INXS- "Switch"

Funkywhiteboy · Post by **Funkywhiteboy** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 9:11 am

Not as good as "Kick", IMO, but not as bad as I'd feared.
The prospects for INXS in the current decade will depend on whether or not the public
will accept a singer who sounds eerily similar to the late Michael Hutchence.
Best tracks so far, at first listen: "Devil's Party", "Pretty Vegas", "Like It Or Not".

From Amazon.com:

Switch, INXS's first release since re-fashioning itself as a prime-time reality show spectacle, could earn somebody an A in sociology. A poll of inter-generational hipsters is bound to show that the degree to which you like it correlates directly to your age. The over-30 crowd--those who once shimmied to the late Michael Hutchence's hugely sexy vocal turns on hits such as "Need You Tonight" and "What You Need"--might have a hard time dissing it, mainly because J.D. Fortune succeeds so unswervingly at imitating him. On the other hand... there it is: imitation doesn't always sit well with the generation that recently ripped into Paul Rodgers for parading around stages as Freddy Mercury, and as much as 30-something rock sophisticates will want to relive INXS's heyday, they'll do so suspiciously without Hutchence at the helm. Younger fans, on the other hand--the ones that discovered the band on reality TV--can enjoy J.D. Fortune and co. without reservation, and they will love this disc best. For them, "Devil's Party" (reminiscent of "Original Sin") will arrive without reference, thereby making near-impossible funk-rock coolness seem new. Ditto that effect on "Pretty Vegas," a vampy number co-written by Fortune that owes its guitar riff to "Devil Inside." "Like It or Not" and "Hot Girls," two other standouts, also go a long way toward peeling away the poser tag Hutchence fans may want to affix to Fortune, but may not entirely remove it. For some fans, Hutchence's "Never Tear Us Apart" plea is a personal thing. --Tammy La Gorce

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 1:01 pm

have many great memories of early inxs----shoobooshabahhhh, the swing, perfect stuff for my mid 80's new wave college preppie period.......northern utah hotties, clove cigareetes, penny loafers, pink oxford shirts

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Sat Dec 24, 2005 4:26 pm

mothster wrote:have many great memories of early inxs----shoobooshabahhhh, the swing, perfect stuff for my mid 80's new wave college preppie period.......northern utah hotties, clove cigareetes, penny loafers, pink oxford shirts

That's the gayest thing you've ever posted.

Play Motorhead's "Bomber". Twice.

Now go punch a hole in some drywall.

Funkywhiteboy · Post by **Funkywhiteboy** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:10 pm

Martyred wrote:
mothster wrote:pink oxford shirts
That's the gayest thing you've ever posted.

It takes a guy who's secure in his masculinity to admit wearing pink shirts! :wink:

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 5:54 pm

Hey, Funkywhiteboy --

I just talked to the 21st Century on the phone, and he's thinking that your invitation might have got lost in the mail. But he says you're welcome to come join him, regardless.

Funkywhiteboy · Post by **Funkywhiteboy** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:04 am

Dinsdale wrote:Hey, Funkywhiteboy --

I just talked to the 21st Century on the phone, and he's thinking that your invitation might have got lost in the mail. But he says you're welcome to come join him, regardless.

I think it fell through the gap between shelves on my wall unit of CDs,
behind the new releases from The Cure, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Billy Idol, and New Order.

ElvisMonster · Post by **ElvisMonster** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 4:54 pm

Martyred wrote:
mothster wrote:have many great memories of early inxs----shoobooshabahhhh, the swing, perfect stuff for my mid 80's new wave college preppie period.......northern utah hotties, clove cigareetes, penny loafers, pink oxford shirts
That's the gayest thing you've ever posted.

Bizzarofelice · Post by **Bizzarofelice** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 5:38 pm

Fuck the haytas. Good shit from the 80's.

Funny to see Dins, the guy propping decades old corpse Stevie Ray Overrated, talking about getting with the modern age.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:15 pm

Oh, I listen to plenty'o 80's. I'm kinda from there, you know...graduated HS in 85.

Matter of fact, sometimes I even leave the volume up through the opening credits of Charmed, before the feverish race to the mute button before the dialouge starts and I turn on alternate tunes before getting my GPete on. Because I'm a Child Of The 80's, dammit.

I guess it was just the reminders of the pink Izods with the khaki slacks that went well with the penny loafers that set me off. Although that was just the times, I guess. But if you didn't at least turn up the collar of the pink Izod, you were officailly a homo. Pink Izods were walking a very fine line between hip fashion and getting beat up for your lunch money.

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:03 am

Funkywhiteboy wrote:
Martyred wrote:
mothster wrote:pink oxford shirts
That's the gayest thing you've ever posted.
It takes a guy who's secure in his masculinity to admit wearing pink shirts! :wink:

just keepin it real as always dawg

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:47 am

mothster wrote:
just keepin it real as always dawg

And that's the gayest thing you ever posted.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:33 pm

listen like thieves is a guilty pleasure, i admit. Falling down a mountain is a great tune.

i saw them on that tour at the OKC Zoo ampitheatre....(with the Del Fuegos)....and they rocked.

it was a great show.

that TV thing is not interesting to me at all.

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:58 pm

'listen like thieves' is a solid tune as well

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 8:57 pm

I'm going to be really honest here, and express my displeasure at getting no love for the Smiths/Charmed/GPeteMJO reference.

Funkywhiteboy · Post by **Funkywhiteboy** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:18 am

Interesting read, on the "reconstituted" band-

Fortune smiles on resurrected INXS
By Erik Pedersen
Fri Feb 3, 2:08 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - J.D. Fortune sat down and looked out at the standing crowd. "We're in the middle of our world tour," he said amid cheers, "and it's a trip."

It's hard to fathom the trip he's been on: from homeless wannabe to filling houses with a multiplatinum rock band. But, as seen on TV, the 32-year-old singer earned his frontman gig, winning the role last year on CBS' star search "Rock Star: INXS."

Tellingly, there was no mention of that during Friday's show at the Gibson Amphitheatre. Instead, a bobbing, sold-out crowd relived '80s memories with one of the era's most consistent hitmakers. But the literal and figurative spotlight was on Fortune, the tattooed newcomer tasked with leading the band into the next phase of its career.

Having seen his share of Jim Morrison footage, the singer showed a comfy cockiness without being off-putting, and his infectious exuberance made up for lack of experience. Hitting the stage in dark shades and full strut, he drew whoops of approval all night. At one point he slung his jacket strategically over his shoulders for effect.

Sure, he has the look. But would the one-time Elvis impersonator merely do the same for the charismatic Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997? The answer, as it should be, was yes and no. Fortune's vocals and stage manner often recalled his predecessor but didn't parrot him. He came the closest on "Disappear" but gave the next song, the album cut "By My Side," a gentle yet biting delivery that improved on the record.

The five other members of INXS are used to ceding the spotlight and have been playing together since 1977, so their musicianship and instincts are finely honed. And all were smiling. The band's signature sound -- a sort of Blondie-Duran Duran mix of choppy riffs over danceable rhythms with catchy choruses -- remains intact and still grooves. But if drummer Jon Farriss had been missing even a step, it would have shown. He wasn't. Kirk Pengilly added welcome blasts of sax, sprawling flat on his back for a solo during "Taste It."

Of the new songs from "Switch" (Epic), the band's first album with Fortune, two stood out: "Hungry," a chugging, synth-splashed rocker reminiscent of Midnight Oil but not Hutchence, and the island-flavored "Never Let You Go," which featured the singer making a brief dancehall digression.

While several INXS hits didn't make the 19-song set list, the old fans certainly got theirs. The hall was buzzing during the intro to "Need You Tonight," the band's lone U.S. chart topper, and Fortune fairly nailed "What You Need" and the semi-forgotten nugget "Mystify."

Despite the inherent novelty of finding a singer through a TV show, the newly intergenerational INXS looks and sounds invigorated. Maybe rock-retread singers shouldn't be the first choice of classic bands with an eye on comebacks. Regardless, this one appears to have its kick intact.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter