Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The ultimate album by INXS’ unique line-up, 1997’s Elegantly Wasted, has by no means actually been afforded its due. The long-awaited follow-up to 1993’s Full Moon, Soiled Hearts, the file was the enduring rockers’ first for his or her new label, PolyGram/Mercury Information, and it might absolutely have signaled the beginning of a daring new chapter for the band had been it not overtaken by occasions.

Actually, relating to reappraisals of INXS’ wider oeuvre, Elegantly Wasted is usually missed, primarily as a result of it arrived solely months earlier than the demise of the band’s frontman, Michael Hutchence: a tragic occasion that has sadly eclipsed the album’s inventive advantage ever since.

Hearken to Elegantly Wasted on Apple Music and Spotify.

Divorced from the instances, nevertheless, it’s quite a bit simpler to understand Elegantly Wasted for what it really was: a vibrant and purposeful return from a band who desperately wanted to get off the treadmill after producing 9 albums in simply 13 years and touring relentlessly world wide.

“We actually needed to get off the previous carousel”

“We actually needed to get off the previous carousel for some time,” Hutchence instructed Australia’s The Album Community journal in March 1997. “We now have recorded an album each 12 to 18 months during the last 5 – 6 years… With the completion of [Full Moon, Dirty Hearts], we additionally fulfilled our contract with Atlantic Information. It simply appeared just like the logical time to take a break.”

Regardless of this, the band remained busy within the interim. Hutchence attached with producer/Gang Of 4 guitarist Andy Gill to start out work on his lone solo album throughout 1995, whereas Andrew and Tim Farriss obtained concerned in manufacturing. Additionally, as Hutchence added in The Album Community interview, “Andrew, Garry [Beers] and I’ve all had youngsters.”

Nonetheless, after some obligatory downtime, INXS regrouped in London to start out rehearsing for his or her Mercury debut throughout the spring of 1996. They later moved on to Canada after which to Spain to nail Elegantly Wasted with producer Bruce Fairbairn. An in-demand studio guru whose CV included work with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Poison, and Scorpions, Fairbairn proved an excellent match for INXS as each events had been eager to make a file that captured the pure power of the band.

“The horizons are as soon as once more widening!”

The band “needed a file that was a industrial success,” Fairbairn instructed Sound On Sound, including, “however additionally they needed to go together with power and efficiency, concentrating on the fabric.” It additionally helped that “Michael had a fantastic voice – he might make somewhat clip-on mic in your jacket sound like 1,000,000 bucks.”

To their credit score, INXS additionally saved their ear to the bottom when it got here to adapting to altering traits in a post-Britpop world. As Hutchence instructed The Album Community, “A whole lot of [our contemporaries] like U2, The Treatment and Large Assault appear to be cross-pollinating genres of music – that is positively an excellent time to be recording music because the horizons are as soon as once more widening!”

INXS duly relished introducing some new flavors on Elegantly Wasted, discreetly embroidering “She Is Rising” and the soulful “Looking” with loops and electronica, and soaking the sparse “Constructing Bridges” in a filmic ambiance redolent of Portishead’s Dummy. Uptempo numbers akin to “Lady On Fireplace” and the compelling “Every part,” nevertheless, revealed that Hutchence and firm nonetheless led the pack when it got here to penning rousing, radio-friendly rockers, whereas “Don’t Lose Your Head” and the sinewy, Kick-esque title observe reassured those that had been frightened the band might need jettisoned their inherent funkiness of their want to replace their sound.

Launched on April 4, 1997, Elegantly Wasted emerged as a trendy, assured return that revered INXS’ heritage, however which additionally noticed the Australian stalwarts trying to the long run. It went on to carry out strongly on the charts, returning the band to the Prime 20 in quite a few territories and touchdown simply outdoors the Prime 40 of the US Billboard 200.

By means of no fault of its personal, the album now stands as the unique line-up’s epitaph, but it surely has barely aged a day. Regardless of the tragic occasions which unfolded after its launch, we’re doing it a grave disservice if we proceed to miss its achievements.

Elegantly Wasted will be purchased right here.

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