Customer Reviews

The Best of Inxs

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to be honest: before I bought this CD, I thought that INXS was a group of 80s has-beens who tragically lost their lead singer a few years ago and were now going to desperate measures (a reality show) to get some press.

I checked out the reality show, Rock Star, and was impressed with most of the performers. But for the most part, the Wednesday night INXS songs didn't do much for me. That is, until Suzie McNeil delivered an amazing performance of "By My Side," which prompted me to buy this disc.

If you had the same attitude as I did regarding the band, this disc will completely change your mind. They were more than just "What You Need," "Need You Tonight," and "Devil Inside." This set includes some of the best songs of the 80s and early 90s.

I've been listening to this disc a lot recently, and a lot of the songs (especially "The One Thing") have gotten stuck in my head on more than one occasion. It even has two previously unreleased songs (although unless you're an INXS completist, I wouldn't recommend buying the compilation just for them). If you like 80s music, or just good music in general, this disc is essential.

As an Australian, I was privileged to grow up with some solid & honest rock music through the 80s from a wave of Australian bands including Midnight Oil, (early) Crowded House, and of course INXS. This release for the US market is bursting with some of their biggest local and worldwide hits and a couple of "fillers" from their later and slightly disappointing albums. It is good to see some of the earlier singles included such as Original Sin, Listen Like Thieves and Don't Change that were big hits here in Australia, but were probably lesser known in other markets until their big breakthrough single What You Need hit the American charts. I would urge any INXS fan from foreign lands to search and secure a copy of the Australian release of the Definitive Collection. It is a 2 disc compilation with 41 tracks, and from a Australian perspective, every song was a well-known hit single. Look out for earlier 80s singles like Burn For You, I Send A Message, and Dancing on the Jetty, and even some of the late 80s early 90s singles such as Disappear, Shine Like It Does, Baby Don't Cry and Kick (which I thought was a strange omission from the US release).
Whilst this US release on offer is a good summary of INXS and the raw power and emotion their music evokes, the 2 disc Australian collection is a must for any true INXS fan who wishes to discover the journey of Australia's foremost rock band from humble beginnings in local pubs to packed out arenas across the world.

In the 1980's, there are just so many acts that really didn't let the music flow. While most of them were just manufactured for a time, the feeling of the songs just missed out. Unlike most of them, Inxs really were real to the top. They definitely hit the nail on what great pop music anymore. Unfortunately that ended tragically with the suicide of Michael Hutchence in 1997. Nevertheless, their feeling of music is still around for anybody who like guilty pleasures from the 1980's. Yet, there hasn't been a well-noticed hits collection that has defined their careers.

The Best Of Inxs, is a compilation of 21 tracks from the files that made Inxs out of the ordinary with great pop songs. There is really nothing but the best from Michael Hutchence & company here on this great collection. The songs here range well with a lot of great hits like the #1 smash Need You Tonight, Never Tear Us Apart, the upbeat Dissapear, What You Need which was used a few years ago as a ad campaign from Ford, and Suicide Blonde to name a few. While there are so many great songs, there are a few disadvantages with this collection. One of them is that the collection overshadows a few songs here & there like Mediate, the rhyming masterpiece from their breakthrough album, Kick, as well as any tracks from the final Inxs album, 1997's Elegantly Wasted. Nevertheless, even with those minor dissapointments, the record doesn't dissapoint to any die hard Inxs fan.

It is just a shame Inxs isn't around to make music anymore. They definitely have had quite a run with that passionate music from the 80's. Hopefully, people will keep enjoying that great vibe that is still there.

Album Cover: B

Songs: B+

Price: A-

Mastering: B 1/2+

Overall: B

While this is a great CD, in that INXS has produced great music, the creators of this compilation did us all a disservice by cutting out chunks of certain songs... I imagine in the interest of cramming more songs on there. One of the best lines INXS created ('it's hard to believe we need a place called hell..'), and a lovely bridge out of "Beautiful Girl" have simply disappeared. outrage! I suppose there are others I have not caught yet, as well....

...it's still missing some songs, some of the tracks are single edits, and I don't like the non-chronological track listing. Here's what should have been:

1. The One Thing
2. Original Sin
3. What You Need
4. Listen Like Thieves
5. This Time
6. Need You Tonight
7. Mediate
8. Devil Inside
9. New Sensation
10. Never Tear Us Apart
11. Mystify
12. Suicide Blonde
13. Disappear
14. The Stairs
15. By My Side
16. Bitter Tears
17. Taste It
18. Not Enough Time
19. Beautiful Girl
20. Elegantly Wasted
21. Don't Change

INXS has always been a bit of a curiosity. In their heyday, they never really were anywhere near the biggest band in the world, and yet they were everywhere musically. Then they faded into obscurity - and almost obsolescence with Michael Hutchence's tragic death - and then somehow they're everywhere again through the magic of Mark Burnett-sponsored reality TV without really having done anything to regain the lost cache.

I loved INXS in the late 80s/early 90s. With rock generally on the decline, Michael Hutchence's Mick Jagger-cum-Bono persona as front man combined with the musical talents of Farriss-Farriss-Farriss-Beers-Pengilly was able to keep me musically sane in an era generally considered dark for rock. But, to put in perspective, once bands like Oasis made unfashionable rock fashionable once again, INXS completely faded from view - and, almost, memory. To wit: INXS never made it out of my cassette collection; never quite made the CD upgrade.

So, with the attention given INXS of recent times through the "Rock Star" series, I decided that my iPod needed INXS - and what more economical way than "The Best of...". It's very interesting to listen to INXS with a good 15 years removed between real listenings. Some of the most popular stuff ("Need You Tonight" and "New Sensation", particularly) just sound obvious and worn. Some of the stuff that was never popular (the two tracks from the ill-fated "Welcome to Wherever You Are": "Not Enough Time" and "Taste It") sounds great. And then some of the stuff that I miss the most ("Shine Like It Does", "The Stairs") is simply not there. It's very quixotic: that which made INXS really great ("Devil Inside") alongside "The Gift" nullifies the impact of the great stuff.

On the plus side, though, the mastering sounds great (or maybe that's just not having to listen on my tinny old cassettes anymore), and "Don't Change" is included.

INXS deserve a four star (or better) compilation. This, however, is not it. As they were primarily a singles band, a true greatest hits album that hits all bases in the way that the Police's "Every Breath You Take" compilation did can only help the band's legacy. Perhaps the popularity and capital gained by "Rock Star" will force a better, perhaps tighter compilation that will truly highlight the great stuff.

This is a huge improvement over the "Greatest Hits" disc. Not only does it have 5 more tracks, but 3 of those are "This Time", "Bitter Tears", and "Not Enough Time", which were sorely missed on the other one. Yes, there is the 2-disc anthology which is great, but that is expensive, and this "Best of" does have the best of that. I could complain about it being in non-chronological order, or missing another key track or two, but overall this is an excellent collection that will go great with your "U2", "Cure", and "Midnight Oil" cd's.

Thank goodness for this new CD! This is far superior to the "Greatest Hits" collection that came out many years ago. This has a much better package overall, nice pictures, great quotes from each of the band members, overall a fitting tribute to one of my favorite bands in the world. And a better track listing, not to mention. How can you have a greatest hits package without "Don't Change"! The remastering on the songs make them sound better than ever. If you're an INXS fan like me, throw out your "Greatest Hits" (probably pictured directly to the left) with the pseudo-Michael on the front (no, that's not him...) and replace it with this awesome collection. And don't forget the amazing reissues of "X," "Kick," and "Welcome To Wherever You Are" that just came out too...

As a ex-pat Canadian living in OZ, I was fortunte to experience the energy of INXS live many times in their early years. As you are reading this, I strongly urge you to get all the songs on INXS that you can. Michael and the band were a unit and their music speaks, no , sings to that.

As Michael's daughter, family, friends and bandmates deal with his departure, all can take strength in the gift of his life.

Get the music, play the music, share the music and enjoy the music - it is what INXS intended you to do!

A fan...

If you are a new INXS fan this CD will introduce you to the hits that made INXS one of the best bands ever. But don't listen only to this CD as there are many other songs that make INXS so great. If you are an old INXS fan you probably have everything on this CD, but it is worth buying to hear some of the different mixes. The bonus tracks are definitely INXS, but they are at best "B" side tracks that need a lot of polishing. INXS would have done better to add two more classic INXS tracks to the CD such as Heaven Sent and Mediate. Overall, not disappointing, but could have been a little better.