Welcome to Wherever You Are

INXS | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 4, 1992)
• Original Release Date: August 4, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000002ITO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,550 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Heaven Sent

2. Taste It

3. Not Enough Time

4. Baby Don't Cry

5. Beautiful Girl

6. Wishing Well

7. Back on Line

8. Strange Desire

9. Men and Women

Editorial Reviews

Welcome To Wherever You Are is the band's eighth album and was released in 1992. It boasts the singles Heaven Sent, Taste It, Baby Don't Cry and Beautiful Girl. Of course - it was a time grunge and alternative breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, la U2 and Achtung Baby incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four star review of the album, Q called it "...a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better late than never......., January 25, 2005

By 

jabdigital (Floral Park, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome to Wherever You Are (Audio CD)

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."

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Adventurous Wherever, December 16, 2005

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Welcome to Wherever You Are (Audio CD)

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.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THEIR MASTERPIECE, September 24, 2005

By 

BOB (LOS ANGELES, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Welcome to Wherever You Are (Audio CD)

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.