Switch INXS

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CD

  • Release Date: 11/29/2005
  • Sales Rank: 6,915
  • Label: SONY
  • UPC: 827969772720

Listener Rating: (8 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
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Track List
Click on LISTEN or link to hear an audio clip.
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Switch

1LISTENDevil's Party 3:25
2LISTENPretty Vegas 3:25
3LISTENAfterglow 4:09
4LISTENHot Girls 3:33
5LISTENPerfect Strangers 4:12
6LISTENRemember, Who's Your Man 3:28
7LISTENHungry 4:47
8LISTENNever Let You Go 4:19
9LISTENLike It or Not 3:44
10LISTENUs 4:07
11LISTENGod's Top Ten 4:54

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

There are a couple of ways to approach Switch -- either as the latest disc to emerge from the reality show universe or as a new chapter in the tale of a band that bowed out sooner than they needed to. On either front, the album -- the first full-fledged INXS release since the 1997 suicide of frontman Michael Hutchence -- works pretty well. Yes, it's got its fair share of cheesy moments (new frontman J. D. Fortune was, after all, an Elvis impersonator in his past life), but there's something uncannily sincere about the way he and his new bandmates chug through both mid-tempo rockers like "Pretty Vegas" and lighter-igniting power ballads like "Afterglow," probably the closest song, in spirit, if not sound, to the band's halcyon days. Occasionally, the original members do try a bit too hard to replicate those bygone moments -- "Devil's Party," for instance, resurrects the melody line of "Original Sin" -- but for the most part, they manage to update the vibe successfully. Andrew Farriss, who was responsible for writing the music for most of the band's best-known material, reprises that role here, turning out tunes that alternately swing (the bass-driven "Like It or Not," for example) and tease, such as "Never Let You Go," which cross-breeds reggae and cerebral new wave to good effect. There's no attempt to disguise the made-for-TV origins of Switch -- Rock Star runners-up Suzie McNeil and Deanna Johnston crop up on "God's Top Ten" -- but judging by the evidence in the grooves, INXS have more to offer than just reruns. David Sprague, Barnes & Noble



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Customer Reviews

Switchby Anonymous

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September 26, 2006: My comments will not be ones that were given easily as under the best of circumstances I’m a very tough judge. A child of the 80s myself, my best friend in high school had a major crush on former INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence. After a childhood in Europe, I returned home in 82, to be overwhelmed by Australian music magazines with dedications to what reports were claiming (pardon the punt) a new sensation. The band caught my eye and I was to go through my teenage years with INXS as the only Australian male band that neared the rock star idol status. Their influence was undoubtedly very present in the music scene that teenagers were into at the time. Not a fan of reality TV, I had all the more reason to oppose the style of selection process for a new front man in 2005. I’m also someone who is put off by pre-conceived ideas. Therefore any favouratism on the public’s behalf rumoured beforehand for JD Fortune, served nothing but to make me more determined to be tougher with my expectations from him. I hadn’t watched Rock Star INXS from the beginning. I tuned in with skepticism against JD. I knew him only by name, not by appearance. All it took was an episode for me to get hooked on the hunky Canadian fellow who emanated male charisma every round. I hear comments about cheesiness and so on relating to JD’s former experience as an Elvis impersonator. I think that the acceptance of Presley as a teacher or role model, is definitely a wise choice to make and an indispensable standard to have as an entertainer. It isn’t by sheer chance that Elvis stupefied not only the men and women of his time but generations after his era. Nobody since has managed to challenge the King in musical genius and sex god/pop culture icon status. JD both on Rock Star and in this first album with INXS provides the spunk audiences seek in a rock god. He has learnt some good teachings from his musical idols but has managed to interpret his knowledge into something completely his own and unique. I won’t tire you with much detail about the tracks because I only just acquired the album myself and proper audition of it comes with time. What I can say with certainty, is watch out for this new man. I’m glad that my fellow Aussies INXS made a sound choice in lead singer. Proud to see they have retained a good taste. JD has a breathy, deep, yet smooth voice, catapulting the senses into a rush of intoxication and adrenalin overdrive. Favourite pieces on the Switch album: Pretty Vegas (energetic rock track with excellent music & lyrics), Remember Who’s Your Man and Afterglow, (both gorgeous ballads). I hope that fellow band members will continue to entrust JD with his writing skills because he surely brings something new to the group and that’s what they need. His contribution so far is evidence enough for this. The album is a worthwhile purchase if for just those tracks alone. This judgment quite frankly comes from someone who hasn’t found any contemporary effort worth a second hearing for an extremely long time. INXS won’t ever forget Michael but will hopefully allow their new singer lead them into a fresh era of success for themselves and a new era of excitement for the fans. I even suspect an era of mass hysteria! It seems things have come a full circle: 20 years down the track since my friend’s girlish antics, I turn the tables and finally find...

Switchby Anonymous

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February 01, 2006: There's something about brotherly love, isn't there? After Michael Hutchence's death in 1997, INXS should have disappeared, only to be seen again as doyens of the glitzy '80's on promo videos on VH1 Classic. But the three Farisss brothers (and Messrs Pengilly and Beers) decided to keep the band solvent. Having spent nearly three years (2000-2003) with kiwi Jon Stevens replacing Hutchence at the mike stand, INXS toured the world and, reportedly, recorded a new album in the summer of 2003. They were back it seemed. Then Stevens left, (citing the old chestnut of "musical differences"), the album was never realised and it seemed INXS were merely back to square one. Never ones to run from commercial potential, in early 2005, INXS announced that they would be finding their new singer by the means of that favourite cultural phenomenon of the Noughties: the reality TV show. "Rockstar: INXS" seemed like such a bad idea but instead, became somewhat compulsive television. So, as we watched episode 1, we saw a Canadian called JD Fortune make a complete prat of himself performing "American Woman". INXS, it would seem, saw something else and gave the eager JD another chance. By the end of the series, INXS presented JD as their new singer. Stranger things have happened - but not many. So to the new album, INXS' first of original material for nearly 9 years. And, despite the odds, it's not bad at all. There's no Bowie-like reinventions, but then, that wouldn't work for a band attempting to re-establish themselves. On the opening track, "Devils Party", you could be forgiven for forgetting that Michael Hutchence had died at all as Fortune uses the same baritone purr. Fortune does however, show his own personality on other parts of the record. "Remember Who's Your Man" is a superb, soul infused ballad, co written with former New Radical Greg Alexander. The presence of guest writers, (Desmond Child, Guy Chambers, The Matrix, etc)does give INXS another dimension. The jungle influenced "Like It Or Not" rumbles along at breakneck speed with riffing aplenty. Not bad for a bunch of 40-somethings. Pity these same 40-somethings didn't remember their age when writing about "Hot Girls" - excruciating. INXS resemble ZZ Top here - unnecessary. Redemption comes in the old style INXS rock of "Hungry" and the reggae like "Never Let You Go" as well as the brilliantly realised "Afterglow" (surely a single in the waiting?). Viewers of "Rockstar:INXS" will be familiar with both "Pretty Vegas" and "Us" and the album closes with "Gods Top Ten" featuring backing vocals from Suzie McNeil, a contender for the vacant INXS singing spot on the TV show. This song is clearly about Hutchence and it's a nice touch by INXS, a recognition of their former brother as they set off on a new crusade. Their new brother, JD Fortune, has some shoes to fill but he may just be egotistical enough to do it. He's not made a bad start. "Switch" is a decent return for INXS. They go and tour now and will continue to reap the benefits in 2006 from the millions of punters who watched "Rockstar:INXS". But what happens next for INXS? Should be interesting...


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