Customer Reviews

Welcome to Wherever You Are

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

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.

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.

I was going through my CD's today, looking for songs to put on my MP3 player, when I came across this one. I had bought it when it first came out, and played it for a few years. Then, with all the CD's I own, it had been neglected for a few years. Listening to it today, I am still impressed with how solid this album is (their most consistent, in my opinion). They really took some chances on this one, without losing any of the accessibility they became known for. Using sitar and tablas on "Questions" in 1992 was a bold move! "Heaven Sent" was a deserved radio hit, while "Communication" remains one of their best dancefloor tracks. Whether it was innovative keyboard use, horns, or strings, INXS took a lot of chances here and succeeded admirably. Unfortunately, this was not as big a hit as their previous "X" CD. Perhaps, since America was in the middle of grunge-mania in 1992, there just wasn't enough room in peoples' ears for innovative sounds. Now that grunge has gone the way of the dodo, take some time to get acquainted with this ignored masterpiece!!

Though I have to admit that I was never quite one for "reality" TV based-series--the most recent CBS hit show, "INXS Rock Star" has got me hooked. It inspired me so much that I finally had to dig through & dust off my INXS tape & CD collection. Ughhh...I hate to use the term "outdated," for it means to many of us another gray hair and a step further from the "good ole' days." I was working at a record store at the time I inherited this unclaimed disc from the promotional give-aways. I was probably indeed the only few twenty-something geeked fans to see the band finally release something since the "X" album. Wasn't too happy with "X"--it seemed to reinstate the band's sound from their previous success, "Kick," with a weaker performance.

Perhaps I was tired of the new "alternative" barf that was hitting the airwaves at the time with bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, but INXS' "Welcome to Wherever You Are" seemed like a treasure at the time. It was good to finally hear a band take back the form they helped to create. But even after listening to some of the band's earlier gems such as "Listen Like Thieves," & "The Swing," this album plays like there was no yesterday. It's hard to believe that this album scored the scarce amount of hits that it did. It features some Michael Hutchence' most bone-chilling takes, such as "Back on Line," "Communication," and the heavy-orchestrated "Baby Don't Cry."

This album is so energetic and full of life that I still cannot believe that the band would ever have to create a reality show merely a decade later to replace such a charismatic heart-throb idol such as Michael Hutchence. It is very rare that talents and looks come hand in hand.

Though I never could conceive that the band could ever create another glorious album as brilliant as "Kick" until hearing "Welcome to Wherever You Are" for the first time, it withstands the test of time--it is truly the last heart-wrenching performance of the band before Michael Hutchence took his final vow on "Elegantly Wasted" in 97. "Not Enough Time," "Heaven Sent," and "All Around" are the INXS' biggest hits that never were. Unfortunately, grunge hit the airwaves, while the alternative sounds of the past remained once again, alternative.

INXS had many great and many popular albums, but I think this is one of the few that are great that gets really overlooked. I love this album from the opening of Questions to Men and Women. This albums shows INXS as a solid band with solid music writing behind them. It shows that INXS was capable of better than Kick or X. Kick or X were great albums, but they were pop albums. Welcome to Wherever You Are was a progress, an experiment with a result that is above and beyond anything INXS ever did.

Highlights of this album include Not Enough Time and Beautiful Girl, the two bigger hits. However, songs like Communication, Men and Women, Questions, and Baby Don't Cry are great too... Unfortunately, the lack of popular success on the heels of Kick and X, has made this album get overlooked. This album is also a bit darker. However, the song writing is stronger than anything INXS ever did before or since. The album feels natural from start to finish and is the one I listen to the most when it comes to INXS...

After the disappointment of 1990's X,Inxs created this breathtaking,underappreciated album,which broke all the rules.(for the band at least)This new remaster is a must have,because the sound is better then the 92 release and the bonus trax,are worth hearing.Hutch was a gifted cat(as was the band)and this was his crowning jewel.The seductive voice of not enough time,and beautiful girl,along with such guitar romps as all around,heaven scent,and the mighty Taste It!This album has such groove to it,you swear it could be a bunch of r&b and funk musicains.The band touches all the bases,yet keeps the trademark Inxs sound.That this cd was neglected.to the point it was,was one of the saddest statements about the music biz in the last 10 years(in my opinion)Out of the 4,000 cd's I own,this remastered version,has been played more then any other album in my collection(in the last month or so)Talent this good should not be forgotten! You rock Michael!

The fact that this is the band's favorite album is no secret anymore. I also don't think it's any real surprise to reasons surrounding that statement. This album is everything music is about. From the surreal ("Questions"), to the funky ("Taste it"), to the soulful ("Not enough time", "Beautiful Girl), to the rocking ("Heaven Sent", "All around") to the operatic ("Baby don't cry", "Men and women") and finally to the all out amazing ("Strange Desire"), this album is packed full of blood and fire from the band at their creative peak.

Though not as successful as Kick or X, Welcome... broke down many walls that INXS had faced many times before. No more was there too radio-friendly tunes. The songs all seem laced together by amazing production by Mark Opitz and it all works out. As for the bonus tracks...

Rhino's been on a reissue frenzy lately - re-releasing albums by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and many others. The 5 additional tracks are the things that attract the big fans out there. "The Answer" seems to be Hutchence add-libbing while backed by the same loop from "Questions". The two alternate versions of "Wishing Well" and "All Around" aren't too much to hear but "Wishing Well" does sound great. "The Indian Song" is a mix of "Questions" and "Not Enough Time". A neat little track that shows the type of experimentation INXS was working with during the making of the album. And finally, "Heaven Sent (waltz version)" is a must-have. I think the tune may have worked out better in this format (Perhaps for Elegantly Wasted?).

So there it is. I can't say much but what's already known. This is a great album if not the greatest album by a band at their creative and experimental peak. Hutchence (RIP) sounds amazing and the remastered sound can be noticed, unlike some albums where it doesn't even seem any different. This is great stuff. Taste it, baby...

Welcome is by far the best album in the INXS collection.From the gritty sound of Heaven Sent to the sublime Men and Women this album never fails to satisfy.My only gripe is that Questions is too short.However a single version is available and well worth purchasing.Favourite track is Baby Don't Cry.I love the mix between classic Rock and the Big Band sound.It's by far the best track on the album and is best played nice and loud(especially in the car).

I was looking for something else, and saw my favorite album of all time listed with only 4 1/2 stars! This deserves 5. It has been my favorite album since I heard it when it first was released. It is absolutely amazing and I listen to it very often, even after this many years. Their other albums are great, but I hate the fact that most people think of them only by their more popular 80's singles, which I think are very good, but very different; this is not "New Sensation". This album is a masterpeice and I consider it the best album ever made. It took me a few listens to really get a handle on it, but I knew from the first listen that it was going to be my favorite album. Another reviewer said this album has a "timeless quality" and I couldn't agree more. It doesn't sound like anything else, even one of their own albums. None of the songs are boring or ever get old. Not only are the songs incredible, but the way in which the album was made is also incredible: the order of the songs is carefully thought-out with incredible transitions like the sudden opening of Heaven Sent when Questions is still fading out. Even the artwork on the album seems to help set that strange, really facinating exotic tone. All the tracks are incredible, well-written and fresh (timeless) tunes, and have anywhere from a little to a lot of a strange kind of exotic sound, very different and exciting drum parts, many special effects and vocal processing, all done perfectly - unlike many albums I like, I wouldn't want anything at all changed, unless it was to add more tracks :) Questions is particularly exotic-sounding and different and sets the mood of the album. Heaven Sent is bright and strong and fairly guitar-driven, but definitely unique and tremendously musically interesting. Communication is well-written, and has great drum parts and particularly good vocal and other effects. Taste It is hard to describe, but is one of those songs that is impossible to get tired of and is just incredible. I guess kind of upbeat and energetic with a touch of great sax and harmonica at the beginning. Lots of strong bass and very strong vocals. Not Enough Time has some of the best background synth parts I've ever heard towards the second half of the song, among many other perfections. The vocal performances are another particular highlight. All Around was my first favorite on the album, kind of energetic and again one of those like Taste It that is impossible to get tired of. Baby Don't Cry is backed by a symphony and has a really big, kind of strange old-fashioned sound (in a good way), to me, but maybe that is just my take on it. That kind of adds another dimension to the exotic sound. Also very bright, but in a good, interesting way like Heaven Sent. Beautiful Girl is one of the big singles which for most other albums would mean it would be one of my least favorites, but that isn't the case here at all; like the rest of the songs, I love this one. It is a little different than the rest of the album, but still fits in very well. Soft and melodic, but still has that special unique sound that is on all the tracks. Wishing Well has a lot of bass and I'd say is kind of "funky", but I hesitate a little to use that term because I've heard that term applied to a lot of music that I really dislike, so I'm not sure that is quite right. This one is a good "funky", if that makes any sense. Back on Line is exciting and kind of exotic and timeless sounding. Then there's Strange Desire, which is my favorite song on the album (although they are all great). That one has the best combination of all the instruments/vocals and a tremendous sax solo. Great use of the synth. Like many of the songs on the album, the music itself paints an exotic-sounding, strong musical image (if that makes any sense). Men and Women is the perfect last track with the same exotic style of Questions, but rather than sounding like an opening like Questions, it, of course, sounds like an ending, right down to the gong at the end. The bonus tracks are not only great, but are also new - these aren't just B-sides. The new version of the original version of Heaven Sent (a much different take on the "gliding version" B-side) is worth it alone. I only wish they'd thrown a couple of the many Welcome-related B-sides on there in addition to the new tracks, since there was some more room left within 74 minutes (In My Living Room, Ptar Speaks, the original version of Strange Desire, Heaven Sent (Gliding Version), Baby Don't Cry (Orchestra/Vocals), and the Taste It remixes, would be great choices; Deepest Red I guess was more associated with X, but otherwise I'd say that one too). But having these new tracks and a remaster for my absolute favorite album really made my day and was well-worth every cent.