| Elegantly Wasted | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 15 April 1997 | |||
| Recorded | Mid-1996 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 47:56 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Bruce Fairbairn andAndrew Farriss | |||
| INXS chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Elegantly Wasted | ||||
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Elegantly Wasted is the tenth studio album by Australianrock bandINXS. It was released on 15 April 1997, and is the final album recorded with lead singerMichael Hutchence before his death in November that same year.
The band had spent April 1996 rehearsing in London and moved over toVancouver to record with producerBruce Fairbairn the same month.[1] Production of the album was completed by Hutchence and songwriter and multi-instrumentalistAndrew Farriss in Spain later the same year.[2] Two songs that did not make the final cut of the album were included on theBang the Drum EP (2004).
The album's title is from Hutchence, with the single itself trying to recapture the magic andgroove of theKick album, particularly the single, "Need You Tonight".
All three Farriss brothers dedicated the album to their mother, Jill, who died in 1995.[3]
In June 1994, INXS ended theirUS contract withAtlantic Records, and signed a new worldwide record deal withPolyGram/Mercury Records;[4] however, the group agreed to release one final record through the Atlantic label -The Greatest Hits.[5] Released several months later on 31 October, the compilation included two new songs: "The Strangest Party (These Are the Times)" and "Deliver Me".[6]
After a long break, INXS reconvened in 1996 to record their tenth studio album,Elegantly Wasted, their last with Hutchence. In 1995, Hutchence already began work on hisself-titled solo album;[7] the project was put on hold untilElegantly Wasted was completed.[8][9] In an interview withThe Album Network magazine in March 1997, Hutchence said, "We really wanted to get off the old carousel for a while. As a band, we have recorded an album every twelve to eighteen months over the last five or six years. This helped to create a situation resulting in a lot of personal and business friction within the band, as well as the record label, at the time of the completion of our last studio albumFull Moon, Dirty Hearts. With the completion of the album, we also fulfilled our contract with Atlantic Records. So, it just seemed like the logical time to take a break".[10]
PolyGram studios in London paired the band with Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn, their first and only collaboration.[citation needed]
With both Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss living in London, the songwriting duo first started talking about a new record over the phone.[11] After spending months talking about new ideas, the pair finally got together, and began working on new material.[11] Using24-track reels andADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape) recorders, the pair put together a handful of demo tapes,[12] which included an early version of the song "Searching". The remaining members of INXS flew out to meet Hutchence and Farriss in London.[2] When the entire group got together, they began rehearsing the material that had been previously recorded by Hutchence and Farriss. The rehearsals began in April 1996.[1] While visiting friendsBono andLarry Mullen Jr. fromU2 inDublin during mid-1996, Hutchence and Farriss rented a small studio where they continued working on the album.[13] They put the finishing touches on the existing demo tapes, as well as compose new recordings.[12][14] One of the first songs to be completed during these sessions was "Searching". The band first previewed the song live at the AustralianARIA Music Awards in September 1996.[15]
Before meeting with Fairbairn, the band sent him all the material they had been working on.[12] Fairbairn had just finished working with Irish rock band,The Cranberries.[16] Upon receiving the material Fairbairn commented, "I was impressed with the feel and the different sounds that they'd been using." He added, "I actually ended up suggesting that we might want to save some of the stuff on the demos – because the chances were that when we were back in the studio we wouldn't be able to recreate that vibe".[12] After listening to the material, Fairbairn flew to London to meet with the band.[12] He spent a few afternoons with Hutchence and Farriss discussing the project.[12] A date was set for production at Fairbairn's own recording studio in Vancouver, with both himself and Farriss producing.[3] When later asked about his role in the production ofElegantly Wasted, Fairbairn said, "Well, I didn't really co-produce with the band, but the record was produced with Andrew Farriss. Andrew was certainly a player at the demo stage, and as we ended up keeping some of the stuff on the demos I felt that it was fair to recognise his contribution in some way".[12]
The band first arrived at the Armoury studio in Vancouver in late April 1996 to begin the recording sessions.[1] Most of the demos that were brought out to Vancouver had to be reorganised, taking out and discarding certain parts, as well as adding in new drum beats and bass lines.[12] Some members of the band had to provideoverdubbing on the existing demos, including Hutchence who recorded new overdubs on the vocals.[12] Most of the album was recorded digitally;[12] the drums, bass and guitar on the tracks "Girl on Fire", "We Are Thrown Together" and "Bang the Drum"(dropped during production) were recorded using analogue equipment.[12] Farriss and Hutchence finished the album later in 1996.[2] Additional musicians were brought in to provide backing vocals on "Don't Lose Your Head", "Searching" and "I'm Just a Man".[12] After the sessions in Spain had wrapped, the recordings were returned to Vancouver, where engineer Mike Plotnikoff began the initial mixing,[12] before sending them toTownhouse Studios in London, where music producerTom Lord-Alge carried out the bulk of the mixing.[12] Plotnikoff recalls, "I did a mix for him [Lord-Alge] beforehand in Vancouver so that he had a guideline as to roughly what we wanted".[12]
INXS embarked on their 20th anniversary tour in support forElegantly Wasted, beginning with a string of warm-up dates in the US on 17 April 1997 at theIrving Plaza inNew York.[17][18] During their time in New York, the band were asked to appear on numerous talk shows to perform the album's brand new single, "Elegantly Wasted", including theRosie O'Donnell show on 16 April and theLate Show with David Letterman on 22 April. The group would play three more shows in cities across North America, finishing up at theMayan Theater inLos Angeles,California on 24 April.[18][19]
The first leg of the international tour brought the band toSouth Africa, their first and only tour of the country. A few days before playing their first show at the 3 Arts Theatre inCape Town on 29 May,[18] the band was hurriedly asked by the producers ofFace/Off to shoot a music video for the album's third single, "Don't Lose Your Head".[20] The video was shot by long-time collaborator and friendNick Egan, inside a large plane hangar on an airstrip located in Cape Town. After playing a show inDurban,[18] the group travelled up toJohannesburg to play three shows at theEllis Park Arena (formerly known as the Standard Bank Arena) beginning on 3 June and finishing on 5 June.[18] The tour continued across Europe where the band played various arenas and festivals beginning 9 June at theBarrowland ballroom inGlasgow,Scotland,[18] and ending on 5 July at theMidtfyns Festival inRinge,Denmark.[18]
INXS returned to the US on 11 July where they played eight shows along theWest Coast.[18] In late August, the band started making their way across theMidwest.[18] The itinerary included visits toChicago, Illinois,Minneapolis, Minnesota andKansas City, Missouri.[18] A show inMilwaukee,Wisconsin was cancelled on 27 August after it was reported in a newspaper that Hutchence had sprained his ankle.[21] On 31 August, the tour moved north into Canada, with shows being played inMontreal, Quebec andToronto, Ontario.[18] While playing a show in Montreal,Nicolas Cage was spotted by fans in the VIP balcony near the stage. Hutchence dedicated "What You Need" and "Don't Lose Your Head" (used in Cage's movieFace/Off) to the actor.[21] Their last concert with Hutchence was at theStar Lake Amphitheatre inBurgettstown,PA on 27 September.[22]
In November, the band returned toSydney,Australia to prepare for their homecoming tour.[23] Before setting off on a thirteen-date trek around Australia on 23 November, the band set up for rehearsal sessions atABC Studios.[24] The homecoming tour was quickly cancelled when the death of Hutchence was announced on 22 November.
A mini video shoot was specially shot and directed for the album's cinematic album art. The entire video shoot was directed and photographed by Danish photographerPierre Winther in locations around California in 1996.[25] Winther, famous for his filmic visionary manages to tell a complex story in each of his staged shots; the front cover forElegantly Wasted shows a dramatic shot of the band caught up in a cinematic setting where it appears that an attractive girl has emerged safely from a car accident, just under the oldSixth Street Viaduct at 635-651 S Anderson St, (34°02′12″N118°13′23″W / 34.036667°N 118.223056°W /34.036667; -118.223056) near downtown Los Angeles. The photograph shows the original 1932 viaduct, which was demolished in 2016.[26]
A different photograph of the girl getting out of the car was shot and used as the artwork for the "Elegantly Wasted" single. The same girl can be seen wandering the streets ofSan Francisco in the music video for the album's second single, "Searching". The album's accompanying booklet contains additional photography of the band near theEdwards Air Force Base in the Californiandesert.[27] The artwork for the singles, "Searching" and "Everything" feature photographs as the cover art, which were also taken in the Californian desert.
Only three songs from the track listing had lyrics printed in the liner notes; "Elegantly Wasted", "Show Me (Cherry Baby)" and "Shake the Tree".[3]
Reviews for the album were heavily mixed, to somewhat favorable,AllMusic,Q andRolling Stone, all rated the album two stars, withStephen Thomas Erlewine writing in his AllMusic review, "The band does dabble in contemporary dance on Elegantly Wasted, but it all comes out sounding like the lite funk-n-roll of Kick, only without the energy. And without the tunes".[28] In her review forRolling Stone, Elysa Gardner said that the album "seems like an exercise in nostalgia", and added, "the sinuous dance grooves and crackling bursts of guitar in new songs such as "Elegantly Wasted" and "Don't Lose Your Head" don't seem very fresh".[38] J.D. Considine ofThe Baltimore Sun, was pleased that the Cd's 11 songs are still wonderfully entertaining, with a near irresistible mix of dance- music savvy and rock and roll attitude."[39]
Music writer and musician, Ted Drozdowski wrote in his review forThe Boston Phoenix giving the CD three out of four stars, he said the group have retained the "big rhythmic stomp necessary to rock- and do it hard when they please. Great dynamics, leaner instrumentation. This is a strong, simple pop outing worthy of respect. And listening."[40]The Calgary Herald found the disc to be the group's best effort in ages with its stripped down, funky rock grooves colored by acoustic guitars and sitars and Michael Hutchence actually singing something other than cryptic lyrics."[41]
Steve Knopper of TheChicago Tribune disliked the release, he mentions, shifting gears causes fatal momentum loss - "Everything I Do" moves to fast for a ballad, and the slower "Searching" needs something beyond an uninteresting drum pattern and Hutchence's Whiney crooning."[42] Steven Batten from TheCleveland Scene, was thrilled that Elegantly Wasted's strength is, in fact, it's diversity, a hallmark of the band's sound since the early days, but often obscured by an over-active sense of adventure on recent efforts. This time, they've stuck with that strength, pushing each, track to the limit but never losing sight of the big picture."[43] Ryan Suffern writing in the student - run newspaperThe Daily Illini acknowledged, Inxs has returned to make one of their strongest albums in their nearly 20 - year career. He praised the album for containing a unique blend of sounds. The Band builds upon their past created style, while integrating new and innovative sounds."[44]
Entertainment Weekly scored the album an "A", and wrote, "The Jaggersque vocal yowl of Michael Hutchence, matched to the spiky James Brown funk of the Farriss brothers, gives their new melodies swing and tone".[31]GQ also gave the album a favourable review, callingElegantly Wasted "vibrant" and "exciting", and concluded that "the '80s revival starts here".[31]
Houston Press's David Whitman appreciated that Inxs has recorded some quality music over the past decade, for the most part, after breaking through with 1987's Kick, they let their pretensions get the best of them. He ended his review positive, acknowledging that none of these problems plaque Elegantly Wasted. On this CD the band sounds revitalized, and finally ready for the next century."[45] Writer Dave Veitch, posted his review of the disc inJam! saying how nice then that INXS have re- emerged with all six members intact, and a more than decent new album out on April 15th. He was proud that, Inxs haven't lost, the ability to write a good hook or get bodies moving on the dance floor.[46] In Paul Freeman's review for TheKokomo Tribune, He applauded the group for having enough pulsating, soulful hooks scattered through this new album to suggest that the band from Down Under isn't down and out yet."[47]
Lise Harwin of the IndependentStudent Newspaper calledThe Michigan Daily, Wrote Inxs makes poppy elegant comeback, recognizing one which is easily as good ( and as strange-ly familiar.) A dose of bittersweet longing can be found in the slowly synthesized "Searching," Poignant introspection on "Building Bridges," she noted, Take it or leave it, listening to "Elegantly Wasted" is a little like being in a time warp: You get the danceable songs without having to put on the acid washed jeans. For any fan of quality pop, what could be better?[48] Larry Printz ofThe Morning Call, Liked Michael Hutchence and crews back-to-basics approach, he was pleased that it generally works well. While mentioning, "Elegantly Wasted" doesn't quite sparkle like 1987's "Kick" it has enough pop- rock smarts to make it one tasty listen. Nothing is wasted here."[49]
Music Week gave an "Excellent" 5 out of 5 stars, Writing Immaculate, over-sexed and instantly familiar, this album's rhythm makeover and extra guitars leave the band facing global multi-Platinum sales yet again."[50] In Roger Morton's review forNME, he gave "Elegantly Wasted" a "decent" rating score of 6/10, he concluded in songs like 'Show me (Cherry baby) the riffs are appropriately dirty 'n' grinding, and Michael is effectively '60s Cockney Muddy Waters in his pronunciation of "baybeeyugh." 'Everything' has plenty of happy clappy gospel feel allied to a finger Wagging Vocal. And, give or take the odd' hint of stompy psychedelia in 'Shake the tree.' He ended his review saying the goods are all the."[51] Matt Cliff writing in TheNorth County Times, noticed that the looser recording structure gives the songs lots of breathing room, and lets the keyboard and saxophone touches fill the musical spaces in unexpected ways. He said, the latter along with "We Are Thrown Together," with its middle eastern guitar lines and bubbling drums, are the most memorable songs on an unexpectedly listenable album."[52]
John Marr's of ThePeterborough Herald and Post, Welcomed the band for their creativity being in full throttle, Moulding a classy new release. He initiated that the record tends to tail off towards the end, but when it's focused, it's great."[53] Bud Yeager writing for the website called "RockNet" said this disc is not a complete bust. Not by a long shot. There is a lot of talent here, although some may be misguided It isn't the perfect comeback effort, but it entertains in a musical and mental sense."[54]
Sarra Manning fromSelect (magazine) gave a negative one star review of the CD, saying it doesn't matter whether you buy the new album by INXS, Depeche Mode, James or Simple Minds, because chances are they'll all sound the same. She insisted that Elegantly Wasted is "Disposable Waste."[55] Alex Tung writing forThe Stanford Daily, student-run independentNewspaper, was pleased with the album, Inxs has returned to the dark, reflective style of "Welcome to Wherever You Are," while keeping some of the vibrant energy that carried "Kick" and earlier albums through the '80's. He commented that, "Elegantly Wasted" is a '90s experiment in different styles, that sees Inxs definitely starting to climb again."[56]
The BritishBroadsheet newspaper,The Sunday Telegraph said that Inxs '10th album "suggests that they are by no means a spent force. It has that big, breezy sound redolent of so many rock bands of a certain age, from The Rolling Stones to U2. Strong, driving times; a touch of bluesy, bottle - neck guitar."[57] Dirk Lammers writing for his review of the album in, TheTampa Tribune mentioned the disc's faster-paced tunes are the most successful. "Show me (Cherry Baby)" kicks off with an intro sounding like something out of "Mission Impossible" or a James Bond flick, He finished his review with "Elegantly Wasted" is not spectacular, but INXS is at least trying some new things. Many work."[58] Rick de Yampert writing forThe Tennessean gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, hailing Elegantly Wasted' as a welcome return after a four year hiatus. Finding the band too wise and experienced to be content slumming through alt - rock land. That leaves one conclusion: Rock can use a band like this right now.[59]
TheWaterloo Region Record declared that the album Exhibited a greater dynamic range than past albums, Elegantly Wasted mixes up familiar spacious guitar blasts, Jon Farriss's pounding rhythms and Michael Hutchence's breathless swagger with newer horizons."[60]Winnipeg Sun described that while several songs take a while to develop, they favored insistent urgency of cuts like Show Me, Elegantly Wasted, I'm Just A Man, and Girl On Fire will cause more than a few people to revisit the tightly coiled energy of a group they may have written off."[61]
The album did not perform as well as anticipated. In the US it only reached number 41 on theBillboard Top 200.[62] It did perform better outside the US peaking at number 14 in both Canada[63] and Australia,[64] and number 16 in the United Kingdom.[65]Elegantly Wasted was certified Gold in Canada on 9 May 1997 having sold 50,000 copies.[66]
All tracks are written byAndrew Farriss andMichael Hutchence.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Show Me (Cherry Baby)" | 4:17 |
| 2. | "Elegantly Wasted" | 4:32 |
| 3. | "Everything" | 3:13 |
| 4. | "Don't Lose Your Head" | 4:02 |
| 5. | "Searching" | 4:04 |
| 6. | "I'm Just a Man" | 4:48 |
| 7. | "Girl on Fire" | 3:55 |
| 8. | "We Are Thrown Together" | 5:36 |
| 9. | "Shake the Tree" | 4:10 |
| 10. | "She Is Rising" | 5:24 |
| 11. | "Building Bridges" | 3:55 |
| Total length: | 47:56 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Shine" | 3:52 |
| Total length: | 51:48 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Let It Ride" | 3:44 |
| Total length: | 55:32 | |
Personnel as listed in the album'sliner notes are:[3]
INXS
Additional musicians
Production
Weekly charts[edit]
| Sales and certifications[edit]
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