The Icicle Works The Icicle Works
I was attracted to the music of the Icicle Works by the single Love Is a Wonderful Colour, and by the very powerful and dark voice of Ian McNabb. And I wasn't disappointed by this album... Rapids, Seven Horses and Hollow Horse (what's all this with horses?) are the best songs on the album.
Billy Idol Very effective, but a bit too slick and tidy for Idol's standards. Eyes Without a Face is a classic, gorgeous ballad. There are more good songs on this album, but for me it's all a bit too much about image building and pose.
James Iha Very positive, organic and pink-ish solo-album of the Pumpkins-guitarist, about relationships, love and faith. Sometimes it almost sounds like country music. Iha's voice sounds shy, and that fits the mood of the album perfectly. I love this album to pieces... there's not one song I don't like. But it was one of those albums that needed time... came home with it, listened to it a few times and wasn't impressed... but after a few months I put it in the CD-player again and I was lost and blown away.
INXS Debut album that doesn't really make much of an impression. Found as import in Music Man, and was quite pleased to find it. The only songs that spring to mind are Learn to Smile and Wishy-Washy. And Hutchence's voice already sounds very powerful.
Found this as import at Music Man, after spending a long time looking for it, and I still remember the utter joy when I came across it... It has this special feel to it, a young band trying to define what they want to sound like. Doesn't really sound excellent, but good nonetheless. Highlights are the title track, Horizons, Fair Weather Ahead and Just to Learn Again. But I guess it's only for nostalgia and sentimental reasons why I still like this. Then again, why not?
A compilation of the best songs of the first INXS albums, plus some previously unreleased songs. We Are the Vegetables and Simple Simon are very early songs and simple indeed, but The Loved One and The Unloved One are gorgeous.
Nothing special, the single and another album track.
One month after buying The Swing, I simply HAD to buy this. And even though, from an objective point of view, this isn't their strongest album, it still is my favourite INXS album ever. Only two songs that I like less (Here Comes and Old World New World), the others all are very good and even excellent... especially Don't Change, a rocker par excellence, the moving Jan's song and The One Thing, a catchy pop song.
An EP with 'dance' remixes of Shabooh Shoobah songs, and a new version of Here Comes.
With a remix of Original Sin, and two songs performed live in America.
After hearing Original Sin regularly on a very young Studio Brussel, I bought this album and I was A Fan. And even though it sounds a bit dated here and there (synthesizers... production... quite common with 80's music), I still think this album is quite strong. The typical Nile Rodgers sound in Original Sin still attracts the attention. Dancing on the Jetty is a song with a message, the title song is the heaviest rocking song on the album. Johnson's Aeroplane is a typical INXS 'ballad' (the pace is higher), slightly reminiscent of the later Never Tear Us Apart. Burn for You is one of the strongest songs on the album, with Jenny Morris on backing vocals. All the Voices, with its tension, is perfect to close the album.
One of the first CD's I bought when I switched from record player to CD player, it's CD number 2 in my collection.
A maxi single with remixes of the single I Send a Message and 2 other album tracks.
With two remixes of tracks of the previous album The Swing, and a cute Jon Farriss song.
On this album I miss the "crisp" sound of The Swing, it is more rock-oriented with heavier sounding guitars and drums. The influence of would-be hardrocker Tim Farriss is very clear. The more bombastic videos also indicate that INXS are going for mainstream success. Still, Shine Like It Does, Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) and even the instrumental Three Sisters are little gems. Singles This Time, What You Need and Listen Like Thieves are excellent rockers. I saw them live twice in this period: once in a small club in Leuven, and once during the open air festival Parkpop in Den Haag.
EP with a remix version, an instrumental remix version and a live version of Listen Like Thieves, and Begotten, a beautiful song written and performed by Kirk Pengilly.
A remix of What You Need, another sweet Jon Farriss song, and two more live songs from the same concert as the songs on This Time Live.
This Time and 3 songs from The Swing performed live in Melbourne. Excellent performance, but moving slowly from the more poppy and open towards the heavier sound.
Probably the best INXS album, with the catchy first single Need You Tonight (great video!) and of course the tearjerker Never Tear Us Apart. Other favourites are Mediate, Devil Inside and Mystify. Chris Thomas' production work is much better than on Listen Like Thieves, the album sounds lots clearer.
An album that obviously aims for the same goal as Kick: success, even better, lots of success. And that's what kills a potentially good album. Of course Suicide Blonde is a good single, but it's been done before, and better. Same for By My Side (think: Never Tear Us Apart). The only song that really makes a difference, is The Stairs.
I guess I still bought this for old times' sake. But I wasn't A Fan anymore as I used to be, X got in my way. This album is better, more adventurous and daring, but the thrill is gone. So that was the last album I bought. Ironically, I saw my last INXS concert a few years later... I entered a contest of a newspaper (prizes: the full back catalogue and tickets for the showcase for Elegantly Wasted) at the insistence of my father ("you know all about them, don't you?") and won 2 tickets for what would be the last concert of INXS on Belgian soil before the death of Hutchence about 6 months later... an appropriate close of an era in my life.
Chris Isaak Didn't buy this until 2 years after its release, after I had seen Chris Isaak live in my hometown Gent (and met my husband at the same occasion). The melancholy of Dancin', Funeral in the Rain and The Lonely Ones is totally up my alley, even though I think it's a bit too much sometimes.
Not much to add here, see Silvertone. Heart Full of Soul and You Owe Me Some Kind of Love are gems.
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