:18
9."Bitter Tears" 3:49
10."On My Way" 2:56
11."Hear That Sound" 4:05
Bonus tracks on 2002 Remaster
No.TitleLength
12."Waiting to Be Free" 
13."Deepest Red" 
14."Salvation Jane (Demo)" 
15."Who Pays the Price (Demo)" 
16."Dark of Night (Demo)" 

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Charlie Musselwhite – harmonica
  • David Nicholas – engineer
  • Chris Thomas – producer

Chart positions

Chart (1990) Position Certification
Australian Albums Chart 1
US Billboard 200 5 2× Platinum[17]
Preceded by
Chain Reaction by John Farnham
 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
15 August 1990 – 21 August 1990 		Succeeded by
In Concert by The Three Tenors

Further reading

  • McDonald, Steven. "X > Review". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 19 May 2010.

References

  1. ^ "INXS > Charts & Awards > Billboard singles". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'INXS'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ St John, Ed; INXS (1992). INXS: The Official Inside Story of a Band on the Road. Port Melbourne, Vic: Mandarin. p. 75. ISBN 1-86330-207-7.
  4. ^ INXS promotes X - 1990 Radio Interview. Retrieved February 5th, 2016
  5. ^ "Disappear – INXS by the New Wave Journal"
  6. ^ a b INXS: Story to Story (the official autobiography), page 179. Retrieved February 5th 2016
  7. ^ "X Factor World Tour 1990 / 91"
  8. ^ a b "allmusic ((( Elegantly Wasted > Overview )))". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  9. ^ a b Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 406. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. ^ "Q Magazine | Music news & reviews, music videos, band pictures & interviews". Q4music.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  11. ^ "The World's Music Charts - Chart runs of INXS". Retrieved February 5th 2016
  12. ^ "ultratop.be – INXS – X" Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Australiancharts.com – INXS – X" Archived 7 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 5th 2016
  14. ^ "Billboard 200 INXS – Chart history". Retrieved February 9th 2016
  15. ^ "Gold & Platinum - RIAA - INXS". Retrieved February 9th 2016
  16. ^ a b c Liner notes to the album "X"
  17. ^ "RIAA Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Retrieved 18 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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