It has been nearly 6 years since INXS made a respectable comeback with a new lead singer on their album called “Switch”. In the absence of any new material at the moment, INXS has released re-workings of some of their previous tunes featuring a myriad of different artists and styles. Not a very exciting premise to begin with, and the execution of this ill-fated idea is even worse than one can imagine. Just three tracks in and I was ready to throw in the towel – after starting the record with filler like “Drum Opera”, and an electronic version of “Meditate” by Tricky, and then an utterly annoying house version of “Original Sin” featuring Rob Thomas at his worst, it is clear the sin was making this record in the first place. Even Pat Monahan (Train) manages to strip away the perky charm of “Beautiful Girl”. The only meritorious cuts off this disaster are “New Sensation”, an acoustic version nicely done by Deborah de Corral, and “To Look At You”, which retains a cool 80s feel and features Kav Temperley.
Current lead singer for the band, JD Fortune (found during a reality TV show), lends vocals to an over the top rendition of “The Stairs”. If the album does anything, it reaffirms that JD Fortune is about as righteous of a substitute as you can get for the irreplaceable Michael Hutchence.
iPOD-worthy: 6, 9
INXS – Official site.
