INXS (pronounced "In Excess") are an Australian rock group. The band was formed on 16 August 1977 in Sydney, Australia. The band's worldwide peak of popularity came with 1987's Kick, an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top-10 US singles and several international hits ("New Sensation", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Devil Inside", etc.), including the #1 "Need You Tonight". They toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988.
INXS began under the name The Farriss Brothers but the band changed it just prior to the release of their self-titled début album in 1980, INXS, which featured "Just Keep Walking," their first Australian hit single. Its follow-up, 1981's Underneath the Colours (produced by Richard Clapton), became a hit-album in Australia.
In 1982, Shabooh Shoobah was released successfully worldwide. The single "The One Thing" brought them their first Top-30 hit in America, while "Don't Change" became a staple in the set list of college rock bands who played the frat circuit. The album itself entered the U.S. Top-50.
With the Nick Launay produced fourth album, The Swing in 1984, the band received more significant attention from around the world, as "Original Sin" became their first #1 single and an international hit. Indeed during all that year the song was #1 in Australia as well as in Argentina and France, #23 in Switzerland, #31 in the Netherlands and #58 in the U.S. where the single's explicitly political and anti-racism message may have contributed to low airplay. Yet, "Original Sin" (produced by Nile Rodgers) was largely ignored in the UK, where INXS didn't have any success in the charts until 1986 with the album Listen Like Thieves. In the same way, the band's charismatic singer Michael Hutchence gained attention with his MTV-ready looks. INXS, which had started out as a Funk act, gradually moved in a more straight-ahead rock-oriented direction through the first half of the 1980s.
By 1985's breakthrough album Listen Like Thieves the band had perfected a matured sound influenced by the Rolling Stones and Chic but true to the band's original roots in the Aussie pubs. Listen Like Thieves was loved by the critics. In the US the first single, "This Time" stalled at #81 in late 1985, but the band roared out of nowhere with the second, "What You Need", which in early 1986 became a Top-Five Billboard hit, bringing INXS their first breakout U.S. success.
CD cover to INXS's album KickThe band's worldwide peak of popularity came with 1987's Kick, an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top-10 US singles and several international hits ("New Sensation", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Devil Inside", etc.), including the #1 "Need You Tonight". They toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988.
In 1989 Hutchence made an album with Max Q, which received decent reviews, but at best attained a cult status. The rest of the band also took a break to work on side projects.
Kick is their best-selling album to date, selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone as of 2005. At the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, the band took home five trophies for the "Need You Tonight/Mediate" video.
INXS's first album. It was released in Australia only until 1984. INXS recorded the album in between doing, on average, two gigs at the local pubs around Sydney each day (sometimes three). They recorded it live.
Underneath the Colours is Australian rock group INXS' second album. It was released in Australia only until 1984. It was with this album that Michael's song writing started to mature and the band started to find a unique sound. Included were political songs and their very first ballad.
The Swing is Australian rock band INXS's fourth studio album. The album is more or less an experimental album. It was released in 1984. "Original Sin" was recorded in New York City by Nile Rodgers and was released as a single in 1983. It also featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals. This album featured a harder sound than their previous three albums. It enjoyed long-term success on the Australian music charts, remaining in the Australian Top 50 selling albums for over 2 years. It remained relatively unknown in the United States, however, where it was their next album, Listen Like Thieves, that made them a worldwide name. As of 2006, the album is in Top 10 best-selling albums in Australia.
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released in 1985. Considered a breath through album for the band, it featured their first Top 5 single in the US, "What You Need." This album also marks their alliance with Chris Thomas, who would produce the band's most successful albums.
Guns N' Roses are an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. Having sold an estimated 90 million albums worldwide, they are one of the USA's most successful hard rock bands. Their 1987 major label debut, Appetite for Destruction, produced by Mike Clink, went on to sell 25 million copies worldwide and reached #1 in the USA a year after its release date. The song "Welcome To The Jungle", the second track released from the album (after "It's So Easy"), gained notoriety after it was used on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's 1988 film The Dead Pool.
The band's musical style, onstage presence and bad boy rock image helped usher in a new era in the dominant hard rock scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. While glam metal was the leading genre in record sales, video charts and radio airplay, Guns N' Roses offered a grittier, more traditional take on rock music, which helped to popularize the sub-genre known as sleaze rock and won many fans who admired their apparent authenticity. The band enjoyed worldwide success from 1987 to 1993, but clashing personalities of different band members brought about the end of the original line-up. Today, front man Axl Rose is the only original member in the band's current line-up. He has now served as lead singer for 22 years.
Appetite for Destruction was released on July 21, 1987. In the US, "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as its first single with an accompanying music video. Initially, the album and single did not perform well, but when Geffen Records founder David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged by personally convincing MTV executives to add "Welcome to the Jungle" to their after hours rotation. Even though the video was played at inopportune times, rock fans took notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse.
In the United Kingdom, "It's So Easy" was released prior to the album itself. The band quickly gained popularity through radio airplay and via a rousing performance at London's famous Marquee Club on June 28, 1987. The 12-inch single for "It's So Easy" included Marquee Club performances of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Move to the City".
Overseas, countries were often treated to material that never saw release to the US market, and went unexposed to US fans. The original UK "Welcome to the Jungle" single was backed with the Marquee Club performance of AC/DC's classic "Whole Lotta Rosie" and a 12-inch single included live renditions of "It's So Easy" and the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". In Japan, an entire EP entitled Live from the Jungle was issued, containing the album version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" and most of the Marquee Club recordings. European and Asian single releases were often accompanied by interviews with Slash or Axl Rose, a common practice in those countries.
Appetite for Destruction (original)The album underwent an artwork change after the original Robert Williams cover design (a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist) spawned complaints from religious groups and caused some record stores to brown bag, obscure, or refuse to sell the album. The revised cover was gleaned from a tattoo that Axl had recently commissioned featuring skeleton faces of the five musicians arranged on a cross. Rose later insisted that the Gold and Platinum plaques issued by the RIAA be set using the original cover. Copies of the LP with its original artwork are now rare collector’s items. The artwork from the original cover can be found in the booklet of the CD release.
"Sweet Child O' Mine" was the album's second US single. Due to the growing grassroots success of the band and the cross-gender appeal of the tune, the song and its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on both radio and MTV, and became a smash hit during the summer of 1988. "Welcome to the Jungle" was then re-issued as a single, with new pressings of records and tapes and new artwork. The UK re-release was backed with an acoustic version of "You're Crazy", recorded much earlier than the one featured on the G N' R Lies EP.
By the time "Paradise City" and its video reached the airwaves, the band's touring success and fame had catapulted the album to #1 on the Billboard charts. "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" were all top ten singles in the US. To date, Appetite For Destruction has sold over 25 million copies.
Kick is their best-selling album to date, selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone as of 2005. At the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, the band took home five trophies for the "Need You Tonight/Mediate" video.
INXS's first album. It was released in Australia only until 1984. INXS recorded the album in between doing, on average, two gigs at the local pubs around Sydney each day (sometimes three). They recorded it live.
The Swing is Australian rock band INXS's fourth studio album. The album is more or less an experimental album. It was released in 1984. "Original Sin" was recorded in New York City by Nile Rodgers and was released as a single in 1983. It also featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals. This album featured a harder sound than their previous three albums. It enjoyed long-term success on the Australian music charts, remaining in the Australian Top 50 selling albums for over 2 years. It remained relatively unknown in the United States, however, where it was their next album, Listen Like Thieves, that made them a worldwide name. As of 2006, the album is in Top 10 best-selling albums in Australia.
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released in 1985. Considered a breath through album for the band, it featured their first Top 5 single in the US, "What You Need." This album also marks their alliance with Chris Thomas, who would produce the band's most successful albums.
