INXS - Underneath The Colours (1981)

W 1980 roku światło dzienne ujrzał pierwszy album zespołu "Inxs", który niestety zdobył marne recenzje, a co gorsza nie zwrócił uwagi potencjalnych słuchaczy. Zespół jednak się nie poddawał - rok później zostaje wydany album "Underneath The Colours", który zdobywa ogromną popularność w Australii i doprowadza do podpisania kontraktu z wytwórnią Atco Records, która załatwia chłopakom wyjazd do USA, który to okazuje się być przełomem w ich karierze.

Underneath the Colours is Australian rock group INXS' second album. It was released in Australia in 1981. It was with this album that Michael's songwriting started to mature and the band started to find a unique sound. Included were political songs and their very first ballad.
Perhaps the most underrated album of INXS's long career, 1981's UNDERNEATH THE COLOURS is an intriguing sidestep. The Sydney band's self-titled 1980 debut had been a mildly schizophrenic melange of straight-ahead rock & roll and new wave experiments. 1982's SHABOOH SHOOBAH would meld the two into a seamless, commercially viable whole, but this intervening album sounds in retrospect like INXS's attempt to get all its arty affectations out of the way once and for all.
Although the songs are melodic and basically commercial, the arrangements and production are quirky and dissonant. Kirk Pengilly's sax and Andrew Farriss's keyboards dominate the mix, with Michael Hutchence's vocals and Jon Farriss's increasingly dance-oriented drums lost in the background. The effect is very much of its time, but new wave fans and those who only caught up with INXS through its more successful later records will find UNDERNEATH THE COLOURS surprising and illuminating.



1. Stay Young
2. Horizons
3. Big Go Go
4. Underneath the Colours
5. Fair Weather Ahead
6. Night of Rebellion
7. Follow
8. Barbarian
9. What Would You Do?
10. Just to Learn Again

Sad Lovers & Giants - Melting In The Fullness Of Time (2002)

I received a request for this album from somebody some time ago and completely forgot - better later than never, so here it is...

SAD LOVERS & GIANTS’ music is food for the imagination, a film without pictures, to transport you to other, but very real, worlds; or another dimension of our own. Commonplace, everyday situations are studied from different viewpoints at a tangent to reality.

Sad Lovers & Giants describe their music as ‘an ethereal journey to the very edge of the imagination’. Their mastery of powerful elegance and gentle ambience is combined with a hint of gothic misadventure. Their live appearances are superb, now better than at any time in their history — faithful to the recordings but with a energy and that certain ‘je ne sais quois’ that lifts a performance to a memorable experience through its power, style and panache.
http://www.sadloversandgiants.co.uk




1 A Daughter
2 German Cars
3 Submarine Girl
4 I'm Not In Love
5 Learn
6 Melting In The Fullness Of Time
7 Red Sky
8 Black Crow

INXS - INXS (1980)

Korzenie INXS sięgają roku 1977, kiedy to dwie osobne grupy stworzone przez braci Farriss, połączyły siły, aby dać początek nowemu zespołowi. Andrew Farriss (keyboard, guitar) i Michaelem Hutchence (vocals), którzy znali sie ze szkoły średniej oraz Gary Beers (bass) tworzyli jeden zespół, natomiast w tym samym czasie Tim Farriss (guitar) grywał w różnych grupach wraz z przyjacielem Kirkiem Pengilly (guitar, saxophone). Ostatecznie dwa składy spotkały się i do zespołu doszedł trzeci brat Jon Farriss (drummer). Dwa lata później zespół przybiera nazwę INXS i przenosi się z Perth do Sydney, zaczyna się granie w pubach, zespół zostaje zauważony, podpisują kontrakt płytowy i na rynek trafia debiut zatytułowany INXS.

INXS hailed from the pubs of Australia, which is part of the reason they never comfortably fit in with new wave. Even when the band branched out into synth pop on its early recordings, they were underpinned by a hard, Stonesy beat and lead singer Michael Hutchence's Jagger-esque strut. Ultimately, these were the very things that made INXS into international superstars in the late '80s. By that time, the group had harnessed their hard rock, dance, and new wave influences into a sleek, stylish groove that made their 1987 album Kick into a multi-million-selling hit. While that sound was their key to stardom, it also proved to be their undoing; the group became boxed in by their Stonesy pop-funk in the early '90s, when their audience became entranced by harder-edged alternative rock. In spite of declining sales, INXS soldiered on, continuing to tour and record for a dedicated fan base into the late '90s until Hutchence's 1997 death brought the band to a close.
INXS's 1980 debut is a mildly schizophrenic mix of edgy hard pop and quirky new wave. The best tracks are those which combine the two, such as the brilliant debut single "Just Keep Walking," a two-minute slice of snarling attitude and jagged melody. A few tracks fare slightly less well, but as a whole this is both an interesting slice of '80s new wave and a surprising historical find for INXS neophytes.



1 On A Bus
2 Doctor
3 Just Keep Walking
4 Learn To Smile
5 Jumping
6 In Vain
7 Roller Skating
8 Body Language
9 Newsreel Babies
10 Wishy Washy

Into Paradise - Rarities & Extras

The following Into Paradise posts have been contributed by Serge ZENI, who did a great work of preparing the info and uploading the files for all of us.
Thank you once again and here it is...

Here are the remaining Into Paradise recordings that I could get my hands on. 





1: Under The Water "1
2: Here With You
3: Blue Moon Express
4: Lovely Day
5: Going Home
6: Rehearsal
7: On And On And On
8: Shot By Both Sides
9: Low
10: Stand Still
11: Sleep

Some details on these rarities:
Tracks 1-5 come from the "Under The Water" album. These tracks were omitted on the US
version. "Going Home" appears to be a different mix.
Track 6 can be found on the "Change" 12" EP. Unreleased music from a recording session
for the song "Under The Water".
Tracks 7-9 are available only on the "Burns My Skin" CD/EP .
Tracks 10-11: are available only on the "Angel" CD/EP

Into Paradise - For No One (1993)

The seven-track For No One covers no new ground, but the samey song titles ("Letting Go," "Don't Let Me Down," "Move Over," "Move Up, Move Out") indicate that Long could use a good thesaurus. The disc's other distinction is the churning "All of These" about — what else? — a spent love affair, and the most rocking tune the group has ever attempted.
[Doug Brod]





1: The Only One
2: Under The Stars
3: All Of These
4: Letting Go
5: Move Over
6: Don't let Me Down
7: Move On Up, Move On

Into Paradise - Down All The Days (1992)

The eight-song, 33-minute Down All the Days is by far Into Paradise's best and most consistent effort. The tighter format is a big plus, letting the quartet avoid the filler that dotted its first two releases. "Sleep," the invitingly atmospheric centerpiece, continues the band's tradition of hooking plaintively beautiful tunes to the direst of lyrics — in this case, Long's self-doubt over a hopeless affair.
[Doug Brod]



No one ever sleeps with you
and you never need them to
Sometimes when you lie beside me
our love goes cold.

1: Tomorrow #1
2: Angelus
3: Must Get Better (22192)
4: Sleep
5: Love
6: Sister
7: In A Car
8: Tomorrow #2