X (INXS album)

X is Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, released on 25 September 1990. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US).[1] Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success.[2] A fifth single, "The Stairs", was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album. It was the third consecutive INXS album produced by Chris Thomas.

X
Studio album by
INXS
Released25 September 1990
Recorded1989–1990
StudioRhinoceros Studio 2, Sydney
GenreAlternative rock, pop rock
Length41:42
LabelAtlantic US
Mercury EU
WEA AU
ProducerChris Thomas
INXS chronology
Kick
(1987)		 X
(1990)		 Welcome to Wherever You Are
(1992)
Singles from X
  1. "Suicide Blonde"
    Released: September 1990
  2. "Disappear"
    Released: 8 December 1990
  3. "By My Side"
    Released: 30 March 1991
  4. "Bitter Tears"
    Released: 13 July 1991
  5. "The Stairs"
    Released: November 1991

The title, the Roman numeral for "10", represents the band's tenth year since their debut album was released in 1980. X features a sample of blues-harp player Charlie Musselwhite on "Suicide Blonde", and Musselwhite himself playing on "Who Pays the Price" and "On My Way". In 2002, a remastered version of the album was released which included five previously unreleased tracks.

The singles "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" were used in the 1991 teen movie Mystery Date.

Background

INXS gained great success with the release of their previous studio album, Kick. The multimillion-selling album received critical acclaim and proved to be the band's biggest selling album by far, having gone platinum multiple times. In 1987 and 1988, INXS toured heavily in support of Kick.[3]

During 1989, the band took a break to work on side projects. Vocalist and primary songwriter Michael Hutchence collaborated with Ian 'Ollie' Olsen in the band Max Q,[2] the two having previously worked together on Richard Lowenstein's film Dogs in Space. The remaining members of INXS also got involved in other musical projects, including songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Farriss, who joined singer-songwriter Jenny Morris in the studio to produce her second solo album, Shiver.[4] Bass guitarist Gary Garry Beers collaborated with ARIA award winning Sydney band Absent Friends during 1989.[5] Beers would first tour with the group, later going on to record tracks for their debut album, Here's Looking Up Your Address.[5] Drummer Jon Farriss would soon join the recording sessions, contributing percussion on one track.[6] Guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, along with lead guitarist Tim Farriss, both paired up to help produce an album for local Sydney band, Crash Politics.[7]

Upon entering the 1990s, INXS wanted to follow up on Kick, their multimillion-selling international success. In a radio interview shortly after the release of X, Hutchence said, "We had to follow-up (on Kick) otherwise we'd disappear".[4]

Recording and production

The band worked again with producer Chris Thomas at the new Rhinoceros studio in Sydney, Australia.[8] Regarding the new studio, Thomas felt that it imposed a different feeling on the band's sound, which reflected in the album's material. In a 2002 interview, Thomas commented, "We worked at the new Rhinoceros studio, which was ridiculously enormous. To some degree, it forced isolation on everything, including the control room. To get a vibe on playback, you had to turn everything up really loud because the room was so big".[9]

Sticking to the formula that was built on Kick, Thomas urged primary songwriters Andrew Farriss and Hutchence to advance their song writing strengths on X.[10] Some songs that appear on X were written years earlier, including "Lately" and "Disappear"; Andrew originally wrote the lyrics for "Lately" during the recording sessions for Listen Like Thieves,[4] while Hutchence and Jon Farriss both wrote the lyrics for "Disappear" when they were living in Hong Kong during 1989.[10][11] Hutchence and Jon also wrote the composition for "Faith in Each Other" and "Deepest Red" (studio outtake) during the sessions for X.[9] Thomas assisted in writing the composition for the album's third single "By My Side", along with Hutchence and Andrew.[9] The song's original demo is titled "Dark of Night" and can be found on the 2002 remaster; Andrew wrote the song for his wife, Shelly.[10]

An idea that Andrew suggested to Hutchence and the rest of the band was the sound of a Blues harp.[4] After discovering Blues musician Charlie Musselwhite had been playing shows in town, the band met with him and decided to use his harmonica playing talent on the album.[4] Rather than playing a live recording on "Suicide Blonde", Musselwhite instead lay down harp samples; he does play full harmonica on "Who Pays the Price" and "On My Way".

Like their previous two albums done with Thomas, X features a slickness and polish in its production, a quality that would be removed during production of their next album (Welcome to Wherever You Are) and subsequent albums. It would also be the group's last studio album produced by Thomas. Their next collaboration would take place four years later on the recording of both "The Strangest Party (These Are the Times)" and "Deliver Me", which were two new songs that appeared on the band's Greatest Hits compilation released in 1994.[12]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Q[15]
The Daily VaultB+[16]

While reviews for X were generally favourable, with some critics commenting that INXS had stepped up their game, others felt that the album followed too much in the same formula as Kick. Allmusic's Steven McDonald mentions this in the beginning of his review, stating "The seventh album from Australia's INXS basically sticks to the formula set up on Kick, mixing solid remixable dance floor beats with slightly quirky production tricks, Michael Hutchence's rough-edged, bluesy vocals, and some good solid song hooks".[13]

In his 1990 review for Rolling Stone, music critic Paul Evans rated the album four stars out of five and felt that the band's seventh studio album helped define the band, saying "Cosmopolitan and canny – the group's professionalism still in service to soulfulness". He added, "X is big-audience rock & roll that feels right for our times".[14]

Commercial performance

Even though the album and its singles did not exceed the success of Kick, the album did perform well worldwide, particularly in Europe; In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.[17][18] In total, it remained in the UK charts for an impressive 44 weeks.[18] The album was certified platinum in January 1991 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 300,000 copies.[19] X proved successful across Europe, reaching number 5 in Switzerland,[20] number 7 in France,[18] number 9 in (Germany),[21] number 10 in Sweden[22] and number 13 in Norway.[23] The album quickly received gold accreditations in all these regions, subsequently attaining platinum status in both France[24] and Switzerland.[25]

In the band's native Australia, X entered at number 1 on the Australian Albums Chart on 21 October 1990, remaining at the top spot for two weeks.[26] It was present for a total of 34 weeks on the chart.[26] In New Zealand, the album peaked at number 2 on the RIANZ Chart, staying on the chart for 23 weeks.[27] X was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for shipments of 140,000 and 15,000 units respectively.[28][29]

In the United States, X peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 on 20 October 1990.[30] Similar to the United Kingdom, the album spent a total of 43 weeks in the charts.[30] Less than two months after its release, X was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 13 November 1990 for shipments of 500,000 units.[31] The album would eventually go double platinum on 16 December 1997 for sales of two million copies alone in the United States.[31] X was also certified double platinum in Canada in February 1991 for shipments of 200,000 units.[32]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Suicide Blonde" 3:53
2."Disappear"J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[9]4:10
3."The Stairs" 4:56
4."Faith in Each Other"J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[9]4:09
5."By My Side"A. Farriss, M. Hutchence, C. Thomas[9]3:06
6."Lately" 3:37
7."Who Pays the Price" 3:37
8."Know the Difference" 3:18
9."Bitter Tears" 3:49
10."On My Way" 2:56
11."Hear That Sound" 4:05
Bonus tracks on 2002 Remaster
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Waiting to Be Free" 3:11
13."Deepest Red"J. Farriss, M. Hutchence[9]3:24
14."Salvation Jane (Demo)"A. Farriss[9]3:22
15."Who Pays the Price (Demo)" 3:15
16."Dark of Night (Demo)"A. Farriss, M. Hutchence, C. Thomas[9]2:29

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Further reading
  • McDonald, Steven. "X > Review". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 19 May 2010.

References
  1. "INXS > Charts & Awards > Billboard singles". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  2. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'INXS'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  3. St John, Ed; INXS (1992). INXS: The Official Inside Story of a Band on the Road. Port Melbourne, Vic: Mandarin. p. 75. ISBN 1-86330-207-7.
  4. INXS promotes X – 1990 Radio Interview. Retrieved 5 February 2016
  5. "MTV – Absent Friends Biography" Retrieved 30 January 2017
  6. "Absent Friends – Here's Looking Up Your Address". discogs. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  7. "Crash Politics – Kiss My Mind". discogs. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  8. "INXS Facts". Encyclopedia. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. X liner notes. Retrieved 4 February 2017
  10. INXS; Bozza, Anthony (2005). INXS: Story to Story: The Official Autobiography. Atria Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7432-8404-2. Retrieved 5 February 2016
  11. "Disappear – INXS". New Wave Journal Music site of an 80's child. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  12. "INXS – The Greatest Hits". discogs. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  13. "X – INXS". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  14. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 406. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  15. "Q Magazine | Music news & reviews, music videos, band pictures & interviews". Q4music.com. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  16. Thelen, Christopher. "X – INXS". The Daily Vault. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  18. "The World's Music Charts – Chart runs of INXS". Retrieved 5 February 2016
  19. "British album certifications – INXS – X". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type X in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  20. "Swisscharts.com – INXS – X". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  21. "Offiziellecharts.de – INXS – X" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – INXS – X". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  23. "Norwegiancharts.com – INXS – X". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  24. "French album certifications – INXS – X" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 14 September 2012. Select INXS and click OK. 
  25. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (INXS; 'X')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  26. "Australiancharts.com – INXS – X". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  27. "Charts.nz – INXS – X". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  28. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  29. "New Zealand album certifications – INXS – X". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  30. "INXS Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  31. "American album certifications – INXS – X". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 18 May 2010. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  32. "Canadian album certifications – INXS – X". Music Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  33. "Austriancharts.at – INXS – X" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  34. "Dutchcharts.nl – INXS – X" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  35. "Tous les 'Chart Runs' des Albums classés depuis 1985 dans le Top Albums Officiel". InfoDisc. Locate INXS under the drop-down menu and click OK. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  36. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  37. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1990". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  38. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1991". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  39. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  40. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  41. "Les Albums Platine :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  42. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (INXS)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  43. "Gold & Platinum 1987–1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  44. INXS - The Greatest Hits - Liner Notes. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
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